Cell Phones

[Vmarco]

My two year Cell contract is ending in a few weeks,...have a verizon motorola phone (because of the least wave impact on my brain), and a wireless card. With all the free wifi available today, pretty sure I'll drop the wireless, which runs an addition $50 per month. Another thing,...I'm not all that tech savy. Need things to be simple/simplified.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Any comments on this article:

 

Any GSM SIM card will work with any of the phones I've mentioned above. In the US, ATT / T-Mobile / Puretalk USA / SimpleMobile and others are GSM services. The factory unlocked phones will work with any GSM service worldwide and since they're not subsidized (like the phones in the article) you can switch carriers whenever you want, including adding a second (or in the case of the MX-31WT up to 4 SIM cards!! - great for military). Since I use wifi on my Android-3600, I don't use a ton of cell minutes so I use the $10 a month plan from Puretalkusa. Since the phones arrive with no service (you choose your own), I got a $10 a month SIM and every month my minutes roll over and they bill me $10. I can leave whenever I want and switch carriers as I please. Easy as that, and no contracts, commitments or locked phones.

[Aaron]

My two year Cell contract is ending in a few weeks,...have a verizon motorola phone (because of the least wave impact on my brain), and a wireless card. With all the free wifi available today, pretty sure I'll drop the wireless, which runs an addition $50 per month. Another thing,...I'm not all that tech savy. Need things to be simple/simplified.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Any comments on this article:

 

 

 

If you're happy with the phone that you have you can unlock it for any other cellphone company that uses the same type of chip. Sometimes it requires you to purchase a chip and have it unlocked at the store, other times you can buy the code from ebay or some other online shopping place.

 

In regards to the different companies, I'd shop around, but to date AT&T is the best company in regards to coverage, customer service, and quality of service. I never have wifi simply because, as you stated it's so widely available I don't see the necessity. Something else you might want to consider is that you may not have to sign another contract, so it might benefit you to stay with verizon, especially if they're not going to increase your rate.

 

If you can tell me the model of your phone, I'd be able to give you more information regarding this.

 

Aaron

[Vmarco]

Edited April 23, 2012 by Vmarco

[Aaron]

Hello Vmarco,

 

I did a little research and here are your options. When you're ready to find a new service what you'll want to do is call Verizon and get the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for your phone from their customer service department. Once you have this number you can give it to the customer service of whatever phone company you decide to transfer to (except for Sprint, they don't use SIM cards) and have them give you the code to unlock your phone. Be wary of online sites because they are often scams. If the new company says they can't unlock your phone because it's an exclusive Verizon model (which it is) you can most likely find the unlock code on Ebay for a few dollars.

 

The problem that arises is that your phone may not be completely compatible with the AT&T (and the T-Mobile networks, so you may have issues with data and such, for instance some smart phones designed to work on one network, can't be recognized by the second network, so the person will be charged for data, even though they have a plan.

 

If you have trouble finding the code, let me know and I'll see if there's anything else I can do.

 

 

 

Aaron

 

P.S. I worked in customer service for a major cell phone company for years, so this information should be accurate.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Twinner

[Vmarco]

When you're ready to find a new service what you'll want to do is call Verizon and get the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for your phone from their customer service department. Once you have this number you can give it to the customer service of whatever phone company you decide to transfer to (except for Sprint, they don't use SIM cards) and have them give you the code to unlock your phone. Be wary of online sites because they are often scams. If the new company says they can't unlock your phone because it's an exclusive Verizon model (which it is) you can most likely find the unlock code on Ebay for a few dollars.

 

 

That's awesome! Thanks.