Cell phone questions and help again.

OK I FAILED CELL PHONE IN SCHOOL. On my insurance post(which the replies were helpful) Some of you bought phones off ebay, amazon and such, smart phone types. Here is the question: Ho do you buy them and have them work on your carrier, us cell, verison and so on. (compatibility)? How do you keep your number? I agree $900 is to much for one but is buying one on line then going to the cell phone out fit with it (to make it work) similar to buying a John Deere item online and going to the dealer to get it fixed? I was told they need to be programed to you carrier an att will not work on sprint etc. And does cell phone store have any obligation to say one you bought on evil bay? THANK CONFUSED

Not a phone expert by far...

But what I've done is look at the ad, be sure it says the phone is "unlocked".

Something the phone techs do to make it compatible to any provider.

I've always bought off Ebay, that gets you buyer protection, just in case it doesn't work.

Then take it to your provider, they will set it up, transfer your contacts and number.

Not all phones will work on all carriers so you will need to check that a particular phone can work. Becareful and check before you buy.

One thing more. Most any phone needs to have a SYM card. Some phones do not. If the phone store can't get the phone unlocked take it to a really good repair store. Most of those guys are incredibly talented. Some phones have very high tech security codes and systems and if you don't know what you are doing the phone locks permanently. Then get ready for a couple of months to figure out your new phone. Had a Samsung J-3 now have a J-7. Wow is this new phone incredibly fast! At a month and a half and still finding stuff it can do. Go on Utube and plug in your phone make and type. There are a lot of phone geeks on there. Just a screen shot from the combine video a couple of days ago. Just one handy thing the phone let's you do.

I had a flip phone and had to replace it. Identical on ebay. Bought and tried to get it connected and my carrier said we don't service that relic any more. So I returned it to ebay and got my money back and answered the question that the seller should have known that the relic couldn't be connected therefore...per ebay guarantee......it was not usable.

So I go to Consumer Cellular and start out with their $15 200 min basic flip. Sound was crummy and something else came up so I trashed that and bought their "Doro" model for......50 bucks comes to mind. Still have the $15 plan, get 250 min I think, very high quality and lots of sound volume, easy to learn, TTL runs about $18.50 consistently.

I have no text function so a lot of the trash mail gets blocked (at my request) and unwanted text mail runs your minutes up fast. Getting some auto dial but flip it open flip it shut and that's gone....couple of those and that number doesn't pester me any more. You can check numbers that are real because on auto dial you get an orange exclamation mark, marking the call in the call log. On incoming it's orange arrows pointing left and outgoing green arrows pointing right.

Really nice and just right for seniors that just want something to replace their used to be land line.

Jeffcat that video is something to see I have operated a lot of machinery in not so good places, but I have to admit Im not sure I would want to do that.

My mother-in-law bought a new Samsung J7 about a year and a half ago.

I think it only cost her about $350-$400... as opposed to my Galaxy S7, which cost me nearly $800.

Next time... I think I will consider a J7 or comparable model, because hers seems to do about all that mine will do. Her photo quality might be a bit less than mine (not sure), but based on the quality of Jeffcat's J7 photos he has posted, I think his pics look great.

So for me... I would likely buy a new phone rather than one off of ebay... but would likely go with a less expensive model than I currently own.

Your carrier can burn a chip to make your phone work on their system.

IF they are of a mind, and not being financially in their interest, don't get your hopes up....BTDT.

Mark, that has been my experience.

Come in with an outside phone and the great all knowing phone tech guru suddenly reverts back to burger flipper mode!

You can learn a lot about cell phones looking on Amazon. FredWi

Verizon phones are specific to Verizon. The other providers will mostly interchange. Make sure any phone you buy is unlocked.

Verizon's compatibility issue is with their older CDMA service, which is about to get turned off anyway.

You can check the phones IMEI (Serial Number) on a given carriers web site to see if it is compatible.

Buy an unlocked phone listed for the service provider of your choice. If you can follow instructions somewhat, you can call the carriers customer support for help setting it up also.

(quoted from post at 10:19:37 02/19/19) Ho do you buy them and have them work on your carrier, us cell, verison and so on. (compatibility)? How do you keep your number? I was told they need to be programed to you carrier an att will not work on sprint etc. And does cell phone store have any obligation to say one you bought on evil bay? THANK CONFUSED

Click to expand...

This site has some info on what to do https://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/2014/10/08/checklist-for-buying-a-used-smartphone/ and you have to make sure the new fone is not still on contract and can be re-acitvated. Sometimes the store will have used phones they can sell you. You'll need to have a current bill you can show your new carrier that shows your current number that you wish to transport. In other words don't cancel first phone carrier before you get your new carrier.

(quoted from post at 10:38:22 02/19/19) My mother-in-law bought a new Samsung J7 about a year and a half ago.

I think it only cost her about $350-$400... as opposed to my Galaxy S7, which cost me nearly $800.

Next time... I think I will consider a J7 or comparable model, because hers seems to do about all that mine will do. Her photo quality might be a bit less than mine (not sure), but based on the quality of Jeffcat's J7 photos he has posted, I think his pics look great.

So for me... I would likely buy a new phone rather than one off of ebay... but would likely go with a less expensive model than I currently own.

Click to expand...

My wife bought an S9 last week at Costco, they had a $200 rebate and gave her 100 for her old S4, so $500 in the end. This was thru Verizon and you had to finance to get the trade-in, so we paid $400 and financed 100...of course they tried to talk me into trading in my S4 (said they will be incompatible soon), but I will take my chances for now. Unfortunately the $200 rebate ended that day, hopefully mine will be ok till the next promo.

I couldn't remember the IMEI number, like moresmoke mentioned. Besides compatibility with with your carrier that number will also check if the phone is reported stolen or still under contract restrictions.

You do need to know a little bit about CDMA and GSM.
If you purchase a CDMA phone it won't work if your carrier use GSM technology and visa versa.
I have been down that road.
below is a copy paste for a little info.
In the US, Sprint, Verizon, and US Cellular use CDMA. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM. Most of the rest of the world uses GSM. The global spread of GSM came about because in 1987, Europe mandated the technology by law, and because GSM comes from an industry consortium.

US Cellular is picky about phones, so if you want them, you need specific models. Some regional carriers might also be picky.

It's somewhat complicated knowing which phones will work with what. The one I posted before is the type I like to get, unlocked, meaning not tied to a specific carrier. Usually with product pages on "stores", it will list what carriers the phone works with. The one I linked works with Verizon, Sprint, TMobile, Att, and many of the prepaid carriers that work on those, like TracFone, Straight Talk, etc. You just pick your carrier, and get a Sim card (activation card). With Verizon and some others, if you get a new phone, just move the sim card to the new phone and it will work (your saved stuff may need moved separately, depending how that's set up).

Some phones are carrier branded, they will say "Verizon", or "Boost" or other, some of those can be moved to other carriers, but rules apply, might have limited options. These are often cheaper than "unlocked" phones, because the carrier discounts them and only lets you use it with their service.

Easiest thing to do would be to ask what you want to do, which carriers you want, how much you want to spend, anything special you want like better camera or bigger/smaller screen, etc.

when i work with them folks at a UScell factory store and there is a big difference between a factory store and a contractor store. I tell them my needs and they very seldom fail to come thru!

I'm glad it worked for you. Actually having it not worked for me, I wound up where I am today and I am much better off as a result......you just never know where life will lead you!