Galaxy nexus activate

[mrcoleminer]

I am, trying to activate my galaxy nexus but I am have troubles with the sim card! ( I think its the sim card). I bought the, phone used online and it came rooted can the root be the problem? I have, two sim cards from verizon and for some reason the sim card will be activated but not the phone. Has,any one had this problem? or I am missing something? And I do fell stupid asking but I am running out of ideas!

 

[anon(847090)]

Ok root wont have any issues with activation but you said verizon. Did you buy a GSM phone? because verizon wont work with GSM.

even if its verizon brand phone you will have to call verizon to activate it

 

[Andrew Martonik]

I'd recommend asking in the Verizon Galaxy Nexus Forums. People with the GSM model don't usually have to deal with activating phones, we might not be the best help .

 

[Insp_Gadget]

Does your Galaxy Nexus say "Verizon" on the back of it? If not, it will not work with Verizon. Period.

Are the Verizon SIM cards you mentioned for LTE? Verizon phones are CDMA-based (which don't use SIM cards unless you're talking LTE).

Either way, to activate a CDMA/LTE phone that is compatible with Verizon requires you to call Verizon and provide them the IMEI/ESN number of the phone. If that number is in their phone database (and not flagged as a stolen device) then they will activate it.

If the phone just says "Google" on the back then it is the GSM version, which will not work on Verizon no matter what you do.

 

[mrcoleminer]

Hey, thanks guys for the replays! but I got it working know!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[Biggnaa20]

Are you gsm or Verizon? Just curious.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[mrcoleminer]

Verizon

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[Richard Guzman]

I just bought a Verizon Galaxy Nexus CDMA phone. I think I am having the same problems you had. The phone is rooted/unlocked but will not fully activate with Verizon. Data goes through but not the phone calling part. Can you help me?

 

[15israellai]

I'd recommend asking in the Verizon Galaxy Nexus Forums. People with the GSM model don't usually have to deal with activating phones, we might not be the best help .

Tbh I wonder what activating a phone means.

Transmitted from my Nexus Prime

 

[Insp_Gadget]

Tbh I wonder what activating a phone means.

Transmitted from my Nexus Prime

With GSM phones, your account information is stored in the SIM chip. Take the SIM chip and put it in another GSM phone and the phone assumes the identity/number of the account on the SIM chip.

With CDMA phones, the account information is associated with the phone itself, but that association must be set up by the carrier before you can use the phone with your account. When you get a CDMA phone, you must either call the carrier or visit one of their stores and have a customer service representative update your account information (and the carrier's phone database) with the association between your account and that particular phone. Each CDMA phone has a unique serial number, which is maintained in a database by each carrier for the phones that they sell/allow on their network. If the unique serial number is not in a particular carrier's database, then they will not allow the phone to work on their network (except for calls to 911 emergency).

That is the process of "activating" a CDMA phone.

The original premise behind this scheme was that it was supposed to be more "secure" than the GSM method of using SIM cards. In reality, it only serves as a barrier to customers taking their phone from one carrier to another (since the carrier "owns" the serial number of a CDMA phone, and another carrier won't activate a phone whose serial number doesn't belong to them). So unlike GSM phones, which you can take from carrier to carrier (unless they are SIM-locked), CDMA phones are locked by their nature to the carrier that sold it. If a phone is reported stolen, the carriers flag the serial number of the phone, and won't re-activate it under another account. Thus, the phone becomes "useless".

 

[glamazon]

I had this exact same problem a few weeks ago. I bought a used Galaxy Nexus from Ebay. I was unable to make phone calls, although data worked fine. Turns out I had a rooted phone (which seller forgot to tell me). Some nice folks on some other forums said it could have possibly been the radio. I returned the phone to stock (which is what I wanted anyway) and I was able to have it fully register and make phone calls. I hope this helps.

 

[EricCan999]

Just went through this THIS week with a Nexus that I bought for my wife on eBay. It arrived rooted and unlocked with Cyanogen on it. Would not activate no matter what we tried. I had to flash it back to the factory VZW software and lock it. Once I did that it activated in minutes. Took me 4 days and 3 computers to get it all done. VZW secondary support told me that the activation servers check the phone to make sure it is running approved firmware.... may be BS but all I know is that once I returned the phone to stock all went smooth.

 

[Insp_Gadget]

Just went through this THIS week with a Nexus that I bought for my wife on eBay. It arrived rooted and unlocked with Cyanogen on it. Would not activate no matter what we tried. I had to flash it back to the factory VZW software and lock it. Once I did that it activated in minutes. Took me 4 days and 3 computers to get it all done. VZW secondary support told me that the activation servers check the phone to make sure it is running approved firmware.... may be BS but all I know is that once I returned the phone to stock all went smooth.

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but if I bought any phone off of eBay, the first thing I would do is wipe it and restore it to factory, just on general principle. You never know what trojans or other malware might be on a second-hand device purchased from someone you don't know.