For Activation....

Sting23ray

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Hi Guys,
A friend is buying a thunderbolt with a broken LCD and glass. He is getting it at good price so wanna know if it can be activated without any issue or will any tapping (on the screen) be needed for the activation?
 

honex97

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Hi Guys,
A friend is buying a thunderbolt with a broken LCD and glass. He is getting it at good price so wanna know if it can be activated without any issue or will any tapping (on the screen) be needed for the activation?

You do know that this phone is touch screen only right? So you have to tap the screen for everything including making the activation call
 

bjboucher

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Hi Guys,
A friend is buying a thunderbolt with a broken LCD and glass. He is getting it at good price so wanna know if it can be activated without any issue or will any tapping (on the screen) be needed for the activation?

Hopefully by good price, you mean free. Haven't seen any posts I can think of where someone successfully replaced a broken screen themselves.
 

Sting23ray

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He is getting it for $20.00. I got mine activated at the VZ store so I dont remember if they had to do anything on the screen itself for the activation....
Hi plan was:

1. Buy the TB for $20.
2. Activate it on his line. (Because his line cannot be without a phone - VZ policy i guess)
3. Sell his phone.
4. Buy a screen with the money he got from his phone sale. (If he wants to play with fire - so be it)....

But for the love of god I cant remember if he can do point # 2 without a functioning screen or not?
 

honex97

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You don't need to make a phone call for activation, that's what the sim is for.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

But you have to have a sim card first when I got my thunderbolt I didn't have a sim card like most so I had to call to activate it
 

Jude526

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It can't be activated without the SIM card......that is how it gets the 4G and you still have to touch the screen to activate the phone.......email is part of the activating. If he can't have the screen repaired then that 20.00 is just like throwing money away.
 

natehoy

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He's going to need to have the screen to activate it on his line. If he insists on taking this risk, I'd strongly urge him to get the old one fixed and activated on his line first, then sell his old phone only when he knows the Tbolt actually works. For $20, there's no guarantee that the screen is the only thing wrong with it.
 

paintdrinkingpete

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You actually activate the SIM from a different phone (because how can you use your cell phone if there is no SIM?), so you actually should be just fine.
 

Mortiel

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A SIM card is required for the activation. Making an activation call without a 4G SIM is *NOT* recommended, as that can permanently lock your phone in 3G.

Just call Tech Support and request one be shipped to you. Its free, but make sure to confirm with them the phone number for which they are placing the order.

Secondly, you will need the screen fully functional to go through the initial set up.


A little side note to the OP: With the advent of new 4G devices, you technically no longer need to have an actual phone active on your account. You do, however, have to have a 4G SIM active on your account instead. The 2G/3G system used the device's unique ID signature to verify permission to access the network. With 4G we utilize the 4G SIM's unique ID signature to verify that same permission, allowing a more "modular" phone number. Anyone familiar with AT&T's and T-Mobile's system knows how it works. The SIM is your phone number, and does not "need" to be in a phone, but a 4G phone does require a 4G SIM to authenticate.

Ok, I'm done with the babbling.
 

paintdrinkingpete

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You actually activate the SIM from a different phone (because how can you use your cell phone if there is no SIM?), so you actually should be just fine.

A SIM card is required for the activation. Making an activation call without a 4G SIM is *NOT* recommended, as that can permanently lock your phone in 3G.

Not sure we're on the same page here. When you get a brand new Thunderbolt, for example, you call the number provided to activate the SIM...once the SIM is active you place it in the phone and fire it up, no further activation required. On older (3G) phones, you need to do the *228 thing, but you definitely do NOT do that with 4G phones.

Obviously, you would at least need the SIM first.

Just call Tech Support and request one be shipped to you. Its free, but make sure to confirm with them the phone number for which they are placing the order.

Secondly, you will need the screen fully functional to go through the initial set up.

True, but the OP said his friend doesn't need to "set the phone up" ... just make sure he has one active on his account.


A little side note to the OP: With the advent of new 4G devices, you technically no longer need to have an actual phone active on your account. You do, however, have to have a 4G SIM active on your account instead. The 2G/3G system used the device's unique ID signature to verify permission to access the network. With 4G we utilize the 4G SIM's unique ID signature to verify that same permission, allowing a more "modular" phone number. Anyone familiar with AT&T's and T-Mobile's system knows how it works. The SIM is your phone number, and does not "need" to be in a phone, but a 4G phone does require a 4G SIM to authenticate.

Ok, I'm done with the babbling.

And I'm guessing that's the most important thing to get out of this. If the OP's friend simply calls Verizon to order a SIM, he doesn't need to do anything with the phone until he gets the screen fixed.

Of course, if the Thunderbolt is un-repairable, he'll be stuck needing a 4G phone to use with his brand new activated SIM card...
 

Jude526

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Dec 13, 2010
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On the thunderbolt the SIM card has to be inserted before activation. Any 4g phone.

sent from my Thunderbolt via tapatalk
 

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