Using Droid 3 without mobile data plan...

[Corvette]

Hey everyone.

So I made a little bit of a hasty move. My girlfriend has a dumb phone and wants a smart phone, so I bought her a second hand Droid 3. I made the purchase before I did any research, surmising that I could just move her Verizon SIM card over from her dumb phone and into the Droid 3.

She doesn't have a data plan, so I thought that the phone would simply only receive cellular service without 3G mobile data, and that she could use WiFi when she needed it. But of course now I'm doing research (after I bought the phone) and I see that most people are saying that Verizon will recognize the phone as a smart phone and all hell will befall her.

What will happen? Some say that Verizon will start charging her for a data plan she never signed up for, in which case her mom will kill me. Others say it simply won't work at all. Anyone know for sure?

 

[Clementine_3]

Verizon will recognize the phone as a smart phone and all hell will befall her.

What will happen? Some say that Verizon will start charging her for a data plan she never signed up for, in which case her mom will kill me.

As Inigo Montoya said...prepare to die. lol.

The Verizon system will recognize it as a smartphone and it will need to have data added in order to be activated.

You have three (as I see it) options:
1) suck it up and add data (and, prepare to die. I just love that line!)

2) use it as a wi-fi only phone, but then there is no calling (unless you do the whole wi-fi calling thing, which is probably not what she/you wants)

3) sell it, hopefully for close to what you just paid for it.

Bottom line though, Verizon will not activate a smartphone without a data package.

 

[Corvette]

So if I put the SIM card in it, what will happen? It won't work until I go through the activation procedure? I have a data plan, but on my Galaxy Nexus, I bypassed the activation screen altogether, popped the SIM in and it worked without having to do any sort of activation procedure at all. Is that only because I do have data?

 

[doogald]

So if I put the SIM card in it, what will happen? It won't work until I go through the activation procedure? I have a data plan, but on my Galaxy Nexus, I bypassed the activation screen altogether, popped the SIM in and it worked without having to do any sort of activation procedure at all. Is that only because I do have data?

From a Verizon point of view, the droid 3 is a non-sim phone. It does have a SIM card, of course, but that's designed to be used by the world phone features while traveling outside the us. The galaxy nexus does activate with an LTE sim, but the d3 is not LTE, and activates with the built in CDMA radio.

Sell the d3 and get a feature phone instead.

 

[Corvette]

From a Verizon point of view, the droid 3 is a non-sim phone. It does have a SIM card, of course, but that's designed to be used by the world phone features while traveling outside the us. The galaxy nexus does activate with an LTE sim, but the d3 is not LTE, and activates with the built in CDMA radio.

Sell the d3 and get a feature phone instead.

Thanks. Stupid of me to buy the D3 without first doing my research. It's really too bad that you can't have a smart phone without a data plan on Verizon. How does Verizon identify that it's a smart phone, anyway? I wonder if it's software related, in which case someone might be able to develop software that makes the phone identify as a feature phone. Or is it done using something like a MAC address?

 

[doogald]

Thanks. Stupid of me to buy the D3 without first doing my research. It's really too bad that you can't have a smart phone without a data plan on Verizon. How does Verizon identify that it's a smart phone, anyway? I wonder if it's software related, in which case someone might be able to develop software that makes the phone identify as a feature phone. Or is it done using something like a MAC address?

I believe that the meid you give them when activating identifies the exact phone, so they know all of the details about it.

 

[OneFore9]

Thanks. Stupid of me to buy the D3 without first doing my research. It's really too bad that you can't have a smart phone without a data plan on Verizon. How does Verizon identify that it's a smart phone, anyway? I wonder if it's software related, in which case someone might be able to develop software that makes the phone identify as a feature phone. Or is it done using something like a MAC address?

You can use the D3 on Verizon's network without a data plan. You just have to use an MVNO, such as PagePlus or Selectel. I use my D3 on PagePlus, keep data off most of the time and use WiFi. It works just fine. Depending on usage patterns, you can get by on as little as $30/year up to as much as $55/month. No contract, no taxes, no junk fees.

If she's under contract with Verizon, then she can't use the D3 without a data plan. She could terminate her contract, pay an ETF is necessary and then port her number to an MVNO and then use the D3.