Microsoft Surface 3 4G LTE. Yes, it really does work on Verizon!

[BigHoss]

Welcome to the forum

I assume it's on AT&T. Do you know for a fact that they have a great signal in your area. If so I would base the performance more on the actual throughput than the bars.

No its the unlocked version. I confirmed with Microsoft. But now not only am i lucky to have one bar. it shows its connected to Verizon and have internet access but won't load web pages.

 

[leeshor]

You may want to check at a Verizon store to see if the SIM is activated.

 

[BigHoss]

You may want to check at a Verizon store to see if the SIM is activated.

I know its activated as it came from a device that was using the same Sim.

 

[Miles Prower]

...Im lucky if I get a bar of service at all. I have excellent coverage in my area. Any suggestions on settings Im missing ?

In the past few weeks of using my S3LTE in my various travels, I've discovered that the S3's LTE radio (and/or antenna) is pretty much crap. I'll get terrific throughput (well, relatively speaking for Verizon's oversubscribed LTE) on my Nexus 6 phone, but on my S3, throughput will be much lower. And quite often, I'll have zero LTE service on my S3 while I have plenty of throughput on my N6.

Plus, when I'm on the train, and I lose LTE signal briefly (when the train enters a VZW deadspot), my N6 will pick up LTE without problems, but the S3 will struggle to reconnect. Oftentimes, turning off/on the S3's LTE radio is the only way to convince the S3 to reconnect.

I bought the S3LTE thinking that it would be so much more convenient to have an "always on" LTE connection, but I've since learned that this dream is not reality. Turning my N6 into a personal hotspot and connecting the S3 to the N6 via WiFi is WAY more reliable then trying to keep the S3 online via its built-in LTE radio.

 

[BigHoss]

In the past few weeks of using my S3LTE in my various travels, I've discovered that the S3's LTE radio (and/or antenna) is pretty much crap. I'll get terrific throughput (well, relatively speaking for Verizon's oversubscribed LTE) on my Nexus 6 phone, but on my S3, throughput will be much lower. And quite often, I'll have zero LTE service on my S3 while I have plenty of throughput on my N6.

Plus, when I'm on the train, and I lose LTE signal briefly (when the train enters a VZW deadspot), my N6 will pick up LTE without problems, but the S3 will struggle to reconnect. Oftentimes, turning off/on the S3's LTE radio is the only way to convince the S3 to reconnect.

I bought the S3LTE thinking that it would be so much more convenient to have an "always on" LTE connection, but I've since learned that this dream is not reality. Turning my N6 into a personal hotspot and connecting the S3 to the N6 via WiFi is WAY more reliable then trying to keep the S3 online via its built-in LTE radio.

Yeah I should have just saved for the surface pro 4

 

[stufried]

Two comments. I moved my SIM over from an iPad 3 and got it to work fine. I had to trim the sim with an X Acto knife. After that, it worked straight out of the box. I added Bluestacks to my Surface 3 and reskinned it with the Google Now launcher. This has definitely made it an iPad killer. My iPad is on a box of the top shelf of my closet for another month while I decide whether to get rid of it.

Second, I also bought a TMobile Prepaid data SIM and activated it on a prepaid plan by the day. I live near the Canadian border and for $5 a day I get 500 megs in Canada. Just be sure to activate the international roaming command in a phone before putting the SIM in the Surface.

 

[cambam_hb]

AFAIK, there are 4 types of Surface 3 LTE models floating around. Each of them have a dedicated SKU (i've seen 3 of the 4)

ATT, Unlocked (non-ATT), Outside of North America, and Verizon (just announced).

What is unclear about these models is whether each of them have different radios supporting specific LTE bands. The surface 3 specification page seems to support all the frequencies (UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+: 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz, 4G LTE: 700, 800, 850, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2600 MHz) however the LTE bands are not listed anywhere.

The only place I've seen the LTE bands listed for the Surface 3 are on ATT model page. (LTE band 2, 4, 17).

Verizon runs on 2, 4, 13
T-mobile runs on 2, 4, 12

So if our unlocked version doesn't support 13 or 12, this might be why you are seeing poor performance on Verizon or T-mobile.

EDIT: I found out the modem is the Intel 7260 Modem, which theoretically supports all the US bands and most Global bands.

 

[sikfish]

I tried all of this on my ATT surface 3 at the verizon store(i just swtiched from ATT to Verizon). I also have the unlock code, none of this worked. Verizon recommended i wipe the Surface 3 and reinsert the Nano Sim, i haven't done that yet and am on the fence about doing it. I dont want to delete everything and it not work. Any ideas???
thanks

 

[sikfish]

My Surface says under cellular its GSM, will wiping it change it over to CDMA?