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Im basic AF -- Cellphone?

N

notsmokeymcpot42088

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 5, 2025
Messages
521
Hey,

Real simple question (I hope) what is a brand/type of pre-paid cell phone you can activate without the use of another phone?

I have tried and failed once with at&t as they want a call for activation...

Thank you for the help --- lol pay someone to activate it during they lunch break is about the best I can come up with and that is dependant on a willing participant
 
Not BL lounge material -- what does relevant reddit discussion mean? Glad to take it elsewhere --- oh ok I see a link. Not exactly what I need (actually you were a step ahead of me??) lol
 
Do you have a friend/family member you’d be comfortable with accepting that phone call for you?
I’ve never heard of that before… wild. All you need for a prepaid here is an email address.
 
notsmokeymcpot42088 said:
Not BL lounge material -- what does relevant reddit discussion mean? Glad to take it elsewhere --- oh ok I see a link. Not exactly what I need (actually you were a step ahead of me??) lol
Click to expand...
While we are a pretty open topic place here at the lounge I do think you might get more relevant replies if I moved you over to Science and Technology.

rick-and-morty-away-we-go.gif
 
notsmokeymcpot42088 said:
Hey,

Real simple question (I hope) what is a brand/type of pre-paid cell phone you can activate without the use of another phone?

I have tried and failed once with at&t as they want a call for activation...

Thank you for the help --- lol pay someone to activate it during they lunch break is about the best I can come up with and that is dependant on a willing participant
Click to expand...
They sell prepaid phones at Walmart.

You just put in the Sim card and it's good to go. It's activated when they scan it at the register.
 
MI --- and they are indeed suppose to be activated at the register!! (I think/was lead to believe) but it was (apparently) not -- than of course I could not get my money back. Tried to activate it online ended up with a case # (Which I probably lost) This was an at&t pre-paid....

The sim card came in the phone in this case --- speaking of I have a sim card that is activated (But no service and I don't think at&t) from the time I tried this before and I got as far as getting a # but there is no service where I lived so I gave up on it and *wax* was melted onto it and it no longer works..... Can I just put the sim card into the at&t phone? (At the time I did not know that was all I needed!! Doh!!!) Could try that brand again but it was not activated at the register either -- took my tech illit arse like 5 hours with a very impatient customer service that kept dropping me for not knowing terms and shite.

What brand you guys buy at the Walmart? (Could have just been wal-mart worker error but they sure deny that possibility asap)

It is pretty wild we also pay for a landline that DOES NOT WORK. (Different problem altogether though I suppose -- phones hate us though)
 
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When you buy a prepaid phone you usually have to buy service/minutes with it correct? (Or am I messing that up somehow)

Brand/model you know is register activated?? (Yes I feel stupid asking these questions shutup)

Landline -- First they told us they were out of #'s in our area code - which is a crazy statement to make but I'm not gunna argue -- than hooked us up so none of the phone jacks work, only the little modem box provides Internet as well has a phone jack. (Which despite being paid quit working and starting giving the message "Please check with your internet/phone provider" --- took weeks had to call from a gas station; They say "Everything should be working" So I bought one of those phones that is suppose to hook into your wireless automatically? (I believe, I haven't started to fight with it yet knowing the frustration ahead of me)
 
notsmokeymcpot42088 said:
When you buy a prepaid phone you usually have to buy service/minutes with it correct? (Or am I messing that up somehow)

Brand/model you know is register activated?? (Yes I feel stupid asking these questions shutup)

Landline -- First they told us they were out of #'s in our area code - which is a crazy statement to make but I'm not gunna argue -- than hooked us up so none of the phone jacks work, only the little modem box provides Internet as well has a phone jack. (Which despite being paid quit working and starting giving the message "Please check with your internet/phone provider" --- took weeks had to call from a gas station; They say "Everything should be working" So I bought one of those phones that is suppose to hook into your wireless automatically? (I believe, I haven't started to fight with it yet knowing the frustration ahead of me)
Click to expand...

i’m not in the states but i looked on walmarts website. there’s a prepaid flip phone showing for 29.88$. a sim card might be 5-10$ depending on where you go. you can either purchase a voucher for x amount of dollars for x amount of minutes, or you can sign up with a fake name and an email and pay x amount of dollars for x amount of data. here it’s like 34$ a month for 40GB of data - which is wild compared to the amount of data other countries give you for the same amount (i hav e a feeling you’d get more data for less money down there). activation happens before you leave the store.

this is my basic understanding of prepaid phones but i hope it helps
 
Definitely helps. I like the voucher for minutes way!-------- as the data plans are how I went and failed the other times. (and I even used my real name like a fool) lol.

I will go in looking for the folding flip phone they have and a compatible sim card which I will bug someone until they are sure of -- same with the minutes and activation. (haha sorry Walmart workers).

I think that should make it simple enough. Ill report back if it goes sideways lol
 
yeah not everyone needs stupid amounts of data. if you only need to make quick phone calls or texts, the minutes option is probably the way to go. technology isn’t exactly my friend either lol
hope it works :)
 

There you go - a new mobile phone for $12.

FYI since this was released, ARM have released a new series of microcontrollers so there is scope for a <$10 mobile phone. Amazing to think that the 260Mhz ARM7EJ-S (ARM7 + Enhanced DSP, Jazelle+Synthesizable) is less powerful than the much cheaper and simpler ARM Cortex M4.
 
Thank you! ^ As long as the damn thing works --- Oh didn't think of this with the flip phone but I suppose those don't scan QR codes *thought of it lookin at that one, hey wait how will I-- ? (my common sense says no but I'd be glad to be corrected)

If I can get minutes on a newer phone that would be ideal but I don't think an option -- I will figure it out. I just figured after two failed purchases it merited a question. BTW the phone guy finally showed up and I got a damn landline again. (literally yesterday afternoon -- been waiting about 8 months *well took a few to get a human -- a few more to convince them to come out* but about 8 months with no line out! Starting to get cabin fever.

Now if I can find my darn at&t cell I can call and activate that (assuming all the stuff is still together) ---- If not I think I got the info I need in return I bring you people the https://unplugged.com/products/up-phone (Shoot looks like it is out of stock) Apparently it is the one our hero Kash Patel uses...He was gifted one. So I don't love where the money is going personally but w/e
 
I think you’d be surprised as to how many people this could help. I had to ask how to do the same thing a few months ago. I had been using 2 year plans ever since my first cell phone 20 years ago. I still don’t totally understand vouchers and minutes… I just parroted what was told to me 😅

And yes, you can get minutes on any phone. Doesn’t have to be a flip phone! I mentioned the flip phone because it was the cheapest option. You can buy android phones for like 100$ here.. so I would imagine you’d get one much cheaper in the states. I could be wrong though
 
Awesome! I imagine you are right --- haha glad I am not the only one --- I have been avoiding them like a direct enemy, the logic being. "Why would I want someone to know they could get a hold of me wherever I am wherever I am? I don't get it I don't wanna be available like that!" --- ain't that why we made the answering machine lol.

But now everything gets shot to your cellphone which they just presume you have -- doesn't feel right lol that is a luxury not a gov provision (obamaphones? idk shit about them haha)
 
notsmokeymcpot42088 said:
doesn't feel right lol that is a luxury not a gov provision (obamaphones? idk shit about them haha)
Click to expand...

It isn't a luxury - or at least access to the internet isn't a luxuty as the vast majority of services are only available via the internet.

I note that in the US just under 78% of people have internet access while here in the UK it's over 94%. But our government avoided paying. We have The National Databank, a charity that provides those in poverty with SIM cards that allows them free internet access and people donate 'broken' mobille phone which are, where practical, repared and loaned out.

I knew someone without internet access and they couldn't access any sort of social services nor manage their money or even arrange appointments to see their doctor. There was a certain amount of bloody mindedness because they had a basic mobile phone. They simply insisted that they didn't understand the internet... which without a doubt had an element of learned helplessness. It was others who had to do all of those things.

My wife works with the local outreach team and even those sleeping rough could obtain a mobile phone and free SIM. You couldn't make calls using the SIMs except for emergency services but since most people now prefer to text, it's a non-issue for the mostpart.

Governments of developed nations have worked out that placing all services on-line is a huge financial saving but if you choose to do so, you have to ensure that nobody is excluded. So even if the US had been loaning cheap phones, it's still likely to work out cheaper than maintaining phone banks, customer-facing offices and all that goes with it.

I only have a smartphone because I was given one. Before that I had internet access and a land-line phone but no mobile. But in my case, it became apparent that due to poor health, there really was a need for me to be able to summon help.

Still, $12 retail price and as I've pointed out, the price of the chips has gone down so in theory at least, a $10 phone would be possible.

FYI in many African nations, people have dumb phones because of the low cost and low energy use. But they do have on-line banking. Each SIM card is a microcontroller so a bank can OTA add a Javacard applet to a dumb phone that allows money transfers using nothing more then encrypted SMS messages.
 
Interesting --- If I were to be handed a free phone I would take it. It is true with no phone OR internet it is near impossible to manage anything.

I would guess it would work out cheaper and that was the logic behind the "Obama-phones" which of course were cancelled (Or the name just changed?)

I am where you were -- just got a landline back yesterday and have internet access but no mobile. The 12$ one I don't think would work for me but I only want one pretty short term anyways to be honest. (all in all I still consider them more of a con than a pro)
 
notsmokeymcpot42088 said:
Hey,

Real simple question (I hope) what is a brand/type of pre-paid cell phone you can activate without the use of another phone?

I have tried and failed once with at&t as they want a call for activation...

Thank you for the help --- lol pay someone to activate it during they lunch break is about the best I can come up with and that is dependant on a willing participant
Click to expand...
Nokia s still work afaik, saw it very recent on tv.
Program on smartphone addiction. What i don t get overhere,
you used to be able to buy pre-paid card s, put it in phone and go.
The model in the program was 'the indestructible' 3310

Is this different country to country ? Or changed or maybe not needed.

Never needed a phone to activate a phone.
The card doesn t even care which phone its in, as far as i can recall.
Smartphones don t care for sure, but are the beginning of the end. :)
Just say no !

Edit: it all came to me. How my Nokia 3310 worked.
In NL. you buy a prepaid [chip] card, 15,- on it.
So i could alway s be called, calling was pricey.
When the saldo was gone at the local supermarket,
i d buy phone saldo. Get a receipt with a code from the cashier.

Then call a certain free number, where i could fill in that code.
The saldo would be transferred to the card within.
Never needed a 2-nd phone, national. Don t no if its that way global.

👍
 
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