Verizon is telling me my unlocked Note20 needs a different sim card than the one they sent me .

[Android Central Question]

So this is whats going on i get a Note20 as a gift my son buys me it from Best Buy,he didnt tell them im on Verizon's network so they dont give him a sim card,i call Verizon and they send me a sim card but there telling me because it didnt activate they need to send me another type of sim card for the unlocked version,is this common ?

 

[mustang7757]

Never heard of that, old one should of worked fine ,but call their customer service again or if you can stop by a store .

I'll leave a Link to register so you can communicate here as a guest account you can only post questions but can't reply

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[mustang7757]

[Moved your question to Note 20 forums]

 

[VidJunky]

How are they communicating this to you? I'm on Verizon and have never been told to or asked to use a new SIM. In fact the one time I put the new included SIM in a device I spent days trying to work with Big Red to get my issues corrected.

The real questions, for us anyway, are;
Who is and how are they telling you this?

Does the device currently work?

You obviously would have given some information when requesting the SIM so "if" there was a need for something different why didn't they send that the first time? I say "if" because the only thing that should affect a SIM is size and I don't think they even still make the larger sized SIMs anymore and if they do it's for a handful of phones that probably no one has even heard of.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Is this a regular Note20 or a Note20 5G? Not sure if that would make a difference, but Verizon's 5G network is different from the other carriers, and I would guess the non-Verizon Note20 5G is not compatible with Verizon's 5G network (but I could be wrong).

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Welcome to Android Central! Is this a regular Note20 or a Note20 5G? Not sure if that would make a difference, but Verizon's 5G network is different from the other carriers, and I would guess the non-Verizon Note20 5G is not compatible with Verizon's 5G network (but I could be wrong).

I think you're wrong but as I'm on break at work no time for Google Fu.

The regular S20 needed a special Verizon version for 5G due to the antenna/frequencies. The S20 Plus and Ultra unlocked supported 5G on Verizon, Note 20 Ultra should be the same.

 

[mustang7757]

Only difference is the 5g because Verizon does its mmwave which is still a issue for lots of people on their 5G between unlocked and carrier version but regular calls and texts ,4g should be able to connect.

 

[Nymuscle 1961]

How are they communicating this to you? I'm on Verizon and have never been told to or asked to use a new SIM. In fact the one time I put the new included SIM in a device I spent days trying to work with Big Red to get my issues corrected.

The real questions, for us anyway, are;
Who is and how are they telling you this?

Does the device currently work?

You obviously would have given some information when requesting the SIM so "if" there was a need for something different why didn't they send that the first time? I say "if" because the only thing that should affect a SIM is size and I don't think they even still make the larger sized SIMs anymore and if they do it's for a handful of phones that probably no one has even heard of.

I spoke to them yesterday.
Appeared to be a tech.
The device works but its not activated to my number and as per the tech its not activating in the Verizon system.
Im recieving the new sim card today so ill update,my old phone was a LG V20 so i couldnt use that sim card because of 5G.
Thats about all i can shed at the moment.

 

[Nymuscle 1961]

Welcome to Android Central! Is this a regular Note20 or a Note20 5G? Not sure if that would make a difference, but Verizon's 5G network is different from the other carriers, and I would guess the non-Verizon Note20 5G is not compatible with Verizon's 5G network (but I could be wrong).

Note20 5G

 

[Nymuscle 1961]

Called back today because the sim card they said they were over nighting didnt show up and asked if there was such thing and got a complete different answer today,so this lady helped me and we got the phone online with the original sim card,what a mess,the only thing im not familiar with is that its not diplaying 5g on top so do i have to be range of a 5g network for that icon to display?im kind of off the grid,even at the house i use a Verizon Extender but once i get closer to civilization i connect to my 4g on my old phone fairly quick.

 

[bkdodger2]

I'm only throwing my experience here.. I received an iPhone this year my yearly upgrade and with it was a Verizon sim which said 5G on it.. Didn't think anything of it and tried to just swap my current sim to phone.. Didn't work and found out I had to use that sim received to activate new phone ordered through Apple...no biggie got it working and noticed 5G in the status bar all the time even when not connected to 5G...I carry two phones one Android and I've been just using my old sim on every Android phone I switch and always showed LTE.. decided one day call Verizon and asked them I don't know I'm on 5G plan.. I got a 5G sim for iPhone do I need one for my Z Fold? They sent one out free of charge and when I received it called them they had to activate it.. Now I see 5G a times on my Fold when near areas.. Anyway that's my story lol not much different in speeds but I'm at least matching in 5G sims.. Haha who know if it's just same as before...

 

[danhartman26]

Called back today because the sim card they said they were over nighting didnt show up and asked if there was such thing and got a complete different answer today,so this lady helped me and we got the phone online with the original sim card,what a mess,the only thing im not familiar with is that its not diplaying 5g on top so do i have to be range of a 5g network for that icon to display?im kind of off the grid,even at the house i use a Verizon Extender but once i get closer to civilization i connect to my 4g on my old phone fairly quick.

I used the sim from my Note 9 with VZW. Everything works fine for me - I see LTE, LTE+, 3G, and 5G depending what is available. I haven't been near a 5G UWB tower yet, so I can't speak on that.

I'm not positive, but I think this is still the same Sim from my S8 too. I'm on an unlocked N20U now, and everything is working great!

 

[buzzy3970]

Yea they tell you that you need a 5g sim in order to get the best experience, but it isn't true. I get the same coverage I was getting when I had my 4g lte sim in my S20 Ultra. It's funny because I have T-Mobile as well which says the same thing about their "new sim", but I was getting the 5g icon with them as well before I swapped out the sim.

I used the sim from my Note 9 with VZW. Everything works fine for me - I see LTE, LTE+, 3G, and 5G depending what is available. I haven't been near a 5G UWB tower yet, so I can't speak on that.

I'm not positive, but I think this is still the same Sim from my S8 too. I'm on an unlocked N20U now, and everything is working great!

 

[VidJunky]

Called back today because the sim card they said they were over nighting didnt show up and asked if there was such thing and got a complete different answer today,so this lady helped me and we got the phone online with the original sim card,what a mess,the only thing im not familiar with is that its not diplaying 5g on top so do i have to be range of a 5g network for that icon to display?im kind of off the grid,even at the house i use a Verizon Extender but once i get closer to civilization i connect to my 4g on my old phone fairly quick.

I figured you wouldn't have to swap to get it working. In this and other forums I've seen mention that old SIMs were getting 5G and that there was no such thing as a 5G SIM. The one's that are branded 5G are just advertising vs an actual change or difference I'm sure.

Verizon for some reason doesn't like Unlocked devices. With almost all of my Unlocked devices on Verizon I've had one issue or another. On one I couldn't receive, or maybe send, SMS until they reset something with my account. On my S10 I had issues with WiFi calling and Find My Mobile, the Samsung equivalent to Google's Find My Device. Both started working a month or so after activation which made me feel like there was an intentional delay for activation with Unlocked devices. My S20 is the first to not have any issues, or at least ones that I noticed, right out the box. Find My Mobile may have been delayed but I never checked right out of the box.

 

[Nymuscle 1961]

Well thanks to all for chiming in and giving your advice,I'll be sure to tune in to this site.
Now i found out this phone doesnt have a earphone jack so I ordered that part,seems like it never ends sometimes,If it wasnt for this phone being a present I would have been fine with my LGV20 for another few yrs this kind of stuff doesnt bother me,if its not broken !!! You know the rest....