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Author Topic: What determines "bring your own" compatibility?  (Read 588 times)

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Offline chrono

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What determines "bring your own" compatibility?
« on: January 19, 2016, 10:06:38 pm »
So I've been reading the BYO page at the tracfone review blog for well over a year, with keen interest. Last winter it seemed pretty obvious that either tracfone or verizon was limiting what phones could be used. There was even speculation on another forum that verizon would be limiting them to low-end phones forever so tracfone wouldn't be competing with their high-end market.

This winter the scene is entirely different; the list of phones you can use with the SIM kits is almost identical to the list of phones available from any of the contract-phone carriers.

So my question is, what (or who) now determines compatibility? For instance, the BYO page lists the Galaxy Note II and III, but not the more recent 4 or 5.

I realize this is a basic question in the context of this forum, but as a potential shopper, I'm curious what your understanding is regarding the mechanism determining compatibility, or if anything goes as long as it works with the network in question?

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Offline cv91913

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Re: What determines "bring your own" compatibility?
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2016, 10:34:00 pm »
There are other forums like Turk or Howard Forums that are more geared to your question. That said, the CDMA (Verizon) BYOP is a bit more iffy than the GSM BYOP, which is far more open. There have been reports of lots of Verizon branded phones being activated on CDMA, but there have also been failures. The reason for the failure has not always been clear. On the GSM side, as long as the phone is AT&T branded or is "unlocked", it will work. On the GSM side, the sim is activated, the phone make/model is never identified to TF. The only issue on GSM could be getting the right APN settings to get Data and MMS working correctly.

Offline rcunningham

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Re: What determines "bring your own" compatibility?
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2016, 06:47:36 am »
I suggest the BYOP over using the TracFone devices. They are all low end devices and they don't appear to be improving anytime soon. Back a ear ago we thought they did.

As cv91913, the Verizon CMDA phones are hard to get setup. I have had trouble with something or other when using the CDMA BYOP. On my last VZW phone I never got it fully working, Customer Support said if I restart my phone and that would fix it, never did. It took about 3 hours of support phone calls to get the basic things working, SMS and calling. I have also has success on my LG Ally, but it can only run Gingerbread.

With GSM it was much easier, all the phones I used where setup within 12 hours, It only took 30 minutes of support calls to get it fully working. I received a number of text messages from TracFone with a download link to install the APN. I am not sure if that will work on all phones, but it did for me. The whole processes was pretty easy.

If you need a phone that's good and works on TracFone, I suggest the LG G4 Beat (Use the LG-H736P version). I have the phone myself and MMS, SMS, Data and calling all work. For $200 you get a 13 MP Camera with manual mode, a 5.2 inch 1080p display, NFC, the LG G4 look and feel, the LG UX 4.0 and a whole bunch of goodies.
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Offline Jon

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Re: What determines "bring your own" compatibility?
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2016, 12:43:57 pm »
straight talk really didnt care.....at all. we used two bad esn htc one m8. the sim kit came with nano, micro, and regular sims, and if you do the cdma straight talk that covers sprint n verizon

Offline Matt

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Sorry for the late reply

TracFone seems to like to be difficult often and not just give you a list of phones that work with the BYOP.

So far I have tried a Verizon iPhone 5S (my current daily driver) and an AT&T iPhone 3G (just for fun for a bit).
I'm almost certain most phones will work, but I wouldn't guarantee it.

If you call them (1 (800) 867-7183) and get to a human and ask them "Will phonename work with the BYOP program?" they'll probably be able to tell you. (That's what I did)

I would highly recommend you BYOP instead of using a TracFone. Most are bad, and the others are mediocre at best. I would reccomend you get an iPhone, Galaxy, Moto, LG G, or HTC.

Offline DevilSlayerDante

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I'm quite happy with my LG Ultimate 2, only thing I want is a better CPU, more RAM, and LTE.  But I can't get a 2GHz quad-core CPU with 2GB of RAM in an L70; I don't need a camera with more than 5MP, I hate Material UI, and I prefer hardware action/home/back buttons...no navbar for me.  Now I can't get a phone I like, cuz nobody makes one.

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