Virgin Mobile service change

[CrvyloOo]

Simple nubile question here. I was looking to buy a used Note 3 and was wondering if it would be simple to change the provider to my current Virgin Mobile plan. I don't have a contact or SIM card.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Since Virgin Mobile is a CDMA network, you'd have to make sure the Note 3 is compatible with CDMA. You also want to make sure that the phone is unlocked.

 

[CrvyloOo]

Whoops! Don't I feel stupid, I meant to post this in the Note 3 forum, I don't know how it ended up here. Is there any way to move my thread? Apologies for the stupidity.
But anyway, to respond to you, is there no way to convert from a GSM to a CDMA network? And if the phone ISN'T unlocked, is it possible for me to unlock it myself? And one last question, when I do purchase my Note 3, should I be targeting a specific carrier version? ie Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc., whether they are unlocked or not?

 

[B. Diddy]

Thread moved. Sorry, but you can't force a GSM phone to be CDMA--it's a hardware issue, not software.

I'm not sure about unlocking the phone. Verizon phones are all supposed to be unlocked now. Sprint phones might need to be unlocked. Be very careful about this as well, because if the previous owner never paid off the phone completely, or if there was some unresolved bill dispute, then the carrier might either blacklist the phone (which makes it unusable as a phone) or prevent it from being released from the original contract.

Since Virgin Mobile is a CDMA network, you should be looking for phones from either Verizon or Sprint, which are both CDMA. AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM.

 

[CrvyloOo]

Thank you for moving it! And ah okay, I understand. So assume I buy an already unlocked Sprint or Verizon issued Note 3, what would be my next steps in activating it for Virgin Mobile?

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, I just looked this up--it may be that Virgin Mobile won't allow you to bring your own phone: https://www.virginmobileusa.com/resources/CTIAFAQ.pdf. You should call them up and ask.