Activating a Galaxy S3 on Verizon

[charlier180]

I currently have a Droid X on Verizon (ie no SIM card).

I understand that the S3 has a SIM card which will identify it to the Verizon network.
I have been told by Verizon Store Personnel that activating the S3 will require that I come to a Verizon store to activate the phone. Like most Verizon customers, I tend to take whatever I hear at a Verizon Store with a TON of salt.

Has anyone seen a document published by Verizon that describes the activation process of an S3 on the Verizon network?

If activating an S3 does require a visit to a Verizon store that could be an interesting experience given the high volume of pre-orders and the expected in-store sales demand for the S3.

Charlie

 

[ColdBrew]

You do not have to take it to the store. You can activate it by phone.

It has been a few months since I did it, but I believe it goes something like this.
Use another phone to accept the service agreement.
Put the sim card in the phone.
Turn the phone on and go through the activation wizard, which will activate the phone.
All done.

 

[scorpiodsu]

Activating this phone is no different then activating any other 4g phone so honestly I'm not even sure about a galaxy s3 specific thread when it comes to activating.

Anyhow, if the phone comes with a sim (which is should and few cases it won't) them no need to go in a Verizon store. If no sim you gotta go get one. I experienced no sim when I bought the rezound at full retail from amazon and they didn't send one. Not sure what that was about but anyhow shouldn't be a problem. With many that are coming from another 4g phone they'll just pop in their current sim and be done. The store rush won't be like you think. After all Verizon still hasn't said publicly what the in store availability date will be. And them you have to assume that stores have a lot on the same day you get yours.

 

[Suntan]

I have been told by Verizon Store Personnel that activating the S3 will require that I come to a Verizon store to activate the phone push you to buy a couple of GSIII accessories.

There we go.

You should be able to setup the phone on your account just by powering it on and dialing *228, pressing #1 and then following the prompts.

At worst, you may have to call VZW and have them do it over the phone. You shouldn't have to go to a VZW store.

-Suntan

 

[TemporalBeef]

You do not have to take it to the store. You can activate it by phone.

It has been a few months since I did it, but I believe it goes something like this.
Use another phone to accept the service agreement.
Put the sim card in the phone.
Turn the phone on and go through the activation wizard, which will activate the phone.
All done.

This.

And for those of you that already have 4g devices with micro SIMs, just pop your existing SIM into the device and you're good to go.

For those of you with the old-school SIMs, you have a couple options if you don't receive a new SIM in the box when you get your phone. You can go to a VZW store and have them give you a new SIM, or you can trim your old school SIM down to fit your new device.

When moving from my Thunderbolt which used an old school SIM to my Nexus which uses a micro SIM, I chose to go to the store for a new SIM.

 

[wheresyourcape]

When I saw the thread title I thought it meant you had received your phone and were activating it now. Sucks.

 

[TemporalBeef]

There we go.

You should be able to setup the phone on your account just by powering it on and dialing *228, pressing #1 and then following the prompts.

At worst, you may have to call VZW and have them do it over the phone. You shouldn't have to go to a VZW store.

-Suntan

*228 will not work on 4g phones. They provision automatically when you insert the SIM. You'll have to accept the terms of your contract first, so you'll have to contact customer care. After that, insert your SIM and you're good to go.

 

[charlier180]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. As always, I was right in thinking that a Verizon store rep may not be correct.

I just thought that since my Droid X is a 3G phone and it has no SIM card in it, the activation procedure may be different than those with a SIM card in their current phones. So, I am thinking that Verizon will ship all the S3s with a SIM card in them. Otherwise that would be a PITA for them to customize each S3 depending on whether or not the customer currently has a SIM card in their current phone.

As long as my new S3 comes with a SIM card I am good to go. If not, then I will have to visit my local Verizon store.

Thanks Again.

Charlie

 

[dpham00]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. As always, I was right in thinking that a Verizon store rep may not be correct.

I just thought that since my Droid X is a 3G phone and it has no SIM card in it, the activation procedure may be different than those with a SIM card in their current phones. So, I am thinking that Verizon will ship all the S3s with a SIM card in them. Otherwise that would be a PITA for them to customize each S3 depending on whether or not the customer currently has a SIM card in their current phone.

As long as my new S3 comes with a SIM card I am good to go. If not, then I will have to visit my local Verizon store.

Thanks Again.

Charlie

Check your order, it should list the sim. If not, call Verizon, they can mail you one free.

 

[charlier180]

Check your order, it should list the sim. If not, call Verizon, they can mail you one free.

Thanks.

On my order under "additional items" it lists "DFILLSIM3FF-A". I thinking that is the SIM.

 

[dpham00]

Thanks.

On my order under "additional items" it lists "DFILLSIM3FF-A". I thinking that is the SIM.

Correct. 3ff refers to 3rd form factor, which is the micro sim.

 

[stainiu]

Another way to do it is online, you go the the Verizon website and select the activate new device option. You will register your sim card by entering the number on the card, and the MEID number on the phone. You then pop the sim card in the phone and dial *228 and it will then finish the activation.

 

[ansextra]

You can definitely upgrade over the phone as well. That's how we upgraded my wife's Razr. You need to call first and activate the phone using the Verizon voice prompts and then power the phone on as I recall. It's not a hard process.

 

[iceman64]

There we go.

You should be able to setup the phone on your account just by powering it on and dialing *228, pressing #1 and then following the prompts.

At worst, you may have to call VZW and have them do it over the phone. You shouldn't have to go to a VZW store.

-Suntan

DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT DIAL *228 WITH A 4G LTE VERIZON PHONE.
In fact the instructions on how to activate a 4G lte will come with the phone. You could damage your s3 by dialing *228. These steps was necessary with a 3G phone but not with a 4G phone!!!!!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[dmmarck]

DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT DIAL *228 WITH A 4G LTE VERIZON PHONE.
In fact the instructions on how to activate a 4G lte will come with the phone. You could damage your s3 by dialing *228. This step was necessary with 3G phones but not with 4G phones!!!!!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

Many truths in this statement.

Sent from my TARDIS

 

[ansextra]

I will say, though, that once I receive my phone I'll probably go to the VZ store anyway to see what cool accessories I can get!

 

[Cruiserdude]

Dialing *228 doesn't break the phone, all it does is play a recording saying that the sim card in your 4G LTE phone handles all that, and that dialing *228 isn't necessary.

I can't promise this is still the case, but I highly doubt that Verizon has changed things so that dialing a number will now break your device. However, it is certainly not necessary, and I see no reason to dial it just for them to tell you that.

 

[broadwayblues]

Dialing *228 doesn't break the phone, all it does is play a recording saying that the sim card in your 4G LTE phone handles all that, and that dialing *228 isn't necessary.

I can't promise this is still the case, but I highly doubt that Verizon has changed things so that dialing a number will now break your device. However, it is certainly not necessary, and I see no reason to dial it just for them to tell you that.

I guess you were not around when the Thunderbolt was being activated. There were VZW CSRs there were telling customers to dial *228 and it was disabling the SIM card so bad you had to get a new one and start all over again. While it has been fixed, dialing *228 used to break devices. And to think that was just over a year ago.

 

[tinkerhd]

I received my S3 today. I think it would have activated by phone. At least they included instructions for phone activation of both the SIM and the phone. However, tech support tells me that I won't be able to activate the phone until the official ship by date of June 9th. Apparently Verizon hasn't linked the IMEI's of the S3's to their activation database yet. So my S3 is just a very expensive paperweight for four more days or so.

Anyway, tech support also tells me I should be able to activate the phone on my own on the 9th, or I can call them and let them handle it. So it sounds like S3 owners won't have to go into a Verizon store to activate their phones. However, n oone will be activating their S3's (in-store or otherwise) until the 9th.

Shipping phones to customers that cannot be activated seems like laughable incompetence from where I'm sitting. Then again maybe it's just the sort of screw up that can be expected when one is among the first to get ahold of new technology.

 

[strtgng]

I received my S3 today. I think it would have activated by phone. At least they included instructions for phone activation of both the SIM and the phone. However, tech support tells me that I won't be able to activate the phone until the official ship by date of June 9th. Apparently Verizon hasn't linked the IMEI's of the S3's to their activation database yet. So my S3 is just a very expensive paperweight for four more days or so.

Anyway, tech support also tells me I should be able to activate the phone on my own on the 9th, or I can call them and let them handle it. So it sounds like S3 owners won't have to go into a Verizon store to activate their phones. However, n oone will be activating their S3's (in-store or otherwise) until the 9th.

Shipping phones to customers that cannot be activated seems like laughable incompetence from where I'm sitting. Then again maybe it's just the sort of screw up that can be expected when one is among the first to get ahold of new technology.

From the phrasing you use, it sounds like you haven't actually tried to activate it - you just took what tech support told you as fact and left it at that. Have you tried activating the phone? Seems like it works fine for plenty of people who follow the instructions in the box or in forums.