When you get a new cell phone, what do you do to get it working so you can make and receive phone calls and texts?

[FunkyMonkee]

[dustybiker2]

It has to be unlocked from all providers of you want to choose your own. Then call up a provider and sign up with a plan. If you have a phone number you want to keep some providers might not allow it. It depends. They would need to look it up in their system. Just find one compatible.

[FunkyMonkee]

Okay so, where would I find these unlock toggles?
The SIM is SUPPOSED to be a free service, as long as I make one phone call per month. I was making at least one call per day!
I never had to call a provider the first time and, how COULD I call one if the phone didn't work?
I never signed up with a plan. I just pushed a number of selections and got free service.

[dustybiker2]

I believe you have to buy the phone unlocked, or you are stuck with the provider it came with. Unless you can ask them to unlock it. They have to do this on their end.

[FunkyMonkee]

I did but, I seem to recall having to unlock a thing or two myself before it got working. Maybe not.
I KNOW I saw something on it that said the provider was T-Mobil so, I took it to a T-Mobil store and she said it's NOT T-Mobil, the provider is named, "HOME". Neither one of us have ever heard of such a thing so she had no suggestions of what I should do other than to contact whomever HOME was and deal with them. As far as I can tell, HOME is the SIM card!! The phone has 2 SIM slots and when it started doing this shit to me, I switched the SIM from slot 1 to the other and it now reads that HOME is in slot 2 instead of slot 1!
I've done a factory reset twice hoping I could figure out what I did the first time to get it to work but, so far, nothing works!!
The only coincidence is that I had to get a new debit card just before the phone shut off so I thought, maybe they were taking payments from my bank and I didn't know it (I NEVER got a bill for the phone use!!) and now that I have a new card and they don't have the new number on it, they CAN'T take money so, they stopped my service but, the SIM is SUPPOSED to be free as long as I make 1 call per month and, if they ARE taking money from my account, don't you think they'd TELL ME that they'll shut off my phone if I don't pay them? Don't you think I'd get bills from them? I NEVER sign up for people to just TAKE money from my account. I've also checked my bank statements since late June, when I bought the phone, and there's NOTHING ANYWHERE that says payments have been taken out for the phone!! I've also had the SIM card for almost a year and NEVER had a problem like this before with my old phone!!

[dustybiker2]

@FunkyMonkee I would trade it in for a new unlocked phone. Too much of a headache.

[FunkyMonkee]

I talked to Wal-Mart about it 2 weeks ago and got no satisfaction from them!!

[dustybiker2]

It sounds like one of those weird glitches that has backed you into a corner.

[DarcyDuke]

If you only make one call with it per month, would it be possible to make that call via Wi-Fi calling?

[FunkyMonkee]

No, it's, AS LONG as I make one call per month. If I go one month without making a call, I lose the service but, I was making at least 1 call per day so, it can't be that I missed a month.
The Wi-Fi's working fine, according to the phone. It has no problem connecting to my computer and I can send e-mails from the phone, if I want. I just can't make or get phone calls anymore and nobody knows why.

[DarcyDuke]

I’m assuming it’s an Android. If so, you can get a Google phone number for free. You can make calls without a Google phone number, but no one can call you. A lot of people use this method if they don’t want to give out their real phone number to people. So if you’re getting a lot of calls, you don’t want, you just ditch the Google number. But your second Google number will cost you. (Unless you change your Google ID)

[FunkyMonkee]

It is.
I see! And, how do I get this google number?

[DarcyDuke]

Go to the play store and get “google voice.”

[ManOnFire]

Put your SIM card in.

[FunkyMonkee]

And?

[ManOnFire]

Turn it on.

[dustybiker2]

Not all phones work on a sim card anymore

[ManOnFire]

@dustybiker2 There are eSIMs now, yeah.

[FunkyMonkee]

Turn what on?

[DarcyDuke]

Yes, Fire, all phones work on a sim, it’s just that some are electronic and some are physical.

[FunkyMonkee]

@dustybiker2 This one takes 2 but I've only got one. Supposedly (at least on my last phone), I get free service with it as long as I make one call per month. I WAS getting free service from this phone, to until 2 months ago. I'm trying to figure out why it stopped and what I have to do to get it started, again.

[jahaims]

Activate it with your carrier

[FunkyMonkee]

Do you have any idea who they might be or why the phone was working fine for the first 2 months WITHOUT me activating that?

[jahaims]

Were you only using it while on wifi? Did you buy it used? Is it a prepay? You can check your carrier by going into setting and then click about phone.

[Cidknee]

There may be a number to call.

[FunkyMonkee]

How? The phone doesn't work!!

[Cidknee]

I had a renter that had trouble keeping up with his phone. So after buying replacements he ended up finding the 2 that he lost. He used one to call the number to get the original phone activated. He also changed to Sim card.

[FunkyMonkee]

This is a case of a phone working quite well for 2 months and then, suddenly, not at all.

[Cidknee]

Oh! I remember when you got this phone. Have you tried to contact the people, you got it from?

[Iron_Man]

Take it to AT&T and let them activate it

[FunkyMonkee]

I never had to do that the first time. I just futzed around with the various settings and, suddenly, I could make calls!

[Iron_Man]

Good for you, but don’t you have to pay for a package?

[FunkyMonkee]

I haven't, yet.

[Iron_Man]

I’ve never heard of getting a new cell phone and getting free services unless you joined WhatsApp Tell me your secret because I have a iphone 12 that’s not connected. I have two phones one is connected with a service and one is not.

[FunkyMonkee]

There's a place near ere that helps out people that are struggling to get by and I went to them about a year ago because I was having some kind of problem with my old phone and they said that can sign me up for a new SIM card that allows me to use the phone for free as long as I make 1 call per month. So, they sent me the card and I've been using it for free ever since. It was a cheapo phone my aunt bought years ago at the Dollar General for $35. One day in May or June, I was having a BIT of a time trying to get it to type what I wanted t to, and a few other things, and I got REALLY pissed and destroyed t!! So, I bought this new one, put the same SIIM in it and it's been working even better than the old phone (I can even make international calls on it, now!) until a month ago!! Since then, I haven't been able to get or make ANY calls or texts!!

[Iron_Man]

That sounds great, but you’re not able to make any calls now