T-Mobile Prepaid and Nexus 5...

[Ranhead]

Have any of you Virgin Mobile guys verified that the Nexus WON'T work on Virgin? They're a Sprint MVNO, so since it works on sprint, logic says it would work on Virgin too.

If you are talking Virgin USA than Nexus will not work. VM phones do not have sim cards. You cannot even take a VM phone to Sprint. Virgin is so segregated that even though I have a Spring branded phone on VM (it was a replacement), Ting will not take the IMEI

 

[badutahboy]

If you are talking Virgin USA than Nexus will not work. VM phones do not have sim cards. You cannot even take a VM phone to Sprint. Virgin is so segregated that even though I have a Spring branded phone on VM (it was a replacement), Ting will not take the IMEI

Virgin's LTE phones do utilize SIM cards. They have to.

And you're correct that Sprint won't activate a Virgin phone (a choice, not a hardware limitation), but Virgin will activate a Sprint phone or even a Verizon phone. I have a couple friends on Virgin, and both of them are using phones from other CDMA carriers because Virgin's phone selection has been terrible.

 

[g01851]

Glad I read this thread. Doing the VM to T-Mobile switch here, so will be sure to call VM first!

 

[Ranhead]

Virgin's LTE phones do utilize SIM cards. They have to.

And you're correct that Sprint won't activate a Virgin phone (a choice, not a hardware limitation), but Virgin will activate a Sprint phone or even a Verizon phone. I have a couple friends on Virgin, and both of them are using phones from other CDMA carriers because Virgin's phone selection has been terrible.

I was wrong about the SIM card. Thier LTE phones come with a SIM card, they don't offer SIM cards separately. I never investigated LTE phones before and was unaware. I do appoligize for the bad information. However Virgin Mobile is not currently activating any non Virgin Mobile phones. They have in the past but no longer.


From VM FAQ:

Can I bring my own compatible phone? No. Presently, Virgin Mobile will not activate nonVirgin Mobile devices and will only activate devices intended for Virgin Mobile.

 

[badutahboy]

I was wrong about the SIM card. Thier LTE phones come with a SIM card, they don't offer SIM cards separately. I never investigated LTE phones before and was unaware. I do appoligize for the bad information. However Virgin Mobile is not currently activating any non Virgin Mobile phones. They have in the past but no longer.


From VM FAQ:

Can I bring my own compatible phone? No. Presently, Virgin Mobile will not activate nonVirgin Mobile devices and will only activate devices intended for Virgin Mobile.

That's interesting. I wonder if that's a very recent change, because one of my buddies is using a Sprint Galaxy S4 on Virgin right now... So within the last 6 months, they've been activating non-Virgin phones.

 

[bac22]

I just switched from Virgin Mobile to T-Mobile's $30 plan, so here's a tip. If you're porting your phone number from Virgin Mobile, be sure to call them first to get your account number.

This is definitely good to know, I would have thought my phone # was it as well. You can also get your account number by contacting them via the web which eliminates the hassle of dealing with them on the phone. Here is the response I got back (obviously deleted my account info).

Thanks for contacting Virgin Mobile Customer Care.

Our records indicate that your account number is: xxxxxxxx

Keep in mind that if you want to transfer your number to another
provider, we assess a termination fee, which is equal to any cash
balance that you may have in your account.

Your understanding is highly appreciated.

If you need additional assistance, feel free to let us know how we can
assist further or contact us at 1-888-322-1122 (or *86 from a Virgin
Mobile handset). You can reach us Monday through Friday from 6:00 AM ?
10:00 PM CST, Saturday and Sunday from 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM CST. As a kind
reminder, always make sure to include your Virgin Mobile phone number
and PIN on all replies.

One thing though that got my attention in the response was the comment about the termination fee. My balance is $0 because I auto pay monthly using a CC#, but I find the termination fee odd and also have to wonder if there are some legality issues with taking any of your money you have in account and using it as a termination fee...so be aware of that.

 

[umataro42]

I just switched from VM to the $30 T-Mobile pre-paid plan. I got my phone from Google Play and went to Walmart and bought the Sim Starter Kit. It comes with a micro sim card and the $30 plan. Went to T-Mobile's site (in the instructions) to activate it. Had the same problem mentioned about having to call VM to get my account number. I had assumed it was my phone number. NOT! It totally messed up the activation. Had to go back and forth with VM and TM support. You can guess how much fun that was. If I had started out with the correct account number I think everything would have gone smoothly though. Now I'm loving my N5 on a $30 plan. Woo hoo!

Thanks for the heads up! I already have my Nexus 5 and am just waiting out the 2 weeks left on my Verizon contract before also switching to T-Mobile (but going with the $50 plan since I need more than 100 minutes of talk).

I just signed into my VZW account online to check and the account number is listed there too, so I won't have to call them. Which is a relief, because I hate having to deal with the "even though we've given you no reason to, we'd like you to stay with us" spiel. And I'm sure the people working the phones don't like to give it either.

 

[ravenas]

Oh and P.S. I know for sure I had given them the right account info because I had called multiple straight talk reps and asked before transferring to make sure I got it right. I wanted to avoid hassles, but they happened anyway.

This is why I switched my number to a Google Voice number years ago. I don't even remember what my actual cell phone numbers are. GV is the only number I give out and that rings every phone I've got near me at the moment: home and cell, work and cell, vacation home and cell.

I have an SG3 on a Sprint family plan with my sis using her work discount. Costs me $62.50 for my part off the unlimited plan. Only issue is the terribly slow data speeds. Have a Galaxy Nexus on the $30 /no T Mobile plan for my dad (I was nice and bequeathed both to him last summer). I'll be setting up my new Nexus 5 on another $30/month T Mobile plan this week. Service can be spottier then Sprint in some places we travel to but where it works T Mobile usually has higher data speeds. Biggest issue is when we go to football games their are so many people using their phones on Verizon and Sprint the only one with a data signal is my dad. Very irritating.

Has anyone had issues having two $30 plans in the same house? I read something last year that said you could only do one. My dad pays his T Mobile bill now, but the Sim may be registered under my name. I can switch that with how I register the new Sim. Make him the primary on the new and then just switch the Sim cards in the phone. He uses a Google Voice number too so no one cares or knows what his cell phone number is.