Sim cards and carriers, discussion

[calinb]

I tried just physically swapping the verizon sim card over to my pinephone, and it seems to have worked - I was able to call a number, at least. I haven't tested text or mobile data or anything yet, though. :/

Edit: And by 'Doesn't like the IMEI', I meant that everytime I told a Verizon representative 'yes I'd like to use this phone with the verizon network' they went 'Oh no, that IMEI is not on the authorized devices list, you cannot use it with our network.' But yeah, activating the card on my galaxy and then physically transferring it over on my own seems to have worked fine.

That's great news! I was hoping that might work, which is why I reported that others have activated Verizon service with other phones and then successfully transferred the SIM card to their Pinephone.

Thanks for the clarification. I've never tried Verizon with my Pinephone but what you reported about the Verizon rep is what I would expect. I have a couple of other phones and, as a matter of best known method (BKM), I make it a habit to always activate my SIM cards in another phone before trying it in my Pinephone.

BTW, cellular phone company reps are entirely unreliable. Lately I've been using US Mobile. USM offers a black SIM card that runs on the Verizon network and also a white SIM card that runs on T-Mobile. (Each card is a separate account and activation, of course.) Both the USM rep and their online tool said the black Verizon card would work the best where I live. In fact, the rep said the white T-Mobile card would not work at all. In truth, the black SIM didn't work at all and the white SIM card works very well. Things are even more iffy with the Pinephone, because I don't think it completely covers all the cellular bands of any provider, which is probably true for most phones that are not supplied by the provider. You just have to try a service for yourself to find out what works.