Activating an old phone

I have been using a Droid Eris for about 9 months. I can't justify the costs which include a $30 per month data plan. So, I bought an old Verizon LG off of Craigs List and have been trying to activate it. The website refuses to recognize it. I can't really locate a valid EIN/MEID number that starts with a letter from A-F. The website tells me to contact customer support. However, when I call customer support, I can't figure out how to talk with a real personn. Can anyone help me?

The problem with old phones is several issues. First, if they are not GPS E911 enabled, by federal law they cant be activated. Old analog, and many dual/trimode digitals came out before this Federal mandate and can not be activated, no matter how much money you flash in the face of Verizon(its the law). Second issue is even if it is the same make and model, if they are from a different carrier, they may not have the same hardware (frequencies) to communicate with Verizon's towers, or the required programming to connect. The only ones that I have had some success on were some of the ALTEL phones.
Because of these issues, many times, Verizon has banned that ESN from their network. You can try to call them, or take them in to a store to try to program them, but dont be surprised, or angry at them if they cant do it.

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HT4972 I tried to update my old iPhone 3GS and is giving me a message that it can be activated. This is my old phone and it shouldn't have a line but I Still like to use it as an iPod. What can I do.

I tried to update my old iPhone 3GS and is giving me a message that it can be activated. This is my old phone and it shouldn't have a line but I Still like to use it as an iPod. What can I do.

Activation issues are almost always the result of a device that has been hacked or jailbroken. If that is the case, no support can be provided here.

If my iPhone was stolen and i want to reactive an old phone using that same number for the time being while i waited to see if I could get my iPhone back, would the iPhone still work while i was using a re-activated old phone of mine?

If my iPhone was stolen and i want to reactive an old phone using that same number for the time being while i waited to see if I could get my iPhone back, would the iPhone still work while i was using a re-activated old phone of mine?

If a new SIM is activated on the same account for the same number, any existing SIMs for that number are deactivated.
Why exactly would you care if the SIM in the missing device still works or not?

TS4268 i've backup in itunes with another phone number activation , now i want active with new phone number without losing old backups , what can i do for this problem ?? :(

i've backup in itunes with another phone number activation , now i want active with new phone number without losing old backups , what can i do for this problem ??

If I get this right, you've ported your phone number to AT&T with the purchase of the iPhone. That is considered opening your own account under your name. Your brother's account is not ported to AT&T unless you used his SS# instead of yours. Your brother still has his account under Verizon Wireless, all you did was use your cell phone number to when you opened your own AT&T account.
If you don't want to use your Verizon Wireless phone #, my suggestion is to call AT&T customer service and explain that you want a new phone number instead of the ported Verizon number.

Easiest way to transfer contacts/data from old phone (5) to new (6 and 6 ). I did "back up to this computer" for both phones. After activation (verizon) do I just plug into iTunes? One phone is still using iOS7 (is that a problem?, other is iOS 8.1.

What is the best/safest way to transfer contacts/data from old phones (5) to new (6 and 6 ). I did "back up to this computer" for both phones. After activation (verizon) do I just plug into iTunes? One of the old phones is still using iOS 7, will that be a problem? (the other has iOS 8.1).

The following has instructions on how to transfer to a new iPhone using either iCloud or iTunes: Transfer content from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to a new device - Apple Support

I have a new iPhone and when it was activated at the store I had not saved my pictures from the old phone. Is there a way to still do this?

I have a new iPhone and when it was activated at the store I had not saved my pictures. I there still a way that I can download the pictures from the old phone since it does not have service anymore?

No.

Can I get a "new" old phone from Amazon and have it activated?

Hello,
I have an old Verizon LG VX8300 that I would like to replace with the same model which I can purchase at various online stores. My contract is long over and I pay month to month.
Will Verizon activate this phone for me or do I have to get a newer phone? Will there be any fees? Anything info you can pride would be most appreciated. I never use testing, MP3's, internet or email with my phone. Simple local and long distance is all that is required.
I_S

If the phone is VZW branded and the phone is not blacklisted or marked as stolen, not a problem activating, there would not be any charge. You would just shut off the current phone and dial *228 from the 'new' old phone and follow the prompts.
There is no charge

I am selling my old phone, what should I do to make sure it is ready to be activated by someone else?

I recently bought a new phone and I want to sell my old one (an iPhone 4). I activated my new phone and erased all the data on my old phone so there is no personal information on it. Do I need to do anything else to make sure the buyer can activate this phone right when they buy it?

<Duplicate post. Please see I am selling my old phone, what should I do to make sure it is ready to be activated by someone else? for any replies.>

Does roaming while activating new (old Alltel) phone matter?

Hi,
Does it matter if I activate a new phone (actually an old Alltel Razr with clear ESN/Hex) in a roaming area rather than my home area?
After the conversion, I moved ~120 miles to an area that I'm pretty sure would be roaming and has a different area code. Alltel in my old home area was converted to Verizon (obviously ) and Alltel in my new area was converted to ATT. My Alltel Motorola Hint worked fine in both areas (and nationally) until I broke it grrr.
I will call *228 option 1 from the new phone while the old phone is turned off. The question is, will there be no issues if I activate now while roaming vs waiting a couple weeks until I travel to my old home area?
I have learned alot fom reading this forum (but not enough not to ask this question lol) so many thanks to the great contributors here!
tia!

today I ended up in a Verizon coverage area though still not my "home" area. I tried *228 option 3 ("not a valid option") and option 1 (something like 'not allowed' and clicked off--I thought it answered as "Verizon" but maybe I misheard). I called customer service who did have me try the *228 option 1 (which still hung up on me) and then manually programmed the Razr. Ta da! Customer service was very polite and helpful, though still asked if we wanted to upgrade to an iPhone4 --I'm sure they have to try or they get in trouble. I did get to say that I was unhappy that there's a new tower a mile away but we still don't get coverage at home, so maybe Verizon will look into the new tower (stranger things have happened, I suppose...).
I didn't try the *22800 etc (sorry budone!) so I didn't attempt every possibility but activation on regular *228 while roaming didn't work (as Ralph said ) and activating through customer service worked. for anyone else running into this situation.
thank you Ralph and budone for your help! It was sure neat being able to make/receive phone calls again!

HT4623 trying to active my old iPhone 3gs. it showing that activation server is temporary unavailable and on the iTunes showing that there is no sim card installed in the iPhone you are attempting to activate. I unlocked my phone then i upgrade it, after

trying to active my old iPhone 3gs. it showing that activation server is temporary unavailable and on the iTunes showing that there is no sim card installed in the iPhone you are attempting to activate. I unlocked my phone then i upgrade it, after that this happen. i tried with other sim same message come again and again.if any body know solution let me know. thanks

Was the SIM card activated on another phone? I assume this is an ATT style trying to use on T-Mobile? Was the SIM installed correctly? Is the carrier (like T-Mobile) operating IOS 6 devices yet?
If the SIM is a valid SIM from say T-Mobile, you may want to contact them for assistance activating the SIM card.
Activation and SIM issues typically point to the carrier. And if this was a CDMA phone say working with verizon, it will NOT work for ATT or T-Mobile as they use different electronics on the 3GS. The SIM slot is for international use only.

Can't get my iPhone6 activated after updating old phone.

I activated my iphone 6 then iTunes told me I had to update my old 5's OS to sync, or something along those lines (haven't used iTunes in a long time, btw it is a horrible piece of software IMO, which makes everything as difficult and annoying as possible). Well, afterwards my old phone now has my cellular service and my new one has no cellular service. I wasn't familair with the new iOS and didn't realize this would happen, stupidly. I have no idea now how to get my new phone activated again. I might try to restore it. Thanks for any help.

FNizz22,
Have no worries, help is here! I'm more than happy to help with this. Just to make sure that I understand, you have successfully updated your iPhone 5 software and ran a backup? If yes, then what I would recommend to do is a reset all settings on that phone. Then on your new phone, go ahead and go into settings, general, reset, and select reset all settings. You will be prompted to complete a restore via iTunes, and then you should see service, plus all of your stored info on your new phone. Please let us know if this works or if you need additional assistance. Thanks!
ErinW_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

HT5661 i have a new iphone 5c replacing my iphone 4s. I backed up my 4s info on iCloud and then activated the new phone and downloaded from iclould. I then erased all info on my old 4s. However, I still can't get cellular service on my new phone. help

i have a new iphone 5c replacing my iphone 4s. I backed up my 4s info on iCloud and then activated the new phone and downloaded from iclould. I then erased all info on my old 4s. However, I still can't get cellular service on my new phone. help!

Keep powering your phone off and back on, it can take up to 2 hours for a normal service provider to finalize the activation process. When you got your new iPhone (congrats by the way) you should have received a little bubble that appeared that told you when the phone was activated, did you see that?

Activated a new phone to an old plan and now my other phone is acting crazy!

So One of my phones broke and I got a new phone activated yesterday. I have two phones on my plan, the recently activated one is working fine, but the other one is now cutting on and off and saying I need to download watchdog. It also is saying that my new phone is sending the other phone blank text messages (since I activated the new phone, it has sent over 130 blank texts to the old phone. Can anyone help me out with this?

TRAVISG wrote:
So One of my phones broke and I got a new phone activated yesterday. I have two phones on my plan, the recently activated one is working fine, but the other one is now cutting on and off and saying I need to download watchdog. It also is saying that my new phone is sending the other phone blank text messages (since I activated the new phone, it has sent over 130 blank texts to the old phone. Can anyone help me out with this?
You should have been told when activating the new phone to keep your old phone off. It needs to be off for the new one to activate and work properly.

I lost my iphone and activated my number with an old phone. Problem is people with iphones are now sending me blank texts. How do I fix this?

I had an iPhone 4s but left it on my car and drove off. Now I have activated a temporary phone my mom had on hand (Lotus) while I save up for a new iPhone.
Is there a list out there in cyber space somewhere that lists all the iPhone numbers because now people who have iPhones send me blank text messages? I have been able to isolate this down to only happening when they send me an "iMessage" but I don`t understand why I keep getting them? Even people I had never texted with before losing my phone are sending me these blank messages. How do I fix this?

If you registered you iPhone with Apple you may want to try unregistering it by:
Go to: https://supportprofile.apple.com/MySupportProfile.do
Log in if not already logged in.
Click on ">" to the right of the phone listing
Click "unregister"
This may help unregister you iPhone with the iMessage server, allowing texts sent to you from iPhones to be sent as normal SMS/MMS rather than iMessages.

Will activating/setting up the new phone de-activate the old phone

I took my wife's new phone to work to program the phone numbers and do the initial setup, but she has her old phone with her and needs it. I don't want to deactivate her current phone by trying to set up the new phone. The new phone says "Initial programming needed". Can I start to program her phone and not "activate/de-activate" or is it all or nothing?
Thanks in advance!

when you activate the new phone, the old phone should be turned off, and it becomes inactive
what kind of phone is it?
can you run backup assistant to have that transfer the numbers?

Activating an old phone

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