"SIM card is required" when trying to activate Pixel 4a 5G

[Boz1]

That Pixel4a is SIM-locked on GoogleFi. I love when people leave out part of the story that they know might be viewed as stealing attempt. As in pay $15 (first month of service) and get a Pixel 4a!

This plan says you need to stay with them 2 years before they unlock it:

You copied/pasted/quoted something, and claim it says something about "before they unlock it".

But it doesn't. Please explain. Thanks.

[cellular-dude]

I think people have activated LTE only phones on TF.

Cool. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. lol

[pitflyer]

Just a guess here. Your ZTE Blade 3 is probably listed in Verizon's system as LTE only and that's why you get no service on Tracfone.

It's odd because the ZTE Blade 3 is allowed to activate (I guess paired with my VZW SIM now) but doesn't actually work. And I can confirm my Pixel 4a 5G is definitely unlocked. I am using it from day 1 on Google Fi (eSIM/TMO) and RedPocket (SIM/ATT). My RedPocket service will expire so was planning to swap into this. I know SIM swap can have side effects, but I'll try it later and see if it works. Worst case, I'll transfer my service to an ATT or TMO TracFone BYOP SIM which if it doesn't work is definitely a TracFone problem.

[hpham]

It's odd because the ZTE Blade 3 is allowed to activate (I guess paired with my VZW SIM now) but doesn't actually work.

I have a Visible ZTE A7 Prime that I got from a swap. It obviously can work with Verizon VoLTE but it wouldn't work with TF/Verizon. I recall that's because the APN is locked to Visible. I think I was able to create/edit an APN for TF/Verizon but couldn't SAVE it. It's been a while since I messed with it.

[pitflyer]

I have a Visible ZTE A7 Prime that I got from a swap. It obviously can work with Verizon VoLTE but it wouldn't work with TF/Verizon. I recall that's because the APN is locked to Visible. I think I was able to create/edit an APN for TF/Verizon but couldn't SAVE it. It's been a while since I messed with it.

OK. I would have potentially expected that -- ie no data -- but my Blade 3 would not even register on the network at all. I used it on Visible and also on Google Fi so its a working phone. It was odd that the phone just never showed any service available at all.

[hpham]

OK. I would have potentially expected that -- ie no data -- but my Blade 3 would not even register on the network at all. I used it on Visible and also on Google Fi so its a working phone. It was odd that the phone just never showed any service available at all.

I believe the Visible phones can only work on Verizon using VoLTE (i.e. no CDMA). Since VoLTE uses the data channel for voice, no working APN means no voice (besides no Data).

[bigbw]

Cool. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. lol

I have activated a couple of phones on TF/VZ that are LTE only, and have never had any issues. You need to activate via chat and specify you want "CDMA less" activation..

[pitflyer]

So I finally moved my SIM into the 4a 5G I was actually trying to activate. Worked flawlessly and the speeds were pretty amazing compared to the ATT SIMs I'm using right now (Cricket and RedPocket). Not sure if I want to mess with it given it works, even though the IMEI paired on my account is on another phone which actually DOESN'T work!

[Tracfancier]

So I finally moved my SIM into the 4a 5G I was actually trying to activate. Worked flawlessly and the speeds were pretty amazing compared to the ATT SIMs I'm using right now (Cricket and RedPocket). Not sure if I want to mess with it given it works, even though the IMEI paired on my account is on another phone which actually DOESN'T work!

Just keep a detailed accounting of all the involved phones and SIM`s history. Do not count on your memory.

[pitflyer]

Not sure if this means anything but I tried to activate my 4a 5G on a Page Plus and it said 'Can not activate 5G phones on Page Plus yet'. So I wonder if that's the problem here but not as well reported? Because TracFone doesn't support 5g yet?

As mentioned the VZW sim when activated elsewhere works fine but I don't think I get 5g (wasn't expecting it)

[rpz1]

Not sure if this means anything but I tried to activate my 4a 5G on a Page Plus and it said 'Can not activate 5G phones on Page Plus yet'. So I wonder if that's the problem here but not as well reported? Because TracFone doesn't support 5g yet?

As mentioned the VZW sim when activated elsewhere works fine but I don't think I get 5g (wasn't expecting it)

Likely just a hic-up in there automated system. You mentioned in another post that your current active sim works fine in the 4a. If you're planning on replacing your old phone with the 4a and not looking for a new activation/number/account, just keep that sim in it. PP will auto update the imei/sim pairing.
Just to check, after you swap the sim and use the phone , just do a chat with them in a couple days and ask to check your sim is paired with the proper phone. They'll ask you the imei and or sim #'s to confirm correct.
PP procedure for changing phones and keeping your number/account/balance is to just swap the sim. Their system does the rest.

[pitflyer]

Likely just a hic-up in there automated system. You mentioned in another post that your current active sim works fine in the 4a. If you're planning on replacing your old phone with the 4a and not looking for a new activation/number/account, just keep that sim in it. PP will auto update the imei/sim pairing.
Just to check, after you swap the sim and use the phone , just do a chat with them in a couple days and ask to check your sim is paired with the proper phone. They'll ask you the imei and or sim #'s to confirm correct.
PP procedure for changing phones and keeping your number/account/balance is to just swap the sim. Their system does the rest.

Thanks. That seems like the safest approach with TracFone, though I've seen the other threads talk about how they might finally start catching up with sim swaps in the backend. I didn't actually go through with the PagePlus order, was just seeing if my ESN would be compatible there.

I actually have two different TracFone VZW SIMs I want to use in my 4a 5g, a BYOP one and one that's currently in a TracFone device. On the latter, I'm waiting for it to age out to a year and unlock before I move it to my phone, so I'm going to live dangerously and play with the BYOP SIM in my 4a until it stops working, and then 'officially' migrate my other one. Worst case for either is I do have ATT/TMO BYOP SIMs to migrate them to; in my general area ATT seems to have the best coverage (which is funny, since I've been a TMO customer, both direct and MVNO, for so long, and just ended up with ATT through RedPocket).

[pitflyer]

I checked another unlocked 5G device (S20 FE 5G) and getting the same behavior -- TracFone reports 'Sim Card is required' (even if you enter one) and PagePlus reports 'We can't activate 5G devices'. I know it actually works in the device, so I guess I'll sim swap and see if TracFone is able to attach the IMEI accordingly. Will be curious if anyone else is able to get a 5G device to activate directly on TFW VZW (knowing you don't get 5G service).

Clarifying these are NON VZW 5G devices (ie not their Mwave version)

[Haas_Dave]

Apparently excluding devices sold directly by Tracfone brands (because money and locking devices is Tracfone’s style) and seems to exclude the iPhone 12 series, they aren't supporting 5G devices well at all on Verizon. I've been reading that some brands may only support UWB (Total Wireless was at one point this way) or only “Nationwide” non-UWB 5G devices (fail to activate any UWB device on Straight Talk). This inconsistency is concerning, since Verizon is still looking to complete the company’s acquisition by Q2 of this year.

I checked my unlocked OnePlus 8T (it’s not sold by Verizon, it my not be certified for 5G) device & it is compatible with “Tracfone” and “Page Plus” brands, but not a UWB Verizon-branded Samsung S20 FE series device nor an unlocked Samsung S20+. All three show as compatible on Verizon Prepaid, which recently added a UWB unlimited plan.

I suspect that any device that might be certified for 5G on Verizon varies on compatibility on MVNOs. This seems to be the case with Visible (the Pixel 5G phones are not getting 5G access but will otherwise work on LTE while Galaxy S20 series are supported). US Mobile apparently works on all 5G devices, but Red Pocket has no 5G on Verizon (only T-Mobile).

Most AT&T MVNOs still don’t have 5G access, so the only MVNOs consistently getting 5G access are T-Mobile MVNOs.

It does seem like Tracfone catches up on SIM swaps happening to devices that aren't attached to the account on some brands. Tried SIM swapping my active Total Wireless SIM into my unlocked OnePlus 8T and it will not show service (putting it back into the iPhone whose IMEI was used in original BOYD activation reverts this behavior). This didn’t happen previously with my OnePlus 7T back in November. This might become a concern for SIM swappers.


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