Phone not Allowed

[werner0001]

A friend brought me a Samsung S7 from New Zealand , it will not connect to our networks , I even flashed SA firmware.
I have checked the IMEI and SN number all clean . Numbers match those in phone and back sticker

Spoken to Spark cell operator in New Zealand , confirming phone is not stolen and not network locked by them.
Phone was originally purchased with them .

any advice much appreciated.

 

[Jimmy-Z]

Did you try a ZA sim?

Could be they use different cellular frequencies to ours, in which case the phone would never work over here...

 

[namzsteve]

^
True.

I've also heard somewhere that some phone's hardware are locked to specific locations.

 

[werner0001]

yes I did , it worked on Android Marshmallow , but then it updated to 7 and with Samsung new bootloader you are not able to downgrade anymore

 

[Spliffcat]

Try flash any of Lineage roms, make sure you choose the right one. Nandroid backup first.