How do I activate a Moto G?

[jborg]

How To Activate A Moto G.

Hello,
So I'm looking to pick up a Moto G so I don't have to be tied to a carrier. I've never done this before so I don't know how. I don't know how it works or how to do it. Sorry if it's a stupid question but I couldn't find any information on it. Do I activate it to Sprint, or Verizon, etc? How do you pay for coverage? I have a Sprint plan but I want an unlocked Moto G.

 

[belodion]

Re: How To Activate A Moto G.

Welcome to AC, ☺, and excuse ME if this is a stupid answer, but as a UK user I'd buy the phone unlocked, SIM-free, then choose either a SIM-only deal or Pay-As-You-Go tariff with the chosen network, buy a SIM card as necessary and enter that network's APN settings on the phone. I imagine it must be the same in the US. A monthly direct debit-type payment would pay for the SIM-only plan, or you would pay each time you topped up a PAYG tariff. You might have to make sure first that the phone was usable with the network's signal type.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[jborg]

Re: How To Activate A Moto G.

Thanks! Not a stupid answer at all. I wouldn't see why it would be different in the US than in the UK, but I'll wait for some more answers. I'll also talk to Sprint and Verizon about it and see what they say.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: How To Activate A Moto G.

1) Regardless of the specs of the phone, unless Sprint changed policy since the last time I looked, if it's not a Sprint phone, they won't activate it or let it connect to their towers.

2) It's different in the US than it is in the UK, because in the US we have 2 different cellphone technologies - in the UK (and most of the rest of the world) they have only one. A CDMA carrier can keep you off their network by just refusing to activate your phone. A GSM carrier activates your SIM - and you can plug it into any unlocked phone - in the US or the UK.

3) With an unlocked Sprint Moto G you're still tied in a way. 3G data on Sprint, Edge data on AT&T and TMobile in a lot of places and you can't use it on Verizon. I don't know of any phone you can use on all carriers in the US with full data speeds in all locations.

 

[jborg]

Re: How To Activate A Moto G.

So a US/Global GSM 2nd gen Moto G wouldn't work on Sprint? Sprint's reception is terrible almost anywhere you go and they're policies are wack. It's starting to get annoying.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: How To Activate A Moto G.

First thing in deciding which phone to get - find which carrier gives you good signal every place you need to use a phone. So for you, Sprint isn't a consideration. (They have absolutely NO signal inside my daughter's house, so I wouldn't take a free Sprint M8 and free unlimited everything - unless I had another phone with me.)

Next thing is which phone will work with the carrier you choose. Since you're not going to use Sprint (because they're not a good carrier for you), whether a phone works on Sprint or not is immaterial in your case. Figure out which carrier gives you the best coverage - THEN work on which phone to get.