Traveling Abroad-Uknown SIM

[slapper27]

I am currently in Argentina and I was told that both my S5 and 6S were not SIM locked and I could use a local SIM card to have service.  Not only cannot I not activate s SIM on either phone, I also have no way of getting in contact with Verizon to double check if the phones are, in fact, unlocked.  I try to use live chat on verizonwireless.com, but, even though it is currently within the hours of support, I still cannot connect to anyone via chat.  Can someone please shed some light on the subject; preferably someone from Verizon because this is eternally frustrating.

[GalaxyClass]

First I do not work for Verizon however S5 models sold by Verizon are unlock for Global /GSM/ CDMA LTE service and should work in Argentina as normal with a local sim card installed. If you device was purchase from a Verizon store you should not be having a problem with service. However if your device did not come from Verizon you may have a regional problem due to the fact that Samsung not Verizon  placed a regional lock on some models of their S5 that sold to other service providers. I do not know the model type you have such as SM-G900 ?, or even if it was purchase from a Verizon store?

[bushmills-rocks]

I am not with Verizon, but I have used a note 4 with a foreign card no problems, just a message indicating that is a foreign sim when I inserted the card. One thing though, "under settings -> mobile networks -> preferred network type" it should be set to "Global" not "LTE/CDMA". hope it helps.

[GalaxyClass]

Any time someone shares useful information on this forum it's a  help. thank you. 

[slapper27]

I thank you all for your input and meant nothing by specifying someone from Verizon.  I left out some details due to my frustration and apologise.  I bought the phone from Verizon and have tried both global and GSM trying to activate the new SIM.  Additionally when I try to do anything I get an invalid MMI message when trying to activate the SIM.  I managed to activate the SIM online, but it seems like the phone is not registering on the network to be able to receive the activation signal.  I've even tried doing the activation in single user mode and still get the invalid MMI error message.  When I have the Verizon SIM card in I get no available networks even when the phone is on global or LTE mode and I still can't get a hold of someone on live chat because it says they are closed.

Again, thank you for your inputs.

[GalaxyClass]

Invalid MMI codes indicate you have a problem with the correct code needed to use the local network.You may have a bad SIM an require another local working SIM card. thanks for your reply.