Details of phone selection after the New Year

[TnSlim]

This probably is the wrong forum but I was even more confused about the warren of possibilities if I went any deeper.

I'm on a Verizon MVNO and my provider (PPC) has not given me a comprehensible answer to this question. How can I tell what phones will work on Verizon as of January 1st? Will there still be any such thing as a Verizon phone, or will any VOLte phone work (provided it isn't 'locked' by another provider)?

I don't even get a consistent answer from PPC as to whether my current phone (an HTC One M8) will still work after the change. And I'm not feeling the love from Verizon's website either. Hoping someone here can straighten me out.

TIA!

[SoxFan76]

They're not shutting off CDMA until EOY 2020.

[rpz1]

Which M8, What model # ?
Is it working now on PPC ?
How olds the SIM in your phone?
Have you run the imei on the PPC website ?

If it's the android model and not the windows model you should be good except missing one of Vzw's LTE bands, I think it has HD voice which is VoLTE but may be an older version of advanced calling. And may also need a newer SIM.

Post your question (and the answers) in the PagePlus forum, I'm sure someone there can answer all.
CSRs wouldn't know with any company.
I think with the M8 it's time for a new phone anyway. Plenty out there for under $50 much better with black Friday coming. Any Vzw/Tracfone will activate on PPC with the SIM that comes in it and all the new ones have VoLTE.

[TnSlim]

It's an Android phone, currently running LineageOS. The phone model listed under Settings> About Phone> Device model is m8wl. The model printed on the case is HTC6525L. The sku is HTC6525LVW. I bought the SIM card in August of last year.

The reason this came up is my back-up phone died and I tried to re-activate a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (SM-820L) that used to be my EDC. When I entered its MEID into PPC's online activation it told me the phone wasn't eligible. I'd used the same device on PPC until about a year ago so I telephoned their CS to ask why it's no longer eligible. The CSA said it was because the device didn't support VoLTE. I asked why that mattered and he told me it was because Verizon was switching off CDMA on the first of the year.

I messaged PPC through their online support and asked how I could determine which phones would be eligible after Verizon ditched CDMA but they've not responded. Which is why I posted in this forum, because it's Verizon that determines the answer.

Exactly when the change occurs is irrelevant because I need a new backup phone now. So the salient question is how can I tell which phones Verizon will support after the change.

Bonus points if that information leads to discovering that my HTC will still work after the change.

[veriztd]

I can say for certain that your phone cannot be used unless it was still active on an existing CDMA plan. Verizon stopped allowing activation of CDMA devices on their network early this summer. Currently they only allow activation of VOLTE phones, doesn't matter if it is post paid or on an MVNO using their network.

It has been made clear that CDMA is NOT going to be shut down completely after the first of 2020, but likely at the end of 2020. Users of CDMA devices are getting notices to upgrade their devices sooner than later, but will still work on CDMA in many markets until the final sunset of the technology occurs.

[veriztd]

I did a lookup of the device at Phonescoop.com and found this: https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=4421. The device is CDMA and while it does support LTE (data only) the device does not support VOLTE for voice. That is the issue in trying to activate it. It cannot be activated now on Verizon or any MVNO using their network. That ship has sailed.

IMHO, even if it could be activated, I would discourage its usage as it appears to be running Android 4.4 and would be incompatible with most applications on the Play Store.

Simply put, you want a phone that uses VOLTE (LTE is only a component of that system).

[TnSlim]

...IMHO, even if it could be activated, I would discourage its usage as it appears to be running Android 4.4 and would be incompatible with most applications on the Play Store.

Simply put, you want a phone that uses VOLTE (LTE is only a component of that system).

I'm running the LineageOS 15.1 ROM on the HTC, which is Android 8.1. And I don't use Play Store.

And now we've come back to one of the questions I posed in the OP.

Will there still be any such thing as a Verizon phone, or will any VOLte phone work (provided it isn't 'locked' by another provider)?

If I don't have to be I'd prefer not to be limited by either Verizon's or PPC's offerings because I won't own a smartphone that can't be rooted, and I'd prefer one that there's a LineageOS ROM for. Which is why I'm fixated on leaning how to discover for myself what phones Verizon will accpet.

[bobdevnul]

I'm running the LineageOS 15.1 ROM on the HTC, which is Android 8.1. And I don't use Play Store.

And now we've come back to one of the questions I posed in the OP.

Will there still be any such thing as a Verizon phone, or will any VOLte phone work (provided it isn't 'locked' by another provider)?

If I don't have to be I'd prefer not to be limited by either Verizon's or PPC's offerings because I won't own a smartphone that can't be rooted, and I'd prefer one that there's a LineageOS ROM for. Which is why I'm fixated on leaning how to discover for myself what phones Verizon will accpet.

Yes there will still be Verizon phones. Phones have to be on Verizon's whitelist to activate on Verizon or their MVNOs. There are also carrier agnostic phones that are not carrier branded and are whitelisted - Moto G6, etc.

Just any VOLTE phone will not work. Recent T-Mobile phones have VOLTE, but are not generally whitelisted by Verizon.

Any phones sold by Verizon and their MVNOs in the past year have Verizon VOLTE. It's probably more than a year, but I don't know how far back to go. I have not found a reliable resource of which phones have the current version of Verizon VOLTE.

The Galaxy S5 comes up occasionally. It has an older version of Verizon VOLTE. Reports are that Verizon can make it work on postpaid service, but MVNOs can't.

Even though Verizon pushed the CDMA shutdown out to the end of 2020, as-is, where-is, they have not installed any new CDMA in years and aren't repairing any that fails. CDMA may not be where you want to use your phone.

[TnSlim]

...Just any VOLTE phone will not work. Recent T-Mobile phones have VOLTE, but are not generally whitelisted by Verizon....

WHITELIST! THAT'S the word I've been needing! THANK YOU for that!

Is this a 'thing' that Joe Sixpack can get a copy of or does it only exist in Verizon's 'head'? I tried searching their website (and forum) for "white list" and whitelist but I didn't find anything that was both recent and related to a phone whitelist (but lots of hits about blacklisted IP addresses, web addresses and MEIDs).


And not really relevant to this conversation but their support page for the M8 doesn't have any indication (that I can find) that it isn't still supported.


EDIT:
I telephoned PPC support to ask about one prospect, the LG K20V. There wasn't a lot of 'certainty' in the agent's voice when he answered but he said that a 2019 version of that phone would work but nothing previous to that. So even when asking about a specific phone the answer isn't as simple as "yes" or "no."

[bobdevnul]

WHITELIST! THAT'S the word I've been needing! THANK YOU for that!

Is this a 'thing' that Joe Sixpack can get a copy of or does it only exist in Verizon's 'head'? I tried searching their website (and forum) for "white list" and whitelist but I didn't find anything that was both recent and related to a phone whitelist (but lots of hits about blacklisted IP addresses, web addresses and MEIDs)....

Phone manufacturers pay Verizon (a lot) to test and certify their phones for use on Verizon. The (IMEI) serial numbers for certified phones get put in Verizon's database. We don't have access to the database except to check a particular serial number.

A web search for "verizon volte phones" shows that there are some lists of phone models.

Your requirement for a rootable phone makes it all the harder.

Personally, I have a carrier agnostic phone that can be used on any carrier and don't feel the need for a rooted phone or custom ROM.

[veriztd]

The "White list" is an internal list of approved devices. For activation issues, CS submits technical tickets to Technical Support team who researches the White List for approved devices. You cannot request a copy of it and it is considered proprietary by Verizon (meaning they don't share that information with anyone else). You shouldn't blame a CS representative who cannot confirm over the phone when they can't make that type of determination. They don't have access to it either. There is a process required to make the determination and there is no shortcut to get it resolved.

[HFNube]

OP, I can understand not wanting to let go of the HTC m8 since I used it as a primary for 5 years. Consider any of the Pixel phones or step up your game and get a OnePlus 7 Pro or similar.

I think you'll find that even though the m8 still suits you, it's hard to go back once you've used a faster device, not to mention display quality. Just pay attention to specs, since the displays of the Pixel phones use pentile subpixel arrangement so I would get the XL version. Many complain about the Pixel 2 XL blue tint though.

But yes, the m8 is one of the all time best phones IMO.

You may find the dual partitioning of the newer devices daunting, but it isn't too bad once you're used to it. Lineage is good, but I find that the kernels I want to run usually don't work with Lineage so I usually pick a kernel and find a ROM that works with the preferred kernel.

Good luck!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[TnSlim]

I found a web page at Verizon that lets me check on a specific phone.

Sometimes all it needs is the model, sometimes it needs who it was bought from, and worst case it needs the MEID.



Not the best of times to be on an MVNO.

[SoNic67]

I'm running the LineageOS 15.1 ROM.

I never had luck making VoLTE work on LineageOS on my previous phones. I just gave up to Lineage, the drawbacks are overwhelming any advantages...

[HFNube]

I never had luck making VoLTE work on LineageOS on my previous phones. I just gave up to Lineage, the drawbacks are overwhelming any advantages...

Pretty stoked with Bootleggers ROM in terms of VoLTE and functionality overall. Worth checking out!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk