Safely Upgrade Phone and Not Lose Unlimited Data.

[droidRama]

I currently have the unlimited data plan on my phone, a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. My love-hate relationship with that phone has lately become mostly hate. My wife does not have unlimited data, she has an iPhone 5. She is up for an upgrade next month. I would like to get the 32GB S4 for me and not lose unlimited data. So, I want to make sure I do it correctly. This is what I was planning on doing.

Call and see if I can get an earlier upgrade for my wife (about a month away).
If I can, order the Samung S4 32GB black for 'her'.
Once I get it I can activate it as my phone, leaving her phone as the iPhone.

Is this all I need to do?

 

[Chuck73080]

Make sure you activate the new S4 to her line first, then move it to your line.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

 

[AndroidJay]

Question, since the sim slot is different on the iPhone and the S4, Will he need a new sim since it was activated on his wife's line if he wants to transfer it to his line?

 

[ibcop]

Yes, a new SIM will be required. But since you are ordering online, it will come with one.

 

[majorpayne]

Yes he will recieve a new sim that he must use in the S4. When he goes to load it on his line he won't need the numbers as when he does the activate it should ask if the device has been on the account before (mine did) and you can pick it from the drop down

 

[Mark_Venture]

I've only done my upgrades using the dumb phone I still have on my account so I have to ask....

I know for day to day use, getting a sim adapter to use the iPhone 5's Nano sim in the S4 works, as I'm doing that with my work iPhone 5 and S4 phones now. (same nano sim, just use adapter to "up size" it depending on the phone I'm using).

Since the S4 will ship with a new MicroSIM, and the iPhone 5 already has a NanoSIM, can they use a sim adapter to convert and use the iPhone 5's existing sim in the S4, rather than activating the S4 with the NEW SIM on the wife's line, thus making it easier to return to the iPhone 5 on the wife's line?

In other words, I guess I'm asking if you must use the SIM included with the new "upgrade" phone when first activating it, or if you can just use your existing sim?

 

[droidRama]

Thanks for all the information.

I am not sure I understand the below but it seems like a good question as I am unfamiliar with how this works. It does sound like I will need to activate it on my wife's line phone first.

I called *611 to see about an early upgrade and customer service said I needed to go to a store as I am about 7 days outside the 30-day early upgrade window. I told her I wanted to order a phone available only online. She then told me to call telesales and ask about an early upgrade. I will have to do that tomorrow. I am going on vacation next week so I am hoping to get it early to play with it while on vacation.

I've only done my upgrades using the dumb phone I still have on my account so I have to ask....

I know for day to day use, getting a sim adapter to use the iPhone 5's Nano sim in the S4 works, as I'm doing that with my work iPhone 5 and S4 phones now. (same nano sim, just use adapter to "up size" it depending on the phone I'm using).

Since the S4 will ship with a new MicroSIM, and the iPhone 5 already has a NanoSIM, can they use a sim adapter to convert and use the iPhone 5's existing sim in the S4, rather than activating the S4 with the NEW SIM on the wife's line, thus making it easier to return to the iPhone 5 on the wife's line?

In other words, I guess I'm asking if you must use the SIM included with the new "upgrade" phone when first activating it, or if you can just use your existing sim?

 

[loyolacs]

Make sure you activate the new S4 to her line first, then move it to your line.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

I just ordered the same phone for my daughter's dumbphone line. I was told when it gets here to just activate it on my line. Dont want to lose unlimited so do I need to activate it on her line first? She is planning to add data to her line with my old phone anyway so I'm not worried about starting data on her line. Using her contract's upgrade so that I don't lose unlimited.

Sent from my ADR6400L using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Mark_Venture]

Thanks for all the information.

I am not sure I understand the below but it seems like a good question as I am unfamiliar with how this works. It does sound like I will need to activate it on my wife's line phone first.

I called *611 to see about an early upgrade and customer service said I needed to go to a store as I am about 7 days outside the 30-day early upgrade window. I told her I wanted to order a phone available only online. She then told me to call telesales and ask about an early upgrade. I will have to do that tomorrow. I am going on vacation next week so I am hoping to get it early to play with it while on vacation.

By SIM adapter, I use this -> Amazon.com: Nano to Micro/Normal SIM Card Adapter for Apple iPhone 5 4S 4G 3GS 3G: Cell Phones & Accessories to take the Nano SIM (smallest, used in iPhone 5) to either Micro SIM (used in S4, Lumia 928, Z10) or regular SIM (used in my Bionic and Thunderbolt). NOTE: some users of sim adapters have reported damage to the phone's slot/pins, use at your own risk!

So you could use the Nano to Micro adapter in that pack to put the iPhone 5's sim into the S4 when it gets there. No need to go to store, do anything funky, etc. Then just remove the adapter and put the nano SIM back in the iPhone 5 after a day (to give VZW's system time to see the phone switch). The S4 would then be free to use on any line.

My only problem is.. I don't know if, for the upgrade to be fully realized in Verizon's eyes, you must use BOTH the new phone and SIM card to activate it. Of if you can just move your exiting SIM into the new phone.

If you MUST use the SIM included with the S4, since it and the iPhone 5 use different sized SIM cards, it gets a little "messy"... you'd have to activate the S4 on Wife's line with the included Micro SIM. Since the SIM cards are "once and done", to put the iphone back on that line, you'd have to visit a VZW store for them to give you a new nano sim and put the iPhone 5 back on that line. If your nexus uses a Micro SIM, you can just move it from the Nexus to the S4. If your Nexus uses a "full" or "regular" size sim, then you need to get a new Micro SIM from Verizon to switch to the S4 on your line.

 

[Mark_Venture]

I just ordered the same phone for my daughter's dumbphone line. I was told when it gets here to just activate it on my line. Dont want to lose unlimited so do I need to activate it on her line first? She is planning to add data to her line with my old phone anyway so I'm not worried about starting data on her line. Using her contract's upgrade so that I don't lose unlimited.

Sent from my ADR6400L using AC Forums mobile app

The policy has always been that to fulfill the terms of the upgrade (and thus discounted pricing), you need to activate the phone on the line it was purchased against. So, Activate it on her line first, wait a day, then put whatever unused phone (could be the dumb phone by dialing *228 on it) on her line which will free up the S4 for your line. NOTE: you can't re-use the SIM. They are "once and done"

 

[DenverRalphy]

Make sure you activate the new S4 to her line first, then move it to your line.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

I just ordered the same phone for my daughter's dumbphone line. I was told when it gets here to just activate it on my line. Dont want to lose unlimited so do I need to activate it on her line first? She is planning to add data to her line with my old phone anyway so I'm not worried about starting data on her line. Using her contract's upgrade so that I don't lose unlimited.

Sent from my ADR6400L using AC Forums mobile app

The policy has always been that to fulfill the terms of the upgrade (and thus discounted pricing), you need to activate the phone on the line it was purchased against. So, Activate it on her line first, wait a day, then put whatever unused phone (could be the dumb phone by dialing *228 on it) on her line which will free up the S4 for your line. NOTE: you can't re-use the SIM. They are "once and done"

I've never had to activate the device on the line it was purchased for. I've done it a couple of times now.

Once via ordering the device via customer service over the phone, when the phone arrived in the mail, the moment I received it I just activated it on the unlimited data line. And once done in a brick & mortar store. Both times the customer service rep was well aware of what we were doing, and one of the times was even suggested by the CS rep so that I wouldn't lose unlimited data.

It's not like you have to be sneaky and use a loophole. VZW doesn't care one bit about it... all they care is that a contract, any contract, was renewed.

Heck... you could update a contract, never even activate the device, and just give it away to somebody else not even on your plan.

 

[droidRama]

I've never had to activate the device on the line it was purchased for. I've done it a couple of times now.

Once via ordering the device via customer service over the phone, when the phone arrived in the mail, the moment I received it I just activated it on the unlimited data line. And once done in a brick & mortar store. Both times the customer service rep was well aware of what we were doing, and one of the times was even suggested by the CS rep so that I wouldn't lose unlimited data.

It's not like you have to be sneaky and use a loophole. VZW doesn't care one bit about it... all they care is that a contract, any contract, was renewed.

Heck... you could update a contract, never even activate the device, and just give it away to somebody else not even on your plan.

I finally ordered and received my phone and you are right. I used my wife's upgrade and once I received it activated it directly on my unlimited line. No problem and I still have unlimited data.

I have had the phone for less than a day but I am very pleased with it so far.

Thanks!

 

[digitard]

Yeah you'll only lose the unlimited data if the contract is applied directly to your line.

I did a similar thing, but w/ my fathers phone. He wanted a 4S, I wanted a 5 at the time so he upgraded, swapped it to my line, activated mine on his and the world is happy. Thankfully a company is buying my S4 for me so I can activate that, too, and not lose my Unlimited. I don't use anything crazy,but I like knowing I "could" and also never checking my data usage. When on limits I always worry about that even if I know I'm under.

 

[snosamie6]

I hope to do this when the Note III comes out. Mom switched to the shared plan because she almost exclusively uses her iPhone on wifi in a big city. I'm out in the sticks and need data to drive places, thus I want to keep my unlimited plan. I'm looking forward to getting a new phone!

 

[MakanaTheDog]

I'm still a bit nervous, and holding my breath until my bill actually comes out, but I am on Grandfathered Unlimited Data, and my line was up for renewal. I went through Amazon and upgraded my Razr to S4, and when I went through the order process there was a "Keep my existing plan" so I clicked on that just for grins, and when I got to the confirmation page (last step) all my billing was the same and it even listed "Keep my existing unlimited data plan (upgrades only)" with the $29.99 price tag . I even called the "contact us" number to talk to the Amazon rep and he confirmed that it was something new in the last couple months, and yes the "will I loose my unlimited data" was the question of the month.

So, like I said, we'll see.

 

[cnotes2019]

I'm still a bit nervous, and holding my breath until my bill actually comes out, but I am on Grandfathered Unlimited Data, and my line was up for renewal. I went through Amazon and upgraded my Razr to S4, and when I went through the order process there was a "Keep my existing plan" so I clicked on that just for grins, and when I got to the confirmation page (last step) all my billing was the same and it even listed "Keep my existing unlimited data plan (upgrades only)" with the $29.99 price tag . I even called the "contact us" number to talk to the Amazon rep and he confirmed that it was something new in the last couple months, and yes the "will I loose my unlimited data" was the question of the month.

So, like I said, we'll see.

Make sure you print out copies of your plan after the upgrade in case it gets changed to 2gb down the line.....

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