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Network settings are grayed out when I put the Google Fi Sim card in.
Google Fi and spare phones
- Thread starter Cropduster172
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Can you read and post them?
This!
Is the requested Physical SIM even activated?
Has it been successfully used in any device?
Just because you get a Physical SIM doesn't mean it's active. Once it's active, the other eSIM will stop working. As far as I know, only one SIM can be active on a line of service any given time.
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Yes. It is active in my primary phone...a Pixel 7A.
I'll try and post screenshots later.
I wonder if you are stuck with a Verizon specific phone that doesn't fully support GSM.
That's a 2019 vintage phone and that is when 5g started to roll out in the US.
Do you know anyone with a Verizon SIM you could pop into that phone to see if you get 5g on their network?
While older, there was a similar issue with iPhone 7 (not 5g)
I couldn't activate an AT&T iPhone 7 on a VZN based MVNO because that vintage phone had specific ATT/TMO models as well as VZN (and presumably Sprint) models.
I didn't look at any of the other phones you listed. Just make sure there isn't a specific VZN model vs TMO or ATT for example.
While you would think any GSM phone would work, in the mid to late 20-teens, it wasn't that simple.
Maybe you just have a collection of old phones that don't want to be part of the Google Fi network. Or the Google Fi network doesn't support the specific model of the phone family. (For example, while there is an iPhone 15, there is a US model (no physical SIM) and a world model that still takes a physical SIM IIRC. At least the iPhone 14 generation was like this. So while you would call it an iPhone14, there are specific models of the iPhone14.)
So I'd check to see if there are carrier specific models of the devices you are trying to use.
For example, looking at this phone, you can see there are various sub models listed:
LG G7 ThinQ - Full phone specifications
And finally: https://www.gsmarena.com/lg_v30-8712.php
Any updates?
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Not yet. Your comments I believe to be the most accurate. I'm going to take another look at it later today. If it's a Google account issue, I may be able to work around that. I'm thinking it's what you stated. I have 3 phones which are simply not compatible with Google FI.
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I think the big advantage is for those who travel the world. I believe they have a service tier where you get calls, text and data in 200 countries as part of the package.
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The only "more complicated " part of it is linking each phone # to a Google account and Gmail. Other than that, it's just T-Mobile coverage without the drama and pesty marketing nonsense.
It's also significantly cheaper than T-Mobile.
You need AFAIK a separate e-mail address for each phone unless they are data only sims. You have to make a group plan.
FWIW, I just went with the $15/month Mint Mobile for my personal line. You pay for a year up front, but it was still cheaper than 3 months with the primary operators.
Of course, I also use Visible+ locked in at $35/month for data. That gives me access to both the TMO and VZN networks.
oilBabe is on Boost Infinite and Visible+
Between that and my work phone on ATT, anywhere we travel, if we don't have coverage, nobody does.
Boost Infinite is the interesting play as they use ATT, TMO and their own Dish towers (assets they acquired as part of the Sprint/TMO deal.) Their "Rainbow SIM" lets a compatible phone choose from ATT, TMO or the Dish towers as it needs to as opposed to being assigned to a major carrier like many MVNOs do. They send you a SIM that is associated with the "best choice" in your home area.
The BI "Rainbow SIM" seems to unlock (for the lack of a better term) a dynamic choice of which provider's towers.
I don't know if it's marketing, or there is more to it. I just know that with the BYOD, I'm only paying $25/month for her BI line of service.
So I get two carriers installed in her phone for less than I was paying one major for one line of service.
In the NE T-Mobile is throttling Fi users for sure. It's really slow at times and kinda annoying. Almost makes me want to go back to the corporate overlord Verizon.
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This is true. You get thr 5G you pay for....it's 35 for the mid tier plan and 50 for the premium plan. The moment you hit 36 or 51 you get throttled. But no throttling experienced before.
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I would have stayed with T-Mobile if they hadn't made all that noise about migrating customers to newer plans touting how much better value everyone can expect. That's a lie from the onset. I wonder how many folks dropped them like I did as a result. Then they came out and ssid...oh no, that was just internal discussions that should never have been leaked...yeah, ok,sure.
I have experienced with only using 5-10 GB per month. Many chats & tickets later...no resolution.
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I tried putting the Fi SIM in all three spare phone just now...bingo! Works in all 3. I only get 4G LTE in the LG V50 Verizon variant...and it's the only 5G capable of the lot. I might be able to adjust that somehow...not sure.
But how strange is that? I did nothing different...except I did use the same email and account in Google and each time the showed up in the Fi app as the phone in use.
I now have 3 backups to the Pixel 7A should I need one. My preference is the LG G7... I'm ok with no 5G if need be.
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