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[QUESTION] 3g and 4g

A

Alex_2259

Lurker
My carrier is Verizon

I found a phone on Ebay that is cheap, it only comes in 4g (the 3g version is more expensive because logic) so I was wondering if I could put a 3g sim card in it (or will Verizon do it for me for free (the phone is Motorola XT912 Droid Razr)

Also could I take the SIM card out of my current 3g phone and put it in the Motorola and it will be activated when I turn it on?

Or can you just use the 4g phone as-is and put it on a 3g plan with no extra charge

If this is the wrong section give me a break please, I am new here.
 
On Verizon there is no 3G SIM card. Phones that are 3G only do not use a SIM card (Like my old Incredible 2). The 4G phones on Verizon use a 4G SIM card to connect to their 4G service.

Verizon does not have separate 4G and 3G service plans. You pick your plan and the phone connects to which ever service it is able to depending on if it's 4G capable or not.

For instance, when I lost mt GS3 I used an Incredible 2 which is not 4G. I still kept my same plan but was only able to get 3G since this is all the phone is capable of. Now I have the GS4 and again I still have my same plan but have 4G again since the phone is a 4G phone.

If your current phone has a 3G SIM card in it, it is most likely for a GSM service like AT&T or T-Mobile.
 
Some Verizon 3G only phones do have SIMs but they, as far as I recall, only hold contract/plan data and don't actually do anything to connect the phone to the network. My old Droid 3 (not LTE/4G) had a SIM.

If you have a Verizon 3G only phone and it has a SIM you will need a new micro SIM for the RAZR.

What phone do you currently have?
 
Clementine_3 said:
Some Verizon 3G only phones do have SIMs but they, as far as I recall, only hold contract/plan data and don't actually do anything to connect the phone to the network. My old Droid 3 (not LTE/4G) had a SIM.

If you have a Verizon 3G only phone and it has a SIM you will need a new micro SIM for the RAZR.

What phone do you currently have?
Click to expand...

I have a verizon ZTE. I opened the back of it and saw something I thought was a SIM card.

so the 4g phone won't require me to pay more to activate it?
 
Assuming you already have a data plan, no, it won't cost more. If you don't currently have a data plan then you will have to add one, which may mean a Share Everything plan. What type of plan do you have? In general though, it's just a matter of getting a SIM and activating it, there should be no charge to do that. You can take the new phone into a Verizon store and have them do it for you, just don't let them talk you into changing plans if you don't have to/want to ;)

It doesn't look like the ZTE has a SIM anyway, you probably saw the SD card?
 
Clementine_3 said:
Some Verizon 3G only phones do have SIMs but they, as far as I recall, only hold contract/plan data and don't actually do anything to connect the phone to the network. My old Droid 3 (not LTE/4G) had a SIM.

If you have a Verizon 3G only phone and it has a SIM you will need a new micro SIM for the RAZR.

What phone do you currently have?
Click to expand...

I have a Verizon ZTE.

if I get the 4g phone I won't need to pay extra assuming I want to keep a 3g plan?? (I have shared data and want to upgrade 1 of my lines)
 
As Valorian pointed out, there is no separation between 3G and 4G/LTE as far as charges/billing is concerned. Data is data and is billed as such. The difference is in the phone, either hardware/radios or your location (may not be a 4G area). So no, there will be no extra charge as long as you don't actually change your plan. If you have shared data and are not changing that at all then your bill will remain the same regardless of what phone you have.

If you were to buy a subsidized phone through Verizon then all of that goes out the window, but to just change phones it's not going to change anything.
 
Clementine_3 said:
As Valorian pointed out, there is no separation between 3G and 4G/LTE as far as charges/billing is concerned. Data is data and is billed as such. The difference is in the phone, either hardware/radios or your location (may not be a 4G area). So no, there will be no extra charge as long as you don't actually change your plan. If you have shared data and are not changing that at all then your bill will remain the same regardless of what phone you have.

If you were to buy a subsidized phone through Verizon then all of that goes out the window, but to just change phones it's not going to change anything.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, I will be buying the Motorla XT91 Droid Razr

I am buying it from here: Motorola XT912 Droid RAZR 16GB Verizon Wireless WiFi Android 8 0 MP Cell Phone 723755885035 | eBay
 
Clementine_3 said:
Assuming you already have a data plan, no, it won't cost more. If you don't currently have a data plan then you will have to add one, which may mean a Share Everything plan. What type of plan do you have? In general though, it's just a matter of getting a SIM and activating it, there should be no charge to do that. You can take the new phone into a Verizon store and have them do it for you, just don't let them talk you into changing plans if you don't have to/want to ;)

It doesn't look like the ZTE has a SIM anyway, you probably saw the SD card?
Click to expand...

Just realized I posted the same thing 2 times. And I have no idea what I was seeing, I know it wasn't the SD card because I put that in the phone a while back. It was just a red thing near the battery with a "Verizon" label on it.
 
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