Does anyone know how I might try to activate a 4G phone on Verizon's network while here in Alaska? Verizon has 4G towers, but rents 3g towers, and the phones use 3g to activate a SIM card the first time. I have two phones, one I with a SIM card I activated in the lower 48, and it activates any phone I put it into. However, I got another phone and it came with a brand new SIM card, and I start it up and it tries to call the *228 or whatever number to activate itself on the 3g, which does not work, and Verizon is pretty worthless for this sort of thing... Anyone have any ideas?
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mattchenzo said:
Does anyone know how I might try to activate a 4G phone on Verizon's network while here in Alaska? Verizon has 4G towers, but rents 3g towers, and the phones use 3g to activate a SIM card the first time. I have two phones, one I with a SIM card I activated in the lower 48, and it activates any phone I put it into. However, I got another phone and it came with a brand new SIM card, and I start it up and it tries to call the *228 or whatever number to activate itself on the 3g, which does not work, and Verizon is pretty worthless for this sort of thing... Anyone have any ideas?
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
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Verizon should be able to manually activate it if you call them. if they won't the first time then call again. are you trying to have a new phone/line or just wanting to use the phone on your current line? why not put your old sim in?
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hyelton said:
Verizon should be able to manually activate it if you call them. if they won't the first time then call again. are you trying to have a new phone/line or just wanting to use the phone on your current line? why not put your old sim in?
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They could not figure it out... It was possible but difficult back when we only had 3G, but the 4G phones can't activate without a 3G connection... Until VoLTE gets up and running, I assume... The new phone is running with my old SIM, but I wanted to activate the old phone with the brand new SIM. I added a line so I could upgrade without losing my unlimited data, and could find a use for the extra line, but right now no luck.
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Related
Is there anything different with the included AT&T SIM card that came with my Tab, or can it be assigned to any AT&T account and phone?
Also, the Tab keeps asking me if I want to "activate" this SIM, what will that do?
It seems like a normal AT&T 3G SIM card to me. You can probably activate it for any plan and use in any store. I just put mine in the box and used my old SIM card with existing voice+data plan.
Nah, they are just incase you want to activate it instead of buying a new one from the carrier. Im with bell and thats what the person said.
Sent from my GT-P1000M using XDA App
Got this phone yesterday, had no data plan previously so I had to get one. Went into att store to get micro Sim and data plan. It took forever because n4 imei wasn't in their system and giving them the number lead to further confusion. One hour later I ended up with a working Sim and they entered a generic imei number. Calling and texting works fine but I'm having data issues. I sometimes get HSPA but then the service drops back to edge and never comes back to HSPA. Rebooting sometimes fixes, but most of the time it gets stuck on edge. I know my area has great HSPA and 3g coverage because my friend has an hspa phone. Is there something I can do to fix? Or if I call att, what do I tell them to do to fix?
Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Just wondering, what data plan did you get?
3gb $30 a month.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
You made sure to set the APN correctly?
How do I set the APN? I'm new to smart phones, att just handed me the phone after putting micro sim in it. I looked at the mobile network settings and I'm not sure what they should be set to.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Turn off phone, take out sim card. Blow on it or do whatever voodoo you prefer. Put back in and turn phone back on.
Report back.
Changed APN settings to match this and rebooted. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1791526
Getting HSPA+ now, I'll see if it stays that way.
Thanks.
Go into APN settings, tap menu, then restore default APN and see if that helps
You should be able to get unlimited data for $15 because its not a smartphone thats in their system as you said. So, technically, its considered a dumb simple phone, which gets the data plan $15 or unlimited text and data for $20. I was planning to get this plan once I receive my back ordered device...AT&T probably put you the smartphone data plan because they saw it was a smartphone. I would call the ATT customer service and re-give them your IMEI number to get the unlimited data.
Their system was detecting it needing a blackberry plan, trust me, I tried getting the cheaper one. And apparently after a couple of months they will figure out you are using a smartphone.
jacklebott said:
You made sure to set the APN correctly?
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Click to collapse
you dont need to do that. the phone automatically assigns the att one.
atleast mine did
Turns out I did. Atts network gave me the settings for edge and I had to change it manually.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Seemonsters said:
Turn off phone, take out sim card. Blow on it or do whatever voodoo you prefer. Put back in and turn phone back on.
Report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that with my current phone, and now Super Mario loads properly. Thanks!
Now it appears when I reach a low signal strength area I get edge and once I leave that area it doesn't transition back to HSPA+. Anyone else having this problem?
Edit: I've tried a bunch of APN settings found on this forum and now I'm not even getting HSPA. WHYYYYYY?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Force WCDMA (UMTS/HSPA) Only
My Samsung Vibrant had issues staying on 3G, and this solved the problem. So here's how to force it to only use UMTS/HSPA. Phone -> *#*#4636#*#* -> Phone information -> scroll to the drop-down list -> select "WCDMA only" -> wait for it to apply, then enjoy 3G. To enable EDGE again, select "WCDMA preferred"
Hi all -
I signed up for the t-mobile $30/month plan, but get spotty coverage. I want to try and see if the straight talk AT&T coverage is any better. If I get a micro-sim card from straight talk and put it in, and reboot the phone, would I be able to see my connection? Or would it be 'no service' until I've gone through the process of activating with straight talk?
I'm hoping it's the former as I'd like to know if my signal would be any better before going through the hassle of porting my number over. Thanks.
Zimako said:
Hi all -
I signed up for the t-mobile $30/month plan, but get spotty coverage. I want to try and see if the straight talk AT&T coverage is any better. If I get a micro-sim card from straight talk and put it in, and reboot the phone, would I be able to see my connection? Or would it be 'no service' until I've gone through the process of activating with straight talk?
I'm hoping it's the former as I'd like to know if my signal would be any better before going through the hassle of porting my number over. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should still be able to see bars. :good: atleast this is how it was on all my unlocked phones.
daddioj said:
you should still be able to see bars. :good: atleast this is how it was on all my unlocked phones.
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Thanks for the reply. Hopefully this is the case; I've ordered the SIM so I guess we'll see shortly!
I have Straight Talk (AT&T), you won't see any bars until you activate the SIM card. If you port your number, there may be a delay also.
tatical said:
I have Straight Talk (AT&T), you won't see any bars until you activate the SIM card. If you port your number, there may be a delay also.
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Thanks! I was afraid that would be the case. I would want to port my number as well. I'll run over to my local AT&T store and see if they'll give me a micro-sim too; I figure if I get signal with that one, then I should be fine with straight talk on AT&T (unless that sim would have the same issue?)
Whatever may be the plan or carrier doesnt change a thing: You do not have any signal until the SIM is activated. The SIM isnt related to a network before it is activated.
_Johnito_ said:
Whatever may be the plan or carrier doesnt change a thing: You do not have any signal until the SIM is activated. The SIM isnt related to a network before it is activated.
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I'm pretty sure that when I got my t-mobile sim card, I had bars showing prior to activation.
If it was, then your SIM card was pre-activated. This is the only explanation
As stated before, you will not get signal/bars until the SIM is activate. Period.
_Johnito_ said:
If it was, then your SIM card was pre-activated. This is the only explanation
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Click to collapse
Odd, I wonder why they sent me an activated sim! I was still able to go online and put my IMEI, serial, etc in and activate it a few hours later.
Ah well, guess I'll have to activate service for a month to test with straight talk. I was just hoping to avoid the hassle of porting my number over prior to checking signal coverage.
Zimako said:
Odd, I wonder why they sent me an activated sim! I was still able to go online and put my IMEI, serial, etc in and activate it a few hours later.
Ah well, guess I'll have to activate service for a month to test with straight talk. I was just hoping to avoid the hassle of porting my number over prior to checking signal coverage.
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Click to collapse
I just switched out my plans from TMo Monthly 4G to Straight Talk AT&T. When I inserted the Straight Talk micro sim into the phone I got a message saying no sim card and had no bars until I activated it and had changed the APN numbers in the phones settings.
tatical said:
I have Straight Talk (AT&T), you won't see any bars until you activate the SIM card. If you port your number, there may be a delay also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it must be only with this phone. because all my other unlocked phones have had bars showing no matter activated or not.
I think in some cases I've had bars / proper dBn showing in the settings in the past.
daddioj said:
it must be only with this phone. because all my other unlocked phones have had bars showing no matter activated or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then it should be easy enough to test as you'd just have to pull your sim card out and see if you had a signal. You could then look in the phones settings under network operators to see who's signal it is.
daddioj said:
it must be only with this phone. because all my other unlocked phones have had bars showing no matter activated or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original question was about a signal on an unactivated Straight Talk SIM card. I've had unactivated AT&T and T-Mobile SIM cards show a signal, but Straight Talk SIMs require activation to show a signal. I think it has something to do with them being a MVNO.
tatical said:
The original question was about a signal on an unactivated Straight Talk SIM card. I've had unactivated AT&T and T-Mobile SIM cards show a signal, but Straight Talk SIMs require activation to show a signal. I think it has something to do with them being a MVNO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would make a lot of sense! I'll post my findings when I pick up an at&t official sim card, and with the straight talk sim card.
Well, I have the straight talk sim, and sure enough - no signal at all. So that seems in line with what people here were saying. I visited two different AT&T stores as well to get an 'official' microsim, but neither place would give or even sell me a sim card. They said that I would not see signal without activation, and to not worry! That they could check coverage and tell me if I'd get signal! *rolls eyes* So that was a waste of time. I'll probably just bite the bullet and activate my next month on straight talk and see.
One question though - if I do NOT port my number right now, and instead get a new number via straight talk, would I then later be able to port my number or would I need to buy a new micro sim first?
You probably will be just fine, since you usually have a certain time to port your phone number. Even if you choose to port it right now, you will be given a temporary number during the procedure. But this is more of a question you should ask to the carrier, since it may be related to carrier policies or country laws. I have to admnit if i were you i'll be very careful to what they says
So have an AT&T SIM in my unlocked Nexus 4. I use all the default APN's and try to connect to the only mobile network available, "HOME" but it just tries to register on it forever without success. It doesn't work with the APN settings ST recommends on their web site. I haven't had a phone for a week and I could really use some help.
Thanks.
bump
When you say "an AT&T SIM", do you mean an actual AT&T SIM card from AT&T, or a Straight Talk SIM card compatible with AT&T's network?
If it's the former, then you need to buy a new SIM card from Straight Talk that works on AT&T's network. Lucky for you, they just got back in stock.
If the latter, then I couldn't really help you. Make sure you are typing the correct APN in, try rebooting the phone, try dialing *#*#INFO#*#* and messing with the preferred network type under phone settings, make sure your SIM is fully activated and capable of bringing down data/voice/sms. That's really all I got.
It's a ST SIM compatible with AT&T's network.
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JooshPole said:
It's a ST SIM compatible with AT&T's network.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JooshPole,
Are you using an old sim from a different straighttalk phone? If that is the case then you would probably need to use the old apn settings, if not then let me know and I'll try and help you out.
I've read tons of responses to this type of question for other phones, but they are usually quite old...
I just swapped my sim from my old Gnex to my lg g2. I have read that PRL updates are on the sim cards for 4g phones. Can anyone confirm they got a PRL update from a sim swap? Also, is there any way that activating a new sim on my phone can screw with my unlim. data? What is the newest PRL that anyone has? Mine is 15256. They put up 2 new towers in my area (I'm guessing one is AT&T, but the other is 300 yards from it, so I wouldn't think they both would be), but I'm not picking up either of them...
Thanks!
Your phone should handle updating the PRL on its own if it needs to. I don't even pay attention to that anymore. Before VZW had 4G, you would have to dial *228 option 2 every now and then to do it manually (note: don't do that on a 4G LTE phone).
Swapping your SIM to another phone shouldn't have any effect on unlimited data. I've swapped my SIM back to my GNex temporarily, and it worked fine. Unlimited is still there.