Sim cards and carriers, discussion

[calinb]

One forum member mentioned going to the Verizon store,
  the clerk there activated a sim card for him,   
      using a in store 'junk' phone to activate the card.

That worked for him, but I don't know if every
Verizon store would offer that service.?

another suggested "buying a cheap iphone to activate the sim card"
  but that sounds expensive to me ?

rocket2nfinity got me straightened out in my other thread (https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=12147).

I've never had such great service from Verizon, but my local Inland Cellular store loaned me an entire phone so I could check signal indications, APN settings, etc., and move the SIM card back and forth between the loaner and my PinePhone! No forms to fill out or promises made--the tech just handed me the loaner Samsung phone and assumed I'd return it when I no longer need it (which I will, of course). Wow!

Sadly I've learned from rocket2nfinity that CDMA voice and text only work with the PinePhone with VoLTE and VoLTE is still under development at Inland. I'll probably cancel my subscription until Inland gets it working, but I guess it's required by the industry by Jan. 2022.