Can I do initial setup without inserting SIM card until I'm ready to activate?

[srothkin]

I've been using a Motorola Droid and I just received my new Thunderbolt. My plan was to initially skip activating the thunderbolt and just use the WiFi while I go through the process of getting all my data transferred to and apps properly setup on the Thunderbolt. This way if I need to spread this out over a few days (due to limited time to work on it), I can still take my Droid with me to have access to the apps I need away from home. I was going to activate the thunderbolt on VZW as the last step of my transition process. However, I noticed that the Thunderbolt comes with a SIM card and that the instructions say to call the special number to activate the SIM card before putting it into the Thunderbolt and that the Thunderbolt would then activate automatically when I turn the Droid off and turn the Thunderbolt on. Originally I had figure that the activation to transfer service from my Droid to the Thunderbolt wouldn't happen until I explicitly asked for it by dialing *228 and following the activation process (like I did originally for the Droid). So I'm wondering if I can get away with using the Thunderbolt without the SIM card until I'm ready to activate it, or if I have to insert the SIM card for the Thunderbolt to even work (and if that's the case, do I have to activate the SIM card first, or can I just insert it and activate it a few days later when I'm ready)?

[willzzz99 · Accepted solution]

You call VZW with the SIM card serial# (IMSI#) to activate the SIM card.

If you bought this at a store/vzw.com this already was done for you.

VZW has overlaid their ENTIRE CDMA network with a GSM LTE R9 network.

All future devices /w LTE are GSM based.

After that is done all you need to do is to boot the device /w SIM card and it does the rest automatically.

You CANNOT use WiFi only on the T-Bolt unless you do a special engineering debug mode procedure that is not mean't for regular people and I don't recommend it and you won't get any support with it.

If you are transferring service from a old phone # to a new one once the number is ported the old device is simply deactivated from a usage scenario.

(If you try to call /w old phone device you will get a recorded message of deactivated device blah blah blah, similar with data with no page, no internet connection on 3g.)

And then boot the new phone.

Once activated (<1 hour) you can use the WiFi on the Thunderbolt. On the Droid the WiFi /w activation status DOES NOT MATTER. 

[srothkin]

1) If the SIM card was activated by VZW.com, why did they send me instructions for activating it? 2) So far I have been working on setting it up for parts of 2 days using WiFi only without having the SIM card inserted. It is working fine (minus cellular phone/data) so far. We'll see what happens when I activate and insert the SIM card, but at this point I'm assuming that will work fine too. In the meantime, my cellular phone/data service is continuing to work as expected on my Droid.

[PJNC284]

*228 doesn't work on the Thunderbolt.  Everything is controlled by the Sim card so you should be fine if you follow the included instructions when you're ready to activate.  Be sure not to wait too long because you have a certain time frame to activate the phone and agree to the new contract and if it isn't done, they can charge you full retail for the phone.

[bearone21]

228 is to update roaming, not activation.

[PJNC284]

*228 option 2 is for prl update.  option 1 is to program/activate a non-lte phone.  Either way *228 doesn't work on lte devices and shouldn't be used.