View Full Version : my cell phone died.......what to do?
I've had my cell phone for many years. My family makes fun of me because I don't want an upgrade. It makes calls and texts......what else do I need?
Well, I'll have to go to the at&t store sometime in the near future to get an upgrade. But in the meantime, how do those "disposable" or "prepaid" phones work?
I just want the easiest/cheapest one that I could use in an emergency, until I can get a replacement for mine. Even though I have lived most of my life without a cell phone, it now makes me nervous to be without one. The at&t store is far away, whereas a store where I could buy a temporary one is closer.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
I would go to Radio Shack, buy the cheapest replacement phone that meets your needs (mine was ten bucks), and have them transfer your sim card to it. (Or you can do it yourself. If I remember correctly, it fits right under the battery.) You shouldn't need to go to the AT&T store.
Thanks Jane.
But how do I pay for the usage? DH and I and the 2 kids are on the same plan. It would be great to have the same sim card. Are they all interchangeable?
Take a look at Target or Walmart. I got the same phone my local Verizon store was selling for half the price. I have a prepaid phone, and this model is about 3 years old.
What is a prepaid phone? Do you pay the place you bought it and its good for a certain length of time??
You cannot take a phone you had on a regular plan and switch it to prepaid. There is special software in the prepaid phones.
Radio Shack may still be able to help, as they offer various cell plans, but I was thinking of pay as you go phones. If you end up needing a stopgap phone, you can get a cheap phone and minutes there.
Cathy, I am not 100% sure, but it seems like maybe you are thinking that you buy the phone, along with a certain number of minutes, and then when you've used them up you need to get an entirely new prepaid phone? I don't think that is the case. I am guessing you buy the phone that works with whatever prepaid provider you are going to use. Then I think (I've never had one, though) you buy more MINUTES in the form of cards, not more phones. Then when you run out of minutes, you buy more.
Not sure how it works with multiple family members. Can they stay on AT&T and you cancel your line on the contract and start to do the prepaid, and leave everyone else as is? Otherwise I bet you have to get new phones and start buying separate minutes for everyone. (Maybe not so bad, I can't remember how old your kids are)
Also, I wonder if you can port your number to a prepaid provider, or if you have to get a new one. Anyone know?
Anyone who actually has one that can give a good explanation of the whole process?
Maybe you just have to go to Target or Wally World or Radio Shack and get them to explain it in person. They would know the answers to the issues of the family and all that, too.
Get a new phone directly from AT&T's website.
A quick Google popped this up. Seems comprehensive - I learned a few things.
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/prepaid-cell-phones.htm
Note there are 7 "pages" of info. (The first page by itself isn't very useful, so advance through them.)
re: prepaid- yes you buy minutes separately, you don't throw away the phone (unless you want to, but that wouldn't be frugal or environmentally aware ;)). I use Verizon. I was able to port the number from a pay per month subscription plan which I previously had (I was no longer under contract).
I don't know how this works with multiple family members. My husband has his own separate pre paid plan.
Check your community recycling guide for locations near you that take working or non-working cell phones.
Thanks everyone!
But......hassle averted for the time being! DS got up and I told him the problem. He took the batteries out and reinserted them, and it works again! haha He said sometimes, they just need disconnected, then reconnected. I really appreciate everyone's help. I'm printing this page off, in the event that it goes kaput in the near future and I really do have to get another phone.
Thanks again!
I'd see if there is a used electronics store in your area. We are always able to get older cell phones used that way and often times it is an upgrade from what we had that died, simply because most people want the latest and greatest and we hold onto them until it's time to bury them.
LOL........I still have the first one we ever got. Its about a foot tall plus the antenna. Its huge. I have to laugh when I look at it.
Cathy, I'm glad the "phone outage" was short!
As someone who has experience with both prepaid phones and postpaid phones, here are some points I have not yet seen mentioned:
- The four major wireless providers in the U.S. operate on largely-incompatible radio signals and "lock" the phones to their service. Though both Verizon and Sprint use a technology called CDMA, you can't use a Verizon phone on Sprint or vice-versa. If you have Sprint and you buy a used Verizon phone, you're out of luck. at&t and T-Mobile use a technology called GSM; you could buy an "unlocked" at&t phone and put a T-Mobile SIM in it and expect it to work (and vice-versa), though Internet, etc. likely won't be as fast because of the technological incompatibility.
- If you've had your phone for a while, you can ask your carrier to "unlock" it. This is more successful with GSM carriers than CDMA carriers. It's not a bad idea to do this as it lets you visit someplace (most of the rest of the world uses GSM) and use your own phone by buying another carrier's prepaid SIM.
- All this said, T-Mobile offers a bit of a loophole for people who have to replace a non-working T-Mobile phone. Some T-Mo phones are offered both prepaid and postpaid. For these phones only, it very often works ;) to buy the prepaid model, activate it with the SIM card it comes with, and then shut it off, replace that SIM card with your own, start it up again, and have "your old phone" back.
- Any cell phone manufactured in the last several years can dial 911 even without a plan in place, prepaid or postpaid. Keep in mind that though most phones now have built-in GPS, your location still is less-precisely known than if you were calling from your landline phone. Of course, calling the tow company or a relative for help won't be free.
- If you have a working phone you no longer want, many women's shelters will give them to battered women, etc., for their ability to dial 911 at no cost.
- It is possible to move ("port") your current phone number (landline or cellular) to another carrier. It's called "number portability" and the FCC requires that carriers do it. You may not be able to port an existing number to a brand-new prepaid phone, but you should be able to move it once it's activated. Sometimes it's easier to activate on person and port on-line or vice-versa.
- FWIW, in my family we've had positive experience with TracFONE and T-Mobile prepaid and with Verizon and T-Mobile postpaid. Going prepaid (or buying used) and porting your number also is a good way to preserve a calling plan that you like -- usually getting the carrier subsidy for a new phone requires a new plan, and almost none of them will be less expensive than what you've got now, especially if you use data.
- You might be better off buying the same brand of phone you have now, as it's likely typical features like using the camera or sending a text will be similar to what you're used to.
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