Sim cards and carriers, discussion

[calinb]

So, I'm using verizon and they don't like the pinephone's IMEI. But, I have a Samsung S5 with a micro sim - can I just pull it and transfer it over, and expect things to work? :/

Try an MVNO (reseller)
I have had no problems activating or using resellers sim cards on gsm/lte carrier services.

the resellers have never refused to activate my service.

The service is actually at&t or t-mobile as the carriers,  but sold at a discount under the resellers name.

bcnaz has a good suggestion there! I've used H2O Wireless MVNO (AT&T network) and US Mobile MVNO (T-Mobile network) on my Pinephone. They are both "GSM providers" but, in fact, everyone is moving quickly to complete VoLTE anyway. In rural Idaho there are still VoLTE coverage holes and GSM is an advantage for the Pinephone, which does not support the alternative CDMA modulation that Verizon used and maybe still does use in some rural areas. I don't know.

I do know that in my region of rural Idaho, the best coverage is from Inland Cellular (not an MVNO but rather a regional provider with its own equipment and network) or a Verizon "post paid" plan. Verizon and Inland have a roaming agreement. Verizon post-paid plans roam for free on the Inland network but the Inland network doesn't work with the Pinphone, because the Pinephone Inland doesn't support VoLTE and, being an end-of-life system, it the Pinephone never will support Inland's CDMA. Eventually Inland will have VoLTE up and running but who knows when?

When I visited my local Inland Cellular store, the tech there was very interested in my Pinephone. He gave me a month to try their service on my Pinephone and loaned me a phone to act as a "gold" phone that is known to work in my area to compare to my Pinephone.  What great customer service that I've never experienced from a cellular provider! Sadly, only Inland data worked on my Pinephone but no voice, due to the lack of VoLTE. Someday I hope to become an Inland customer.

I think H2O might work, at least a little, around here, if the Pinephone supported B17, which is listed as an AT&T primary band. H2O only worked for me when I traveled to a medium size city an hour away.