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AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


So, SIM-locking is back, eh? It's ok, I didn't want to buy my phones from Verizon anymore anyway.

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AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


I was backstage on the floor at Little Caesars Arena yesterday and had full LTE signal >20ft below ground level.

Verizon cell repeaters are nice.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Hey Duckman,

If I were to track down one of those cheap Moto E4 prepaid phones and SIM unlock it with the code (provided I can find one with the right IMEI/MEID), would I be able to use that on one of my regular post-paid lines, or would the system see it and freak out?

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

You don’t really unlock it with a code, they unlock after activation on one month prepaid service. So in theory, if a phone is $100, cheapest plan is $30, you buy phone and service for $100 + $30 = $130, make a phone call, should be eligible.

I’ll be honest, I still have yet to really test the system thoroughly because if it doesn’t work, I can’t refund it.

I did have someone switch a prepaid over to postpaid after using it for 2 weeks, and with a different number, so I think it should work fine. But I can’t guarantee it.

Hmm, ok. And I couldn't just pop the existing SIM in the phone without it freaking out, I imagine because the IMEI/MEID will be tagged in the system.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

I’ll try and remember to check the official policy on this today.

It’s always a weird one because anything on post paid I have no problem trying and seeing if it works, because if it doesn’t we just cancel it. But prepaid once that payment is paid, it’s not refundable , so everyone is always way more cautious around that.

We get anywhere with this? My oldest is a dumbass who has now lost his phone and I need a stopgap until I get the Pixel 3.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Paid $100 (down from $150) for an out-of-warranty replacement on wife's OG PixelXL.

Refurb (expected) arrived with loving burn-in.

I feel bad for the chat rep that got me before the body was even cold, but I have another replacement on the way now.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Corp > affiliate every time IME.

I've never had a Corp store actively try to gently caress me over. Can't say the same for the other.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Hey Duckman,

Verizon is offering Bogo (ish) on the P3 with pre-order. But it looks like the new phone is only for new lines of service.

I have multiple lines on my account that are "eligible for upgrade". Can I leverage this deal somehow and get the second phone added to an existing line?

Like, could I transfer the 'free' phone to one of the eligible lines? Is there some kind of fuckery I can use to make this work without adding an 8th line?

Edit: Could I do something like...

1. Port target number (no contact, free and clear) to GVoice, canceling that line on VZW.
2. Get BoGo deal with 'free' phone on new line
3. Port number back in to that line from GVoice

AlexDeGruven fucked around with this message at 16:30 on Oct 12, 2018

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

Someone would have to be willing to get a new number. The phone itself can go to a different number, but the added number HAS to stay active for 24 months to get the full discount. So the main scenarios I see for people trying to manipulate it:

1. Customer happens to be adding their kid on soon, so they add a line, mom and dad get pixel 3, kid gets one of the old phones. Alternatively, I’ve seen customers convert the extra line to a tablet or jetpack.

2. Customer adds line, and whichever family member is willing takes that number, and cancels their current phone.

3. Customer keeps current phone numbers, adds a line for $20 a month , and just leaves it on since getting the $33 monthly payment plan free means you’re still getting some discount. So there’s just an extra number no one uses.

4. The nerd path is to port your number to google voice.

Personally, #3 I see sometimes, but people always forget they’re paying tax and fee on the added line, so I rarely recommend it, it’s pretty close to a wash.


Overall, the Verizon response is it’s for customers adding an extra line a service, not for two existing customers. Verizon promos for upgrading phones has been really tepid lately, I haven’t seen a decent deal in months. I haven’t seen aggressive deals from Sprint or T-Mobile lately, likely due to the merger, so the phone companies seem to be happy with the status quo for now. Plus, Verizon is super focused on 5G, so I have a feeling one way they’re trying to save costs on is by not having as aggressive promotions on phones.

Which all kind of sucks. So if you don’t want to do any of the above, and your phones are working, I’m curious to see if any promotions come out in the next month or two. They had a flash sale on the Note for $200 off, so it’s always possible they discount the Pixel at some point.

I"m ok with the nerd path (see my edit).

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

You can, but I honestly don’t know if having the number come back so soon disqualifies it. I’m off today, I can check to see if it says anything on it tomorrow.

In theory it shouldn’t, the system just looks for existing or new.

Google voice porting can take time (24 hours each way), if you wanted something quicker you can also do prepaid at one of the carrier’s. T-Mobile used to offer a $10 plan for like, 100 minutes.

I guess it depends on who it is for, but google voice works fine if you just want to leave the number on it. I use it with my iPhone, and it works even better with android phones.

If you order online and want my referral code, feel free to PM me.

Ok, cool.

So if I go some form of the nerd route (whether I kill his line, port it out, or whatever), does it matter which phone is on which line so long as the 'new' line stays in service?

Because what I might do is:

1. Port kid's line off to GVoice so it's at least kept for posterity
2. Order my phone and get the new line for the new phone
3. Swap wife's SIM into extra phone
4. Drop extra phone's SIM into my phone (or wife's phone, doesn't matter because they're identical)
5. Decide if we want to keep kid's # on GVoice and tell his friends he has a new # (and install GVoice so he can tell them himself).

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

Yup that’s fine. Doesn’t matter whether the free phone is on the added line or not, what matters is that it was a new line of service.

Rockin. PM incoming

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


I mean, it's not a bullshit line, it's a new line of service.

Not everyone is in a situation like mine with 1 or more "disposable" lines that I can use to leverage this deal with.

This kind of deal encourages people who might be on the fence to pull the trigger.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman, did you get credit for my upgrades?

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Sweet. Yeah. The P3XL is pretty baller.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


I worked on the infrastructure side of retail for one Black Friday.

I was oncall.

Our credit-card processing system went down at 1:30pm and I had to fix it.

Now I stay as far away from retail as I possibly can.

Glad you made it out alive.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


So, I'm on the original New Unlimited plan. From what I can tell, it's functionally equivalent to the Beyond Unlimited, except it doesn't have the name or the free Apple Music.

Duckman - What's my loss/gain scenario for switching to Beyond? Is it more expensive?

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

Only reason for you to do beyond is for Apple Music. I forget how many devices you have. Essentially, Beyond is more expensive by $5 to $10 more per line. I’d have to see you account to do further math. I would stay on the older unlimited though, even if you use Apple Music.

Yeah, we don't use it currently, but we have YT Red/Premium/whatever the gently caress it's called this week on a family plan. With 7 lines, moving to beyond would be much more than we pay for that.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Mine still does? Just got a VVM on 5/15.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Phone app. Didn't even realize Verizon had their own. I disable/remove all the Verizon apps outside of My Verizon the moment I get a new phone, though.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Looks like Verizon Up Rewards quietly got shittier recently. Noticed that credits expire after 30 days now (was 60), rewards refresh randomly rather than on the month, and the rewards themselves are sparse and weak.

Par for the giant shareholder controlled telecom company course, sadly.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Verizon P3XL and no notification like that here.

Thanks the kind of poo poo that deserves going on blast with.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


JFC I wish I could get Spectrum to stop flogging their Verizon-based MVNO at me with every communication they send.

$45/line for unlimited sounds great, until you factor in the MVNO bits, and having to call a loving cable company for support, because loving lol.

Not to mention that I'm only paying $38/line for good Verizon unlimited.

/rant

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


OMGMYSPLEEN posted:

Luckily it’s my 12 year olds line; his major business contacts consisting of other 12 year olds won’t care about the change :cheeky:

Absolutely! Hit me with that referral code cause I’ll be doing it online for the half price activation cost deal too!

Wife and I did that last year to get our P3XLs, it's a solid plan.

Unfortunately, he has 'real' contacts now, so I don't know that it will go over that well again.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


So, I've already signed up, and I did the bundle because I already have Hulu, so I essentially get ESPN+ for free out of the deal.

When I see this text:

"If you are a current Disney+ monthly or third-party-billed subscriber (monthly or annual), this promotional offer will not automatically replace that subscription; after you enroll and complete the account setup, you will be sent an email with information about how to manage your existing subscription"

Does that mean I'll have to sign up for a new account and do something with my existing one to get the promo?

I don't want my Disney+ billed to my Verizon account, regardless. I don't like crossing my universes like that.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Best Buy had the much better deal on the Note 10+ this week, so I did it there. All online, hooked into my account seamlessly, totally pain free.

The only downside is that shipping takes a week. But it's not urgent, so meh.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


No harm in trying a SIM first. One of the only things going to the store is good for (unless Duckman is at your local store, obviously) instead of calling customer service.

If you try a new SIM and it still has the problem, then you can exercise the warranty and get a replacement on the way in the same visit.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


I would hope not, especially in-store, and you're experiencing an issue that could be caused by it.

If it's working ok now, it's possible it won't gently caress up again. But it's also electronics, so sometimes things will work periodically when they're broken.

This is why I told my wife to be hyper vigilant with her P3XL when we got them and not wait to address any problem immediately because once the warranty is up, you're hosed (her OG XL died after 16 months and we had to pay Google $145 to get an out-of-warranty customer service replacement). Fortunately, hers hosed up royally after only a few months and her replacement has been good since then.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


RCS loving up for anyone else today?

My brother in LA can't send any, everything has reverted to sms with him. My group chat with everyone is working fine, except for him. And now I'm getting random failures where messages just disappear into the ether.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


I just wish you could apply the BOGO to an existing line. I already have 7, my loyalty is clear.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Yeah, I get it. Convert single accounts to family plans, encourage families to give their kid a phone, etc.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


So, can I get some clarity on this one?

They're starting to run 5G spec stuff over the 700MHz LTE band? Isn't that just "faster 4G?"

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Hey Duckman,

What's the skinny on this ad I keep seeing that looks like 2 S20 FE UW on Verizon for $200?

I can't find it directly, and whenever I see it, it's gone before I can actually click on it.

Of course, the ONE TIME IN MY LIFE when I actually want to click on an ad, I can't get the details.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Hey Duckman, you're popular this week, as I see typically this time of year every year.

I'm thinking about jumping on the P5 deal for my wife's phone, but it looks like my legacy unlimited (The New Verizon Plan Unlimited for $110/mo) isn't compatible.

So far as I know, the only restriction on my plan is the hotspot slowdown for any line that hits the limit (I can't remember if it's 15 or 22gb).

Are any of the new plans close enough to that for the same price without crazy restrictions like 480p streaming (every device I own has a >1080p screen now) or a lockdown on hotspot? I definitely need the hotspot ceiling because my one kid's iPad isn't cellular, and occasionally my middle does a dumb and forgets which device has the SIM in it after we've already left the house, and I also do oncall rotations where I'll have to check in for work wherever I may be.

My FIL has an S20+ 5g, but apparently it's not the UW, because I didn't need to change anything on my plan when we upgraded him this summer.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

Yeah, this time of year is always organized chaos. I’ve been doing this over 10 years, so in more than used to it, doesn’t bother me.

You are forest, your plan doesn’t get the PlayStation plus promo (12 months free with new line, 3 months free with upgrade).

All plans will have a hotspot limit. Your plan is 15GB, the new plans are also 15GB.

I need to know how many lines you have to get you a quote. Also, are you ok with autopay with checking account ?

I have 7 lines, and I just got the Verizon Visa with auto pay set up. Previously had auto pay with checking account.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

Ok, so your plan now is (I assume all lines are phones)

$100 + $20 * 7 = $240


Do Unlimited with autopay (which you qualify for, you’re good) is

$40 * 7 = $280

Any line that doesn’t need the premium data , hotspot, etc you can move to start for $10 less. But then you’re paying the same and losing features.

Yeah, new plans have gotten closer to the $100 plan, but once you hit 6+ lines it’s harder.

Sometimes there are account level promos , if you want me it check for those PM your name and number.

Oop, one of the lines is an iPad. It was on a classic 2 year contract deal, which has been up for a while.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

Then current plan is still $240

New plan is $40 * 6 + $10 = $250

So, closer ?

Looking better. PM inbound for anything specific.

Thanks!

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Hokay, thanks again for your help, Duckman.

I'm pretty sure I did it properly through your referral link. Let me know if you see anything.

Converted 5 of my lines to Do More. 1 line to Play more, and 1 line to the $20 base unlimited (iPad, after I swapped the SIM into it), which is now only $10/mo.

Net change of $0/mo for the plan, but bill went down $8/mo, so won't complain there.

Disney+ bundle activated, which saves me another $13/mo.

And my lines should now be eligible for the $10/mo/line discount for auto-pay with my Verizon Visa.

Now, my question is, because I am considering doing some fuckery with upgrades (getting my wife a P5 using my upgrade, since I got my Note on hers last year), would it be worth it to request 5G-capable SIMs for the 6 lines that don't already have it, even though none of them are 5G phones? That would make it easier to do SIM swapping if I do that upgrade.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Gotcha. Just wanted to smooth the transition of swapping about with my upgrade, etc.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Hey again, Duckman,

I ordered my wife an unlocked P5 direct from Google last month, and it's finally shipped, so I expect it sometime between tomorrow and Friday.

Her current P3XL obviously has a 4G SIM in it. How would I go about getting a 5G UW SIM for her. And if it takes time for that to arrive, will the new phone at least work with the old SIM until it does?

I converted all 7 lines to 5G UW plans last month, so that part is already done.

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AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


waffle iron posted:

A bunch of people in this thread, myself included, have upgraded with Google Store Pixel 5s. Basically customer service can't give you a 5G sim until you have a 5G phone activated. But an old 4G sim will work just fine.

For me, I inserted the 4G sim, started my phone and then got a text message prodding me to upgrade to a 5G sim. I used the web chat to request one and they sent it in the mail in a couple days.

Awesome, thanks. I figured that's how it would go.

I wanted to buy the unlocked one because I used her upgrade to get my phone last year, and doing the whole switcharoo bullshit was getting old. Since it was post sale time, I went ahead and got the unlocked for the same payment as getting it through VZW. Her P3XL has a busted screen, so trade-in is pretty much nil, anyway even for that promo.

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