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Flip Phone help needed


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Yes I'm still running a flip phone. However I recently encountered a problem that someone more tech savvy might be able to solve. 

Previously when activating a new phone, I would just insert the sim card and go. I just tried that with a new phone, and it wouldn't connect to the network. As a test, I dug out an older phone the had been my phone years ago, and had the same thing happen. 

Any ideas on how I can make this phone work? I'm on AT&T.

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Likely depends on both your phone and your carrier. You might need to do some googling (or duck duck going) to see if your phone and carrier are compatible.

 

The first key item is the generation(s) of network protocol supported by both your phone and carrier. These terms are 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G. Both your phone and the carrier must support at least one in common. I don't think any carriers are supporting 2G, it is obsolete. Some have already moved off of 3G. 5G is starting to roll out.

 

At the next level, a couple acronyms are HSPA and VoLTE. HSPA is going away, VoLTE is the next technology. Again, your phone and your carrier most both support at least one in common.

 

This all from memory...

 

On edit: If your phone and carrier are compatible, but still do not connect, you may be able to download new carrier settings (follow instructions from tech support) to establish service.

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1 hour ago, Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 said:

Try as hard as I might I still can't find a personal use for my phone for other than just making and receiving calls.  I'll hang on to my flip phone for as long as it holds up.

 

Same here. I do text, but the painstaking process keeps them short.

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1 hour ago, John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 said:

It’s 2020 retire that phone. I’m hearing good thing about the iPhone 

I have an iPhone, got it about a years ago, and it does exactly what I expected of it.  It sits on my bed stand or desk and collects dust.

 

It has about a thousand features and I only need one: a telephone, and I have trouble accessing that feature because of all the other crap that I have to go through to get to it.

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1 hour ago, Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 said:

Try as hard as I might I still can't find a personal use for my phone for other than just making and receiving calls.  I'll hang on to my flip phone for as long as it holds up.

Exactly what I'm trying to do. Last year I took a road trip to Ohio. The second day out, my phone crapped out on me. Fortunately, I had a spare of the exact make and model. I changed out the SIM card and was back in business. That's what I want to be able to do now.

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Providers are NOT ACCEPTING any 2G/3G phones that are not already on the network. All carriers are currently upgrading to 4G to increase the speed of data services. Telephone, as us old folks know, is not a priority as the rest of the world goes to DATA transmission. Text and internet connectivity.

Putting in a SIM card in a new/different phone will not work as the phone itself is not registered and will not be accepted.

Here are the dates of each technology shutdown.

https://1ot.mobi/resources/blog/a-complete-overview-of-2g-3g-sunsets

You should also be aware that as the wavelength is shortened your range will shorten with it.

Rural customers will find that they no longer have reception until the network move out to meet them.

Customers that have spotty coverage in the country will lose service. 4G is much shorter range than 3G.

Most burglar alarm customers will find that their alarms will no longer communicate and will also need to be upgraded or simply thrown in the trash.

The 5G network is EXTREMELY short range and will be limited to in city use for some time.

 

The days of voice phone calls are limited. It uses too much band width. You will find that carriers in the coming years will begin charging for voice phone calls. With increasing fees, voice will be relegated to Voip from your home or business.

 

 

 

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43 minutes ago, Ace_of_Hearts said:

Providers are NOT ACCEPTING any 2G/3G phones that are not already on the network.

Putting in a SIM card in a new/different phone will not work as the phone itself is not registered and will not be accepted.

That's what I was afraid of. :wacko:The dates on the phones I was trying to use are about ten years old. I have another of the same phone I currently have coming. I hope that it will work. If not, I might have to buy a NEW flip phone. :angry:

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here is my first flip phone . no it does not work but it is fun to take to cell phone store and ask for  battery . it is older than most of people I show it too 

moto.jpg

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My favorite flip phone, a stainless steel Motorola from 2000 just up and didn’t work one day. Verizon and Motorola stopped supporting it. Found a new phone until it was no longer supported. I switched to a Droid. Once I figured it out I liked it very much and it came in handy. I had the weather, maps, the Internet, a camera and oh yeah, a phone, all right there in the palm of my hand. I even had games like Scrabble and crossword puzzles. It was pretty cool. 
Then one day my IT Dept at work removed their heads from their collective posteriors and issued us iPhones and took back the cancer called Blackberry. 
I had to get used to a new type of phone  Grrrrr

It wasn’t like my Droid but then again it was. After a couple of months I liked the iPhone so much I dumped my Droid. I have had an iPhone ever since. 
I rarely use a PC, laptop, Chromebook any more. I usually just use my iPhone on here and online. Some websites still aren’t smart phone savvy so I do use a laptop to access them, but begrudgingly. 
 

You Luddites would be First in line for the latest speed demon cool upgrades for your pistolas, rifles and shotguns but y’all can’t deal with technology. ;) Either that or you just think it looks cool to be crotchety old bast***s. I say that with a smile on my face and do not mean it as an insult but more of a jibe. :)
 

Seriously, get with the times and the technology. None of you are important enough for the government to track and y’all sure as hell aren’t interesting enough to spy on so what do you have to lose, except that cantankerous attitude. Hell, you might even learn something. God forbid. :lol:
 

Pat (what means this in the nicest way) Riot. :D

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29 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

My favorite flip phone, a stainless steel Motorola from 2000 just up and didn’t work one day. Verizon and Motorola stopped supporting it. Found a new phone until it was no longer supported. I switched to a Droid. Once I figured it out I liked it very much and it came in handy. I had the weather, maps, the Internet, a camera and oh yeah, a phone, all right there in the palm of my hand. I even had games like Scrabble and crossword puzzles. It was pretty cool. 
Then one day my IT Dept at work removed their heads from their collective posteriors and issued us iPhones and took back the cancer called Blackberry. 
I had to get used to a new type of phone  Grrrrr

It wasn’t like my Droid but then again it was. After a couple of months I liked the iPhone so much I dumped my Droid. I have had an iPhone ever since. 
I rarely use a PC, laptop, Chromebook any more. I usually just use my iPhone on here and online. Some websites still aren’t smart phone savvy so I do use a laptop to access them, but begrudgingly. 
 

You Luddites would be First in line for the latest speed demon cool upgrades for your pistolas, rifles and shotguns but y’all can’t deal with technology. ;) Either that or you just think it looks cool to be crotchety old bast***s. I say that with a smile on my face and do not mean it as an insult but more of a jibe. :)
 

Seriously, get with the times and the technology. None of you are important enough for the government to track and y’all sure as hell aren’t interesting enough to spy on so what do you have to lose, except that cantankerous attitude. Hell, you might even learn something. God forbid. :lol:
 

Pat (what means this in the nicest way) Riot. :D

You are probably right, Pat, but at my age I just don't want to deal with any of the new stuff.  As an FAA technician I lived in a highly technological world for nearly 52 years, but the day I retired I said goodbye to it all and don't want to deal with anything more technical than my Keurig coffee machine and the TV remote.  Heck, I wouldn't mind even having to get up to change channels or raise the volume.  I just want simple stuff..............same as my guns, you cock the hammer, you pull the trigger, six times, or you just pull the trigger five or six times, simple.  B)

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I was issued an iPhone at the state agency I last worked shortly before I retired. I occasionally made a call on it, now and then a text. I found it very useful to check my calendar when I was out of the office, and most useful for checking my office email and responding where necessary

 

I had no use whatever for its general internet capacity. I do all of that from a large-screen laptop at home. For one thing, I like to look at pictures on a large screen. Now everybody is pretending they are just fine on a tiny screen.

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1 hour ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

You Luddites would be First in line for the latest speed demon cool upgrades for your pistolas, rifles and shotguns but y’all can’t deal with technology. ;) Either that or you just think it looks cool to be crotchety old bast***s. I say that with a smile on my face and do not mean it as an insult but more of a jibe. :)
 

Seriously, get with the times and the technology. None of you are important enough for the government to track and y’all sure as hell aren’t interesting enough to spy on so what do you have to lose, except that cantankerous attitude. Hell, you might even learn something. God forbid. :lol:
 

Pat (what means this in the nicest way) Riot. :D

My normal carry guns are a 1911, Ruger NMV, and a Taurus 85. My shotgun of choice is a Mossberg 500, and My AR has a carrying handle rear sight with a standard front. No scopes, lasers, or Red Dots.  And yes, I AM a  crotchety old bast**d.:P It fits me, and has before I was old enough to pull it off well.:D

As for the phone, all I want it for is to be able to call home to ask my wife if it's okay to substitute Brand B for the Brand A she has on my shopping list, or other vital subjects. I use it for work to call customers to tell them to place orders or let them know I'm on my way to deliver them. I also call my boss or dispatcher to inform them anything I think they need to know, or to tell the guys in the office what idiots they are for sending the customer the wrong product, but not to worry, since I'm smarter than they are, I HAVE what the customer really needs.

I occasionally take pictures, but not often, and you won't see them on Fakebook because I don't have one of those either.

I'm sure that smartphones are great, I just don't need one. :rolleyes:

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I love my IPhone , I’ve got a 6S I believe and I’m typing this right now with it. It’s a computer that has a phone as an extra feature!:lol:

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Howdy,

I strugglled with an i fone for about 6 or 8 months.

Finally I went to target and bought android  not droid , and signed up for

consumer cellular for cheep.

The best move Ive made lately and half the price of some systems.

Slowly some of my friends are coming around to how this is just not so painful.

Key in the passcode klick the menu click the phone icon tap the name 

I want to call and you dont HAVE to know how all that other stuff works.

Text messages are done vocal by tapping the little microphone emblem.

You dont have to type out all that text BUT and its a big BUT you do have

to check that the system didnt misunderstand what you said.

Very different words sound alike. 

YOU have to read before hitting send NOT after.

Learn the other stuff as you have time.

I liked my flip too.

Best

CR

 

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Let's say this. If I cut and paste a poem to the lady fair, so what? Anybody can do that. Ultimately, it's just cheating.

 

If I text the same poem (not my poem, I'm not that good) from my flip phone, it takes time. I have to go through various steps to capitalize and return. I cannot use lower cases or abandon punctuation, because I'm not a barbarian. The whole thing is sort of like copying it out by hand.

 

The lady fair knows the difference. And so do I.

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Let's say this. If I cut and paste a poem to the lady fair, so what? Anybody can do that. Ultimately, it's just cheating.

 

If I text the same poem (not my poem, I'm not that good) from my flip phone, it takes time. I have to go through various steps to capitalize and return. I cannot use lower cases or abandon punctuation, because I'm not a barbarian. The whole thing is sort of like copying it out by hand.

 

The lady fair knows the difference. And so do I.

 

 

All fair points. But I only need my phone to be a PHONE. If I were to want to send a poem, I'll do it from my computer. I'm NOT in such a hurry that I can't wait until I get home.

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15 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

You Luddites would be First in line for the latest speed demon cool upgrades for your pistolas, rifles and shotguns but y’all can’t deal with technology. ;) Either that or you just think it looks cool to be crotchety old bast***s. I say that with a smile on my face and do not mean it as an insult but more of a jibe. :)
 

 

I bet most of the speed demons in SASS already use iphones. 

 

To answer Sgt Saber's question, as a purveyor of odd (and old) phones myself, you need to call AT&T.  There is probably a setting they need to enter on their side to enable your phone. 

 

And I won't directly address the heathen who spoke ill of the dearly departed blackberry. 

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1 hour ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

And I won't directly address the heathen who spoke ill of the dearly departed blackberry. 

You already did. :P

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I tried one of my old phones (20 yrs old) a month ago just to see if it would work, it did. It hasn't been charged in years and held its chg for over a week. When I tried to use it it connected to my service but told me I would need to use a credit card to complete the call. It also got at least as good a signal as my 4g phone.

kR

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Started with an iPhone years ago, and at that time the android o/s phones were battery sucks, so I got more time per charge using the iPhone. 

It's handy to be able to find gas stations in a different part of the state, to find a restaurants and whether their open or not, and when

I travel to strange places it gives me a sat/nav capability.  Best of all, it takes voice dictation, so I don't have to try typing with those

fiddly small buttons.  I do have to proof read it before sending, and occasionally have to make a correction, but I have that problem

when I type as well.  I finally started using Siri, and that makes it even more convenient.

 

I will caution you that if you have Alexa, Siri, and other voice activated devices around you it's easy to forget which robot slave you're giving orders to!

 

SC

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, ShadowCatcher said:

I will caution you that if you have Alexa, Siri, and other voice activated devices around you it's easy to forget which robot slave you're giving orders to!

 

SC

 

 

 

You mean which robot overlord is listening to you.

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6 hours ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

You mean which robot overlord is listening to you.

So far they do what I tell them, but someday that may flip.  If that happens

I'll adjust!  I've been married (twice) since 1973, I'm used to taking orders from a female voice.

 

SC

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I'm using the same carrier I did 30+ years ago, when I started, using "Brick" phone.

I upgraded a couple of times to different Captain Kirk flip phones and still use a rugged Samsung  that I can carry in the watch pocket of my jeans.

It's Blue Tooth feature was compatible with the BT in my 2013 Grand Caravan and was a great feature when driving and a call came in. 

Now, my 2019 Grand Caravan BT won't marry up with the Samsung and U-connect apparently want $15.00 per month connect with a new "Brick" phone with more features than a space shuttle's computer, none of which I need.

None of my 'phone calls are more than a minute and I don't want to carry something close to the size of a laptop computer!!

I JUST WANT TO HAVE A VOICE PHONE FOR QUICK MESSAGES DANG !T ! !

I guess I'll just pick up a BT earbud and synch that to the phone.

RANT OVER !

Thank you for your sympathy and your patience.

 

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Before I retired at the end of 2012 I only found the need for a company issued flip phone.  I didn't even text.  Because, I continued as an independent contractor for my employer 200 miles as the crow flies away from their office I needed to get email from them when not at home.  So, the misses upgraded her iPhone & I got it as a hand me down.  I have had 4 iPhones since then.  Drowned two & lost one.  All except my iPhone 10 were used phones.  You can pass a lot of time playing games or cruising the internet.  The are useful getting directions, weather reports and as a wifi hotspot to get access to the internet via cell service.  Until the local phone co. switched to fiber last year the copper DSL service was degrading to the point where the download speed was to slow to download large files I needed to have to perform my consulting services.  When DSL was bad I'd use the iPhone as a wifi hotspot.

P.S. the iPhone 10 is water resistant.

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https://help.superdrugmobile.com/en/articles/1778287-how-do-i-check-if-my-mobile-is-3g-or-4g

 

Your phone needs to be 4G compatible to make it through 2022.

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Many of us remember days without air conditioning (especially in cars), no microwaves, black and white tv, party lines and rotary phones and no desktop computers - which make this post possible. Simpler? Maybe, but I don’t want to go back to it. 
 

One can always get a phone and use it exclusively as a phone. You just have to adapt that you can’t dial it. :)

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7 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

One can always get a phone and use it exclusively as a phone. You just have to adapt that you can’t dial it. 

 

But the phone part of it is just another app that crashes and can lag when trying to start up.  That never happens on a flip phone because it's a purpose built phone.  That's the main reason I like flips.  That and the real buttons. 

 

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12 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Many of us remember days without air conditioning (especially in cars), no microwaves, black and white tv, party lines and rotary phones and no desktop computers - which make this post possible. Simpler? Maybe, but I don’t want to go back to it. 
 

One can always get a phone and use it exclusively as a phone. You just have to adapt that you can’t dial it. :)

 

Back in the late '70's, I lived up in Double Springs, Alabama, way back in the woods on Lake Lewis Smith.  The nearest phone to my property was a pay phone at a small diner.  The pay phone was actually on a party line!  Never heard of such before then.  You had to be really determined to make a phone call, driving about 4 miles, stand outside in the cold, and wait for the pay phone to "free up".

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Like music formats phones have planned obsolescence. Otherwise everyone would be using the same phone for 30 years.I've been using an Iphone since they came out. For me it being a phone is the least reason I use it. E Mails, Text, mobile hot spot so I can watch my smart TV when camping, The internet allows me to access info that in the past was unavailable. Blue tooth lets me listen to the music I like when I want. The map apps tell me when and what I need to do what when going somewhere I haven't been. Weather updates, news and social media are now the thing. 

When I'm reloading I can check load info on my phone to be sure what I'm loading is OK.

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