Upgrade Handoff?

rknowlt

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My father has an upgrade he is never going to use with AT&T. He has offered to let me use it to get my girlfriend an iPhone 5 since her Verizon contract won't let her upgrade for almost another year. The only problem is that my father's line does not have a data plan. Obviously buying an iPhone on it will add one. Is it possible to use the upgrade, get the iPhone, pass it off, put my dad's old dumbphone back on the line, and cancel the data plan?
 

rknowlt

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UPDATE: Went to AT&T with my mother who joined the iPhone world with a 4S this week and talked to the guy there. He told me I can in fact use dad's upgrade to buy the girlfriend a 5, and cancel the data plan on dad's line with no issues as long as the iPhone isn't being used on the line. Quite pleased. Now just have to find the best service for unlocking said 5 for my girl's Verizon usage!
 

kch50428

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I do not think your plan will work... the phones sold by AT&T & Apple for AT&T network use can only be used on AT&T, or other GSM carriers. If you get it to work, more power to you.
 

rknowlt

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The 5 is universal. Previous generations it would not be feasible, but this time around the SIM lock is the only issue, and that is not nearly as hard to get past as the technical impossiblilty CDMA vs. GSM radio incompatibility was.
 

kch50428

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While it may be physically possible, I don't think Verizon will activate it. Be prepared for the possibility of that happening.
 

Peligro911

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Verizon has a sim and ESN even thou you pop in a Verizon nano sim they will not activate the ESN on there network unless you buy it from them ..
I also thought LTE bands between the two versions won't work because when a AT&T sim in a Verizon it won't get LTE only 3G .. So I'm pretty sure AT&T version won't get Verizon LTE
 

kch50428

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Verizon has a sim and ESN even thou you pop in a Verizon nano sim they will not activate the ESN on there network unless you buy it from them ..
I also thought LTE bands between the two versions won't work because when a AT&T sim in a Verizon it won't get LTE only 3G .. So I'm pretty sure AT&T version won't get Verizon LTE
Exactly... but CDMA doesn't use ESN anymore... they migrated to 'MEID' about 5 years ago... or so. :)
 

rknowlt

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Exactly... but CDMA doesn't use ESN anymore... they migrated to 'MEID' about 5 years ago... or so. :)
Is this good or bad news for me? And even if all fails I will have a shiny new 5 to sell that will yield a hefty profit so I really can't lose.
 

Peligro911

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Meaning even with a Verizon SIM to drop in I will need them to activate the MEID the same as an ESN to accomplish the same goal of a functioning phone?

Yes sorry I used old school terms lol but same concept ESN meid same thing lol
It will not work even if you bought a factory unlocked one from apple if its not a Verizon version it's a no go

I would get the phone sell it for at least 700 and buy a Verizon version
 

rknowlt

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I would get the phone sell it for at least 700 and buy a Verizon version
Didn't realize how dumb Verizon is. Looks like this will be my best option but I'm still in shock that Verizon would refuse to allow a customer to use a device they acquired through means outside of their own system. It's already an iPhone line with them, it would cause them no damage to their bottom line to allow use of a different physical phone. Makes me even happier I am a satisfied AT&T customer myself! Verizon will be losing my girlfriend's business as soon as her contract runs out.
 

Peligro911

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Didn't realize how dumb Verizon is. Looks like this will be my best option but I'm still in shock that Verizon would refuse to allow a customer to use a device they acquired through means outside of their own system. It's already an iPhone line with them, it would cause them no damage to their bottom line to allow use of a different physical phone. Makes me even happier I am a satisfied AT&T customer myself! Verizon will be losing my girlfriend's business as soon as her contract runs out.

They do allow you to bring a phone but it must have been one of there's no different if you upgraded at tmobile and walked into AT&T
And I'm pretty sure your gf would want the LTE on her 5 and the AT&T version the hardware won't pick up Verizon's signal

But good luck thou hope she does get one this phone is awesome
 

rknowlt

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No LTE in our area anyway so that will be a non issue. AT&T doesn't care at all where your phone came from. As long as it has a GSM radio and you pay your bill it will work. And it will most likely be more than a year before LTE is available here, when she will be done with her contract and adding a line on mine, which will allow her to buy a new 5S or whatever it ends up being or continue using the same 5 with LTE on AT&T.
 

ups925

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verizon and sprint will only activate their own phones. Even if you do manage to activate the att phone on verizon, it has different lte bands and will not get 4g. Att iphone 5 does not have cdma bands either. Checkout phonescoop and get more info before you buy. Att and tmobile dont care where the phone comes from. You can just swap sims. From what ive read, the verizon iphone 5s which DO have the sim slot, only use sim for data and not voice. If your looking to use your upgrade for this, I say sell the att one and buy a verizon iphone off ebay.
 

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