A Couple of Tracfone Questions

[Sparkle3]

I just had the smoothest combining of phones ever thanks to reading the posts/comments in this forum!

I have a couple of questions.

I have an HSN TCL Alcatel My Flip 2 T408DL Tracfone with 1200 Min/Text/Data.
What I am wondering is if I can keep this until May of next year and then activate it? I have had it for about 2 months now. Would the card still be good? I only bought it for the minutes.

My other question is my Samsung 20 FE keeps dropping calls. It just started a couple of months ago. I am still with AT & T. Is there a possibility that this is being done on purpose since I have not switched to the Verizon sim?

Thank you.

[hpham]

Answer to 1st question: There were posts in this forum from people who waited as long as 12 months after purchasing a QVC/HSN bundle before activating it.

Answer to 2nd question:

* Install the Network Signal Info app on your FE phone.
* Turn on Wifi (or Data if no Wifi) AND Location/GPS, then run the app. Touch the signal bar graph in the middle of the screen to change it to Needle-and-Dial style. That will make it easier to see the signal strength at a glance.
* Take a screenshot and post it, or post the numerical signal strength (in -dB). Also check and see if the signal is 2G, 3G, or 4G.
* If you have another phone on AT&T, do the same things on the other phone and compare their signal strengths. If the signal on the FE is a lot weaker than on the other phone, the FE is having issues. If the signal strengths are about the same on both phones, the phone itself is not the problem.
* I doubt that TF or Verizon has the power to degrade the AT&T signal to steer you toward Verizon. It could be that AT&T made some changes to their towers in your area.

[hapollo8]

What I am wondering is if I can keep this until May of next year and then activate it? I have had it for about 2 months now. Would the card still be good? I only bought it for the minutes.

Thank you.

When I 1st started using TF, my 1st phone was not activated until 362 days after purchasing from HSN. Activated b/c many on other forums stated it should be done within 1 yr.

Unless policy has changed, May is only 8 months away so you should be safe.

Frankly, I think unless bought directly from TF channels, it's hard for TF to keep track of when a phone was sold on the retail channel, i.e. HSN, QVC, Target, Walmart, so I think 3rd party sales are really good beyond 1yr but pure speculation on my part.

[robbyrobby]

i think walmart and possible target they do know purchase date since those store have protections against activating shoplifted devices. packing clear states must be scanned at checkout to activate or similar.