How to make sure your phone works on a prepaid alternative carrier

Here’s how to make sure your unlocked or pre-owned phone will work with an alternative carrier.

There are a number of things to consider before moving to an alternative carrier. How much data do I really need? Am I looking for better service, or just cheaper service? And if I already have a phone, will it work on the carrier that I choose?

We’re going to delve into this topic, but there are a couple of things we should get out of the way beforehand.

Advertisement

An introduction

Before we talk about whether your phone will work on a particular alternative carrier, we should direct you to a few introductory posts about what exactly these companies offer, and why you should think about switching over.

• What is an alternative carrier?
• What do I need to switch from the Big Four to an alternative carrier?

Once you’ve read through those, there are a few more things you need to know. In the U.S., there are four major carriers with nationwide networks — AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. All four of them use generally the same technology, but there are some major differences worth noting.

• Sprint and Verizon have 3G networks that use aging (and disappearing) CDMA technology. All phones that run on their networks must have special radios that support CDMA. Thankfully, most phones these days have some sort of CDMA support.
• T-Mobile and AT&T use a more common HSPA+ technology for 3G service. Practically every phone you can buy today — even those designed for Verizon and Sprint — will likely work on AT&T and T-Mobile, as long as the SIM card is unlocked.

Thankfully, the days of poor interoperability between carriers are behind us, but there are some lingering issues. Even though all the major U.S. carriers have adopted what amounts to the same LTE standard as their high-speed mobile internet offering, they all use different wireless spectrum — also known as wireless bands, or frequencies — to deliver calls, text and, most importantly, data, over the air.

Unlocking the phone

Even if your phone is technically compatible with a particular network, the SIM slot still needs to be unlocked to be able to work on carriers both in the U.S. and abroad.

In the U.S., unlocking services are free as long as your account is in good standing and your phone hasn’t been reported lost, stolen or involved in illegal activity. All the Big Four carriers are obligated to unlock your phone, though the process differs between them. All recent Verizon phones are unlocked out of the box.

• Unlock an AT&T phone
• Unlock a Verizon phone
• Unlock a Sprint phone
• Unlock a T-Mobile phone

The carriers

Let’s discuss the individual carriers themselves, and why your phone — perhaps one you bought through your old carrier, or purchased unlocked from, say, Amazon — may or may not work on the network.

Advertisement

Alternative carriers powered by Verizon

There aren’t that many Verizon-powered alternative carriers, or MVNOs, in the U.S., so we’ll start with the easy one. Companies like Total Wireless or Straight Talk, which are powered by Verizon’s network, make it pretty easy to bring your own phone. They ask that you make sure your phone supports CDMA service, and offer network checkers to help you verify that your phone will indeed work on their network.

Quick trick: Open your phone’s dialler and type *#06# to get its MEID number.

As we said above to work on a Verizon-based alternative carrier, your phone needs to support the following frequencies:

• 3G: 800Mhz (BC0), 1900Mhz (BC1) 1
• LTE: 700Mhz (Band 13), 1700/2100Mhz (Band 4), 1900Mhz (Band 2)

1 Phone must support bands on CDMA.

Many popular phones today, from the Samsung Galaxy S7 to the Google Pixel to cheaper devices like the OnePlus 3T and Moto G5 Plus, support Verizon’s 3G and LTE networks. As long as you do your homework beforehand, you should be able to bring your phone over to any alternative carrier that runs on Verizon’s network.

Here are the most popular alternative carriers that run on the Verizon network:

• Total Wireless
• Straight Talk

Alternative carriers powered by Sprint

Sprint is, like Verizon, a combination of CDMA-based 3G and modern LTE — though it uses different wireless frequencies. The upside is the same, though: your phone will need to support CDMA service on 3G in order to make calls and texts, and likely to register on the network entirely. Even if your phone supports Sprint’s LTE bands, it won’t be able to connect to Sprint’s core network.

There are many alternative or prepaid carriers in the U.S. that rely on Sprint’s network, including Ting, Straight Talk, and Boost Mobile. Most of these alternative carriers have online services to allow you to check whether your unlocked phone is compatible with its host network, though some — like Sprint-owned Boost Mobile — have explicit restrictions. For example, Boost Mobile customers cannot bring a Sprint-branded or Virgin-branded phone over to its network.

To use a phone on an alternative carrier that connects to the Sprint network, your phone needs to support the following frequencies:

• 3G: 800Mhz (BC10), 1900Mhz (BC1) 1
• LTE: 850Mhz (Band 26), 1900Mhz (Band 25), 2500Mhz (Band 41)

1 Phone must support bands on CDMA.

These are the most popular alternative carriers that run on the Sprint network:

• Boost Mobile
• Virgin Mobile
• Google Fi
• Ting
• Republic Wireless
• FreedomPop
• Net10
• Straight Talk
• TextNow

Advertisement

Alternative carriers powered by T-Mobile

Like Sprint, there are many prepaid and alternative carriers that rely on T-Mobile’s network, including Mint SIM, MetroPCS and others.

The good news for those bringing their own phones to one of these networks is that there’s a good chance, if it was bought in the past couple of years, that it will just work. All that you need is a SIM card and service from the new provider and you should be good to go.

That’s because T-Mobile uses a combination of 3G and 4G LTE technologies that have been widely adopted throughout the world, and most phones today, from the Google Pixel to the Galaxy S7, OnePlus 3T and many others, will just work on an MVNO that runs on the T-Mobile network.

To make sure it will work, though, you have to verify your phone supports the following bands:

• 3G: 1700/2100Mhz (Band 4), 1900Mhz (Band 2)
• LTE: 700Mhz (Band 12), 1700/2100Mhz (Band 66), 1900Mhz (Band 2)

These are the most popular alternative carriers that run on the T-Mobile network:

• Mint SIM
• Consumer Cellular
• MetroPCS
• Project Fi
• Ultra Mobile

Alternative carriers powered by AT&T

Like Verizon, AT&T doesn’t power many smaller prepaid or alternative carriers, but it does own one: Cricket Wireless. And like T-Mobile, bringing a phone to an AT&T-powered MVNO is usually no big deal: most phones sold in the past couple of years work with AT&T. Indeed, AT&T’s adoption of the worldwide HSPA+ standard for 3G, plus its standard LTE capabilities, means that even phones purchased overseas should work with Ma Bell.

After you’ve verified that a phone is SIM unlocked, you need to make sure that your phone has the following bands to work with an AT&T-powered alternative carrier:

• 3G: 850Mhz (Band 5), 1900Mhz (Band 2)
• LTE: 700Mhz (Band 12), 1700/2100Mhz (Band 4), 1900Mhz (Band 2)

These are the most popular alternative carriers that run on the AT&T network:

• AT&T GoPhone
• Cricket Wireless
• Net10
• Consumer Cellular
• H2o Wireless
• Straight Talk
• FreedomPop

Alternative carriers with multiple networks

The final piece of the puzzle is a bit complicated, but let’s talk it out. Some of the above providers, like Project Fi, rely on more than one host network to function properly. Others, like Consumer Cellular, connect to either AT&T or T-Mobile. This usually means that the SIM card inside your phone will choose between T-Mobile and Sprint depending on your location and signal strength. You as a user don’t have to make any decisions, but your choice of phone could impact the quality of service.

As long as everything is working properly — your phone supports both networks, and you are in an area that has good coverage on at least one of them — then you don’t need to think about it at all. But it’s a good thing to know, since these kinds of carriers can be to your advantage if you happen to be in an area where both the host networks are strong.

Questions?

Some of this stuff is stupidly complicated, and we’d love to help. If you’re having issues figuring out whether your phone will work on a particular prepaid or alternative carrier, let us know in the comments below!

LG is offering a free Google Home with the purchase of its new flagship

Already considering an LG G6? Then you might as well consider adding on a Google Home for free.

The LG G6 isn’t out yet, but if you’re considering one, you’ll probably want to take advantage of this deal. LG is offering a Google Home in tow with the pre-order of its new flagship. All you have to do is buy yours before April 30.

For the full price of the smartphone — which has yet to be announced — LG will sell you the G6 flagship along with a $129 device that is really quite something. I certainly don’t regret the purchase of my personal Google Home. And if you’re interested in the G6 because of its native integration with Google Assistant, then you might as well pair it with a helpful home accessory that also doubles as a speaker in a pinch.

The G6 is scheduled to launch April 7 in the U.S. and Canada. If you’re interested, you can get more details by signing up here.

LG G6

• LG G6 review!
• LG G6 specs
• LG G6 vs. Google Pixel: The two best cameras right now
• Everything you need to know about the G6’s cameras
• LG forums

B&H

With Family Link, Google is finally giving parents some much-needed help

I’m not asking Google to raise my kid. I just want all the help I can get when it comes to them learning the ins and outs of living online.

There’s a tendency to look at Google’s newly announced “Family Link” program and scoff. And rightly so. On one hand it’s very much the sort of family account we parents have been asking for for years.

To recap: This is a legit way to get your under-13 kid some smartphone experience. These “Family Link” accounts come with parental controls in place, without having to resort to the full MDM (that’s Mobile Device Management, for those of you who have never raided your company’s IT department) headaches of a custom Google Apps (erm, now G Suite) account, or without having to lie about their age.

While we’ll still be giving our kids actual Google accounts, we’ll have control over a number of things, including:

• Downloads and purchases.
• What they see in search results through SafeSearch
• App permissions that are being used.
• Search and content filtering in YouTube Kids.
• Account password management.
• Screen time limits.
• Activity settings for the account.
• Giving account access to another family member. (Because MDM shouldn’t just fall on the shoulders of the head nerd in charge!)

Why would anyone scoff at that, when it’s very much giving us what we’ve wanted? Because (in typical Google fashion) it’s actually taking aim at the future and probably not doing as much for you right now. Start with the first requirement: A phone for your kid that’s running Android 7.x Nougat. Most folks don’t have one of those just laying around. And for that matter, 97.2 percent of all active devices (as of last week, anyway) don’t fit that bill.

Secondly is what I mentioned earlier — so many folks have just created new accounts and fudged the age listed in the profile. And Family Link only works with new accounts. (At least they’ll have the option to graduate to full-blown Google accounts once the kid turns 13.)

Family Link won’t replace actual parenting and policing of technology. But it should help.

Back to those bullet points above. Those are all good things to have, and they’re things I’d previously tried hacking together through G Suite. But as anyone who’s used Google Apps/G Suite knows, it’s a second-class citizen when it comes to new (or even current) features within Google’s products. And so after hitting one roadblock too many I put the kibosh on the custom account, rigged up something more proper but less-controlled, and have hoped for the best ever since.

And with that last sentence it’s as good a time as any to remind ourselves that all the built-in parental controls in the world don’t replace the ol’ Mk I eyeball. I’m still going to pick up my kid’s phone every now and then and flip through it. I’m still going to ask what it is they’re doing on there. I’m still going to have them show me the apps that are important to them, and how they’re using them to talk to their friends in ways that maybe I hadn’t expected. (But, no, I’m not making my own Musical.ly account anytime soon.)

More: All you need to know on Family Link

My kids will still be able to run across all kinds of awfulness in a web browser. They’ll still be able to have all all sorts of conversations without my knowing. They’ll still be able to take pictures and videos and have to learn that it’s just as important to know when not to do that. And they’ll still be able to fork over all kinds of data without thinking through the ramifications.

Google’s Family Link won’t change the fact that kids are kids, and parents are parents. And the two factions absolutely have to work together to minimize the pain and damage these pocket-sized computers can do — but also to teach about how much they can add to our lives.

But it should make it a touch easier. And when it comes to helping my kids make it through this crazy world, I need all the help I can get.

Modern Dad

• Subscribe on YouTube
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• See the gear

Developers, still need a pass to Google I/O 2017? Submit your experiment

If you’ve got something interesting in the realm of Android, Chrome, or machine learning to show off, Google wants to hear about it.

Developers, Google I/O is for you, first and foremost — for the tech makers, the dreamers of apps, and the diehard fans who won’t dare use anything but an Android device. And it’s likely why you’re here, reading Android Central.

If you’re bummed you couldn’t get a ticket to the annual developer’s conference through its lottery process, there’s another chance through Google’s Experiments Challenge. You can submit your Android, Chrome, or AI experiment for a chance to receive a trip to Google I/O 2017.Three runner-ups will also receive a Pixel phone and a Daydream headset.

There are a whole host of examples to look at if you’re wondering where to start or whether a project you’ve been concocting is worth throwing into the ring. Google will be accepting submissions until April 13.

Google I/O 2017 will be taking place May 17-19 near the company’s headquarters.

LG G6 pre-orders at Verizon start March 17 for $672 with three great promo deals

And a free Google Home is just one of the promos Verizon is offering with pre-orders.

We just got a hot tip about the Verizon LG G6 from one of those people who are close to the action and it looks like pre-orders will be cranking up this week and everyone can get in on a great promo!

According to this quick pic of some Verizon internal materials, pre-orders start Friday, March 17 for the LG G6. It appears that everyone who pre-orders gets the free Google Home LG is offering, while folks upgrading on an existing plan will also get a $200 trade-in for select devices. If you’re coming to Verizon as a new customer (or opening a new line) they have a sweet 43-inch LG TV for you, too. These promos also stack with Verizon’s $650 Switcher offer if you’re coming from another carrier and the FIOS $500 bundle promo for new customers.

We’re told the pricing will be $672 (or $28 per month for 24 months) and the release date is April 7 as previously reported.

The G6 looks like one of LG’s best phones yet and it’s a throwback to a higher quality and manufacturing process that many feel the company lost with the past few G series models. The G6 is scheduled to launch April 7 in the U.S. and Canada. If you’re interested, you can get more details by signing up here.

LG G6

• LG G6 review!
• LG G6 specs
• LG G6 vs. Google Pixel: The two best cameras right now
• Everything you need to know about the G6’s cameras
• LG forums

B&H

Apple OLED iPhone 8 might sport Samsung’s curved 3D Touch display

Apple’s upcoming OLED iPhone 8 will have a very Samsung-like screen in terms of its technology, how its made, and its curve.

Recent reports have claimed that Apple will adopt OLED panels – matching major rivals, like Samsung – for its future iPhones, with the most recent news coming from The Investor, which said Samsung’s display-making unit, Samsung Display, is currently developing a pressure-sensitive OLED touch display for the iPhone 8. That means the OLED screen should support 3D Touch/Force Touch.

The first OLED iPhone is expected to debut in September, so Samsung Display, which is reportedly Apple’s sole OLED supplier, has been ramping up efforts to integrate 3D Touch into the screen. Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, is also expected to partly use 3D Touch. The company is said to be ditching a physical home button in favour of a virtual one on the display screen.

• Best upcoming smartphones: The phones to look forward to in 2017
• New Apple iPhone SE might be on the way, hints leaked Target memo
• Apple is ‘looking into’ this video of an exploding iPhone 7 Plus

On a separate note, Nikkei Asian Review has claimed Apple’s premium iPhone 8 model will feature a curved OLED display. Remember, the company is rumoured to be working on three iPhone models, with the third one introducing a new design and screen size. This curve will reportedly be gentler than the curved screens used in Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge, but it won’t offer any major functions.

So, you shouldn’t expect gimmicky features like the ability to receive texts on the side of the phone. For more more information about what the next iPhones may feature, see Pocket-lint’s rumour round-up.

McDonald’s tests mobile ordering on coastal elite

If you’ve ever thought that fast food wasn’t fast enough, then it looks like McDonald’s latest initiative has you covered. The takeout chain has begun trialling mobile ordering at restaurants in Monterey and Salinas, California. Hungry patrons will now be able to select their meal on the way to their nearest location for instant collection. The app will even use your GPS data to determine when your burgers start getting cooked, ensuring your food stays warm and fresh. When you arrive, you just pay through the app and grab that famous brown bag from the counter, drive-thru or curbside collection point.

The California-only trial will run until March 20th, when residents of Spokane, Washington will also get access to the service. With the three cities housing a total of 80 different McDonald’s, its a solid test to see how prepared the global restaurant chain is for the full U.S rollout later this year. No date has been set for the full nationwide service, but McDonald’s claims that all 14,000 of its American branches will be ready to handle mobile preorders when the system goes live.

It may not be as exciting as the company’s recent super-engineered shake straw, but hey – if we can all get a burger quicker, we’re happy.

Chrome for iOS adds a Safari-like Reading List

As part of its latest update, Google Chrome for iOS just got a so-called Reading List feature, allowing users to save pages for offline viewing. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Safari has had a similar feature for years now.

Version 57 of Chrome for iOS arrived yesterday, touting an offline reading feature that’s so much like Safari’s, it even has the exact same name. To access Chrome’s Reading List, hit the Share icon in the top-right corner of the screen, then tap Read Later to add the current page to your collection. Users can then browse their list of saved pages and check them out whenever, regardless of whether they’re connected to the internet.

Chrome’s Reading List has a leg up on Apple’s, since it separates saved items into “Unread” and “Pages You’ve Read” sections. As 9to5Mac points out, Safari doesn’t have that functionality. That said, Chrome’s desktop app, which was also recently updated to Version 57, doesn’t support Reading List yet. This means that at the moment, saved pages are only be viewable on iOS, while Safari’s offline reading feature is already cross-platform for Mac users.

Although Chrome’s Android app is still on Version 56, it already includes a Downloads feature similar to Reading List. Users can tap the menu button, then the download icon, and view saved pages online in the Downloads menu. Downloaded pages, however, do not sync with the Chrome desktop app.

Via: 9to5Mac

Source: iTunes

Moog celebrates music and the machines that make it

The synth-heavy Moogfest at SXSW (the main event is in May) is scheduled during the overlap of the festival’s Interactive and Music tracks. That makes sense, because it’s the perfect combination of music and technology. The pulsing tones of a synthesizer are born of musicians hunched over circuit boards and schematics, soldering and cutting, trying to get a sound that’s just right. At the Austin club Cheer Up Charlies, Moog (rhymes with vogue) booked not only some amazing bands but also some folks who have taken their love of sine waves and created a business.

The synth world is more than just turning knobs and plugging in wires — over the past two decades it’s exploded into a DIY community. Some of that has to do with the rise of the modular Eurorack format. The rack introduced a standard sizing format that musicians could use to mix and match different oscillators, filters and sequencers onto a cabinet to create completely unique synth configurations. The relatively low entry price for those modular instruments has found a booming market catered toward musicians looking for that perfect sound.

At Cheer Up Charlies — the venue for SXSW’s mini Moogfest — some of the main players in the modular synth market are showing off their latest creations. Mickey Delp of Delptronics had the company’s latest gear (including a cool spring-based synth) on show inside a portable EuroCase enclosure. Basically, it’s a suitcase of sound.

Eric Archer, design engineer of Rare Waves, was on-site with a more experimental approach. In addition to being the maker of the popular Grendel synth pedal, Rare Waves has created DIY packs for those interested in building their own tiny synths and light-sensing devices. For those wanting a plug-and-play solution to creating music, Archer also has a standalone tone generator that uses the visible light spectrum to create noise. It measures pulsing lights to create unique soundscapes that the operator can record or just listen to through the built-in speaker.

Jered Flickinger of Future Retro — who has been building synths since 1997 — was also here. After 20 years in the business, his products have evolved to include capacitive keyboard synths, an insane circular sequencer and soon a Transient drum module that’ll work with any Eurorack setup. Flickinger’s first creation, the Roland TB-303-inspired 777, was a hit. For Flickinger, having the artists he respects end up using the 777 in their own music was a dream come true.

While the three companies at Moogfest are building different types of synths, they were each happy to talk about the community and DIY aspect of the instrument. While Moog inspired all of them, they’ve taken what that company and others have introduced to the market and created something of their own. The synth community has become a large collective of tinkerers, musicians and people who really like turning knobs. Unlike other instruments such as a guitar or drum set, the barriers to creating a synth are only as steep as a person’s ambition. If you have the patience to learn a little bit about electronics and can wield a soldering gun without burning yourself, you can build your own modulating device.

Archer summed up how easy he thinks synth building is, assuring us that “if you can poke a wire through a hole and put some solder on it, you’re off to a good start.”

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.

This 8K ‘VR’ ride is the craziest thing I saw at SXSW

When I heard that several Japanese companies were getting together to show off an 8K VR ride at SXSW, I was instantly excited. I’ve spent a lot of time writing about 4K video, but haven’t had much time with 8K setups, let alone one in VR. After getting to the show, though, I learned it isn’t really a VR experience — it’s just taking place on a giant screen that fills up everything you can see. I quickly got over that slight disappointment after seeing the crazy rig powering the ride, which looks like something straight out of Disney World. As far as weird SXSW experiences go, this one takes the cake.

Japan’s NHK Enterprise, NHK Media Tech, RecoChoku and Victor Entertainment worked together to build the ride, which is meant to show off the possibilities of 8K video. NHK is already broadcasting a few 8K channels, even though TVs supporting the technology likely won’t arrive until 2020. The ride is powered by Wonder Vision’s Sphere 5.2 Immersive Screen, which uses hydraulics to pick up two audience members and fully immerse them in the screen. Backing the entire experience is the infuriatingly catchy song Tokyo Victory from the popular Japanese rock group Southern All Stars.

As I stepped into the ride, it felt just like climbing onto something you’d find at a theme park. After securing my seatbelt, I was lifted several feet in the air. It was at that point that I realized I wasn’t very secure in my seat, so I also spent much of the time holding on for dear life. The ride mostly consists of flybys of major Tokyo landmarks, but because it was projected in a brightly lit convention center, I couldn’t actually see much. I have a feeling the entire experience would have been significantly more rewarding if they just blocked out external light.

The bits I could actually see looked clear, but it was definitely not the best way to show off the potential of 8K. I’ve seen 8K demos at CES that look as clear as staring through a window. If these Japanese companies really want to see us on the idea of 8K, they should probably invest in some curtains.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.