Reactivate which minimum plan qualifies?

[mike62]

I need to reactivate an old Tracfone temporarily. Walmart has a SIM kit for $9.99. They also have the $15 plan and up.

I just need it for a bit with minimum minutes. They sell an incremental $5, $10, etc and the PIN is on the receipt. Would this qualify as a plan (30 days) and then buy another $5 card if needed OR must it be a $15 minimum plan and these cards are just temporary add ons to current plans?

Thank you.

[sillyette]

I need to reactivate an old Tracfone temporarily. Walmart has a SIM kit for $9.99. They also have the $15 plan and up.

I just need it for a bit with minimum minutes. They sell an incremental $5, $10, etc and the PIN is on the receipt. Would this qualify as a plan (30 days) and then buy another $5 card if needed OR must it be a $15 minimum plan and these cards are just temporary add ons to current plans?

Thank you.

A few thoughts:

- If you don't have a phone number on the old phone, then you'll need to reactivate with a plan.

- If you have a Tracfone-branded phone, and have the SIM card that the phone came with, you won't need a new SIM card.

- $9.99 for a SIM card is expensive (for me, for sure!) - you can get a SIM card for a buck from Tracfone. They'll ship it free. Or you can buy it off of ebay for a buck, free shipping.

- If your old phone is a flip phone, you can save $5. Instead of buying the $15 plan, order the $10 plan PIN on ebay. The PIN will be sent to you by email. (Someone can probably chime in on whether this $10 plan can be used to reactivate a non-flip phone).

- The add-on cards can be added once your phone has been reactivated with a plan, not otherwise.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

[arny56]

I've found the 3 sim kits at Dollar General for $1 but, as sillyette said, if you have the original Trac Verizon sim you can reuse that. AT&T or T-Mobil sims not so much.

[PaulCrawhorne]

I've found the 3 sim kits at Dollar General for $1 but, as sillyette said, if you have the original Trac Verizon sim you can reuse that. AT&T or T-Mobil sims not so much.

By 3-SIM kit, do you mean the OG with all three networks ?

Or VZW only, just with three sizes?

[arny56]

By 3-SIM kit, do you mean the OG with all three networks ?

Or VZW only, just with three sizes?

I mean the kit with one each VZW, T-Mobil, and AT&T sim.

[jet1000]

As of others have said, if you have the SIM that was used previously, then you just need to add time. I think the lowest priced plan is the one available through ebay for $9.99 for 30 days:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284813673959?

If you do need another SIM, you can get them for under $1 on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Tracfone-Prep.../dp/B0BBKXS8TH

[WheelieBoot]

How old is the phone? Can't activate 3g anymore and in some cases 4g can't be either, I have some 4g LTE that TF won't reactivate. All phones have to be 4g LTE with VoLTE capability.

Sent from my moto g pure using HoFo mobile app

[mike62]

It sounds like I'll have to get at least the $15 plan. Apparently there are cheaper SIM cards though.

It was bought at Walmart and I "assume" it had a Verizon plan. It's about 3 years old. I DO want a new number and figure my old one has been regenerated as it's not had an active plan for over 2 years.

When I buy a SIM card is the only issue to have the same carrier as the SIM card?

If I buy a $15 minimum plan from Walmart I assume it'll be the same carrier. Only issue is it's a Tracphone SIM from Walmart.

Best advise for a new number and SIM card that matches is what it boils down to.

The Tracphone doesn't tell the carrier in the phone info anywhere does it?

[hpham]

The Tracphone doesn't tell the carrier in the phone info anywhere does it?

Look at the first 6 digits of the SIM (ICCID) number. It's printed on the SIM card (in tiny prints) and also is shown in About Phone.

The first 6 digits of a TF SIM number (ICCID) identify which carrier it's for:
* 890141: AT&T
* 890126: T-mobile
* 891480: Verizon

[SlowLoris]

It was bought at Walmart and I "assume" it had a Verizon plan. It's about 3 years old. I DO want a new number and figure my old one has been regenerated as it's not had an active plan for over 2 years.

Does the phone still have the SIM card in it? If yes, follow jet1000's advice of the 30 day plan from ebay for $9.99 and activate with a new number.

[mike62]

Look at the first 6 digits of the SIM (ICCID) number. It's printed on the SIM card (in tiny prints) and also is shown in About Phone.

The first 6 digits of a TF SIM number (ICCID) identify which carrier it's for:
* 890141: AT&T
* 890126: T-mobile
* 891480: Verizon

It just says 8901 no numbers after. The SIM card has at the top TF128PSIMT5SAN.

Upon research I read if the SIM card says T5 it is a T Mobile SIM and prior carrier. Basically, T5 is a designator for T Mobile.

Does this sound correct?

[hpham]

It just says 8901 no numbers after. The SIM card has at the top TF128PSIMT5SAN.

Upon research I read if the SIM card says T5 it is a T Mobile SIM and prior carrier. Basically, T5 is a designator for T Mobile.

Does this sound correct?

I'm not sure, but sounds reasonable to me. What SIM number (or ICCID) is shown in About Phone?

[PaulCrawhorne]

weird, never saw a SIM without the ICCID printed on it

[mike62]

The card at the top has the printed text I referenced in last post.

Beneath it is 8901

Then underlined (on two lines due to the small card) is a 15 digit underlined number. That's all the SIM has.

[hpham]

Beneath it is 8901

Then underlined (on two lines due to the small card) is a 15 digit underlined number. That's all the SIM has.

String the 8901 together with the 15-digit number and you have the 19-digit SIM number. If your SIM is a T-mo SIM then the first 2 digits of the underlined 15-digit number should be "26", since 890126 indicates a T-mo SIM for Tracfone.