Considering changing carriers, how does it work?

[Ciege]

I've been a Sprint customer for a very long time. Now that I have the N5, and with the recent T-Mobile plans, I am considering switching. But I want to try them out first. So I've considered getting a T-Mobile pre-paid SIM for a month to check coverage in my areas and buildings. However, I'm not quite sure how it works...

Do I just pop out the Sprint SIM then pop in the T-Mobile SIM (restarting the N5 of course) and it just "works"?
When I want to go back to my Sprint number, just the reverse works?
Are there any gotchas? Any loss of data? Any new provisioning that needs to be done?

Thanks in advance for your answers. Since I've been on Sprint for so very long, I'm not quite sure how the SIM changes work on a particular phone.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I've been a Sprint customer for a very long time. Now that I have the N5, and with the recent T-Mobile plans, I am considering switching. But I want to try them out first. So I've considered getting a T-Mobile pre-paid SIM for a month to check coverage in my areas and buildings. However, I'm not quite sure how it works...

Do I just pop out the Sprint SIM then pop in the T-Mobile SIM (restarting the N5 of course) and it just "works"?
When I want to go back to my Sprint number, just the reverse works?
Are there any gotchas? Any loss of data? Any new provisioning that needs to be done?

Thanks in advance for your answers. Since I've been on Sprint for so very long, I'm not quite sure how the SIM changes work on a particular phone.

I haven't switched either, but with the Nexus 5, it should carry over to TMo. You should be able to take your number with you. You would need to call Sprint and let them know you want to take your number, and I think all they have to do is remove the phone from their system. After that you should be able to activate it on TMo and put their SIM in. I would talk to TMo first, to make sure what I said is correct.

 

[greydarrah]

It works just like you were thinking, with no hitches or problems. You just pull on SIM card out and put another one in.

 

[foxbat121]

I haven't switched either, but with the Nexus 5, it should carry over to TMo. You should be able to take your number with you. You would need to call Sprint and let them know you want to take your number, and I think all they have to do is remove the phone from their system. After that you should be able to activate it on TMo and put their SIM in. I would talk to TMo first, to make sure what I said is correct.

No you don't need to call Sprint. Make sure you don't end your Sprint account before your phone number is transferred.
You simply go to T-Mobile (or whoever you transfer to) and ask them to port the number. They will contact Sprint to get the number. Sprint will then close your account and send you the last bill.

 

[LegalAmerican]

Yeah make sure you understand that when you activate that T-Mobile Sim, if you port your same number, it WILL cancel your Sprint service. So don't port your number until you know that you'll be happy with T-Mobile's coverage. You can't just pop a new sim in and have it work. You must activate the sim through the new carrier.

 

[foxbat121]

You can't just pop a new sim in and have it work. You must activate the sim through the new carrier.

With GSM carriers like T-Mo and AT&T, the SIM you get is always activated and tied to your account unless you specifically ask carrier not to. All you have to do to pop in the SIM. No other activation is required.

 

[jj14x]

Confirming what LegalAmerican said, yes, when you port your number, it will cancel your Sprint service.

One option to consider is to port your number to Google voice, and then forward to your new T-mo number The only downside that I'm aware of is that MMS is (currently) not supported on GV number, but in my opinion, the benefits far outweigh that one negative (your needs may differ).

Regarding the use of the N5 on T-mo,

# When on the Sprint SIM, make sure mobile network is set to Global, and then power down the phone.
# Put in the new T-mo (activated) SIM,
# Start the phone back up.
# Let T-mo provisioning go thru' (you may need to do profile update/PRL update)
# Restart phone.

See if everything is working ok. If not, you may need to update the APN settings (get the APN settings from T-mo, or search the web)

 

[Puzzlegal]

Can this phone work on virgin?

 

[srkmagnus]

Can this phone work on virgin?

Yes and No. I am sure it supports the bands (or some) offered by Virgin Mobile. But Virgin might not activate it - call and see what they can do for you before buying a Nexus 5 for Virgin or canceling a current service to move.

 

[LegalAmerican]

With GSM carriers like T-Mo and AT&T, the SIM you get is always activated and tied to your account unless you specifically ask carrier not to. All you have to do to pop in the SIM. No other activation is required.

Right but he was saying when he takes out the sprint sim and pops in the T-mo one, will it "just work" after restarting the device. I'm not talking about jumping between T-mo and AT&T. I was referencing his specific question that he asked.

 

[foxbat121]

Right but he was saying when he takes out the sprint sim and pops in the T-mo one, will it "just work" after restarting the device. I'm not talking about jumping between T-mo and AT&T. I was referencing his specific question that he asked.

Yes, it will just work. It is only a problem if he then switch back to Sprint. Some users found out that they need to hard reset the phone in order to switch the phone back to CDMA mode.

 

[Ciege]

Yes, it will just work. It is only a problem if he then switch back to Sprint. Some users found out that they need to hard reset the phone in order to switch the phone back to CDMA mode.

Sorry I haven't been on this thread for a while. But this is the type of information I was looking for. Has anyone done this run into issues like having to hard reset.

Thanks...

 

[jj14x]

Yes, it will just work. It is only a problem if he then switch back to Sprint. Some users found out that they need to hard reset the phone in order to switch the phone back to CDMA mode.

I'm among the ones that can swap between T-Mo and Sprint SIM cards without a hard reset I've done that 4 times now.