Complicated cell phone question

Hey guys,

So several years ago I had a personal cell phone that I rarely used, but carried with me anyway(Motorola Startac). Around the time that I got a smart phone for work (about 4 years later) I decided that carrying two phones was sort of dumb. I asked my manager if I could just use the work phone as my personal phone. He said sure as long as I wasn't abusing it with crazy long distance calls, etc.. I ditched the old Motorola.

Fast-forward to last year when my company "upgraded" the smart phone to a better one. About 5 hours after getting the new phone it slipped out of my hand, and shattered on the concrete floor (no case). I asked my boss what to do, and he said to go get a new one(we work for the provider). Well it turns out they didn't have insurance on it, so we were stuck with either fixing it or buying a new one. I felt it was my fault so I asked about replacing it, but for $500 I said no thanks. My boss suggested just getting the old phone re-activated, but the store wouldn't do it without authorization from management well above our level.

I decided that rather than deal with all of this I would look for the same cell phone for sale on CL. Quickly I found one for cheap money, and decided to purchase it out of my pocket(now my phone). I took the SIM card from the broken phone and put it in my phone. All is well, and the company still pays the bills, just like it was the phone they provided.

Here's where it gets a bit funny. Our contract between the union employees (me), and the company runs out on Saturday at midnight. We may be on strike/locked out come Sunday morning. We were instructed to turn in keys, laptops, vehicles, etc, including phones on Friday at the end of our day. No big deal for my other co-workers in my department as they have personal cell phones, but I don't (well sort of do). Now I can, and will turn in the broken phone as that is their phone, and I will include the SIM card that is theirs as well, but I really need a phone.

My question is can I get a pre-paid plan, but just use my phone? Probably I bet, but without a SIM card how does that work? My sister mentioned that she could add a line to her plan, and looked into it for me. It is $45 to add a phone, and $40 a month for the phone with data. I think I could probably do this cheaper, and I don't NEED the data, just really the phone at this point. the data would be a bonus, but with the possibility of not having an income I can do without it right now. Does any of this depend on the carrier, or are they all sort of interchangeable now?

I know this sounds like a bunch of 1st world problems, but when you drive old cars you need a phone.

Thanks for your time.

If your phone is a GSM phone then it shouldn't be much of a problem to get a SIM from one of the cheapo carriers. If it's CDMA/Verizon, it should work on whatever Wallyworld offers (can't remember the provider, sorry). IIRC with CDMA/Sprint you have to stay on the Sprint network as the two CDMAs aren't quite compatible.

But yes, you should be able to get going most likely for less than what it would cost to go on your sister's plan.

Oh I forgot to ask as well. I am really clueless when it comes to most technology, but if I get a SIM card for my phone, is there a way to call forward the number on the work cell to this new number? If so I assume I will have to do it from the work cell before the end of my day on Friday(tomorrow) when I have to turn in the phone. I assume text messages don't transfer with a call forwarding setup, correct?

Forgot to mention, your phone has to be an unlocked GSM phone, or you can only get a SIM from the original provider you got the phone from and possibly their MVOs.

Yeah, you probably need the work phone to forward the number, and no, I've never seen text messages forward.

First thing, I think you are with VZ.

Return broken handset and SIM card to management.

Take the handset that you paid for with you to a VZ retailer. There you will begin a new line of service through VZ Prepaid. They will issue you a new phone number and supply you with a new SIM.
VZ Prepaid will be $45 per month with 1GB. If you throw down a credit card for reoccurring bill payment (called auto pay) they will throw in another 1G per month. If you need more GB's then $10 will get you 1GB more.

Get this new number issued before you turn in the old SIM to management.
With the company SIM in the handset, you reset the VM on the handset so that callers to that handset will hear you tell them what new phone number you can be reached at. And/or, you can forward the calls to the new number.

Once that forwarding is complete, put your prepaid SIM into your handset and the handset will work as your new phone number.

To VZ prepaid, you are making no long term commitment. $45 makes the service work for 31 days. If you do not give them another $45 then the phone calls are not delivered to you on the 32 day. Personally, if you are going to be at this short term, I would not sign up for the auto pay feature.

Call me if I can help further. John 419 five 4 one - one 33 five

Here is some tutorial on call forwarding:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/call-forwarding/

Here is some tutorial on voice mail:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/voice-mail-faqs/
As an example, you can still check your messages from another handset.
You can also change the greeting or message remotely.

I would suggest StraightTalk wireless. It's the WalMart pre-paid. If you were on Verizon before your reception should be exactly the same. It's $45 a month for 5 gigs of data and unlimited everything else.

nokincy wrote: I would suggest StraightTalk wireless. It's the WalMart pre-paid. If you were on Verizon before your reception should be exactly the same. It's $45 a month for 5 gigs of data and unlimited everything else.

This is good advice too.

Yeah, StraightTalk was the one I couldn't remember...

nokincy wrote: I would suggest StraightTalk wireless. It's the WalMart pre-paid. If you were on Verizon before your reception should be exactly the same. It's $45 a month for 5 gigs of data and unlimited everything else.

Now the 5gb of data is LTE and throttled after 5gb. Also, StraightTalk hits you up for sales tax based on the area code you get on your phone, so it may actually be more than $45 with state sales tax. They give $2.50 discount for signing up with a credit card. SWMBO's phone is on it and it's $47.25 total including sales tax & the autobilling discount. They also have several provider choices if I remember correctly. AT&T is one and I think Sprint or Verizon is the other.

for the text messages: assuming it's a droid phone, you can set it up to send all of your text messages to the Gmail account that's tied to the phone automatically. you can even send texts right from your browser.. also, it even tells you who calls so you can call them back.. it also backs up all your contacts, too..

it's not hard to set up, i think i had to download an app..

this assumes, of course, that you don't have the Gmail account thru work...

i don't know what to tell you if it's an iphone, but i'd hope that they have a way to do the same thing..

BoxheadTim wrote: If your phone is a GSM phone then it shouldn't be much of a problem to get a SIM from one of the cheapo carriers. If it's CDMA/Verizon, it should work on whatever Wallyworld offers (can't remember the provider, sorry). IIRC with CDMA/Sprint you have to stay on the Sprint network as the two CDMAs aren't quite compatible. But yes, you should be able to get going most likely for less than what it would cost to go on your sister's plan.

That information was correct back when everything was 3G. Everyone uses 4G now, which uses LTE (GSM-based).

For the most part, you cannot transfer phones between carriers, period. You may luck out and find someone willing to make it work.