Upon my research of trying to make a jump to prepaid on my iPhone, I was really left between a rock and a hard place. I had a Verizon CDMA iPhone 4 32GB. Now as many of you know, the CDMA iPhone 4 does not have a SIM card slot. So all GSM carriers were out of the question. The phone was given to me by a friend who had upgraded to the iPhone 4S and then the 5. It really was something I was thankful to have and now I needed to find a use for it.
The Verizon family plan would not allow a smartphone (purchased either outright or at subsidized) to be put on it at the price it was currently. We would need to switch to the new Share Everything. Not really an option as it would cost more for less literally even if we all stayed with basic phones.
Upon researching the CDMA prepaid carriers I came across Virgin (Sprint network), Boost (Sprint network), TalkForGood (Verizon network), and Page Plus (Verizon Network). Both Virgin and Boost would not work where I live even if I flashed it to the Sprint baseband due to coverage issues. So it was a choice of TalkForGood or PagePlus.
(TalkForGood is a great option for those who use little to no data on their phones or use do alot of either calling OR texting. If that meets your needs check them out as they are a fantastic option and are pretty new.)
PagePlus, unlike TalkForGood, does not openly support iPhone activation. So we need to use some unofficial ways to get it activated.
Step 1: Create a Page Plus account at https://www.pagepluscellular.com/login/register/
This will give you access to the customer service online chat feature. This is necessary to get it going. Don't worry, you do not need a phone active in order to create an account.
Step 2: Submit a request to get a new number using the standard activation page with the iPhone's MEID where it asks for the ESN. (YOU MUST HAVE A CLEAN ESN FOR THIS TO WORK). It will of course fail and give a "DEVICE REJECTED" error code. Don't worry this is all normal. We just want to submit the request to get our foot in the door.
Step 3: Log into your account and fire up chat. Tell them you do not know why activation failed and would like to activate your phone. Do not say it is an iPhone unless they explicitly ask. Most of the time they will have no issue getting it going.
Step 4: Provide the appropriate MEID for the ESN number, and make sure you state your zip code you want your number to be in. If you are porting a number we will get there.
Step 5: After the representative gives the A-OK to begin activation, wait roughly 15 minutes for the system to update. Then dial *22890. Make SURE voice roaming is turned on for this step. Otherwise activation may fail and you will be left with a "No Service" indicator.
Step 6: Congratulations you are now activated. If you plan on keeping the new number, go ahead and make some test calls with the $2.00 credit that is on the house. If you are porting in continue on.
Step 7: Either call Page Plus or chat them and fill out the appropriate questions for porting in a number. Most numbers take as little as three hours.
Step 8: Wait three hours after finishing the call and dial *22890 again and the "My Number" info should update to reflect your newly ported number.
Step 9: You can now either add money or switch to a No-Contract plan.
Step 10: Enjoy your iPhone bill now cheaper.
NOTES:
Before beginning make sure Voice Roaming is on.
Do not add a plan until after the number has ported if applicable.
Once the phone is in the system it should never be removed, so you do not run the risk of deactivation.
If your phone is currently active on VZW. Switch the VZW line to another phone to get the iPhone freed up
I wrote this guide as a means to help those who are looking to switch with an iPhone as I had to kind of go in the dark when it came to moving over. I hope this helps anyone interested and do not be afraid to ask any questions.
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