New Phone

[monkey44]

Need a new phone ... account with T-Mobile and don't want to change that.

We each have a Samsung Android Smart phone at the moment and no need to change that - even tho it's like a brick. It has hotspot and good camera which we use on the road or when our home internet goes down - more frequently than we like.

I'd like the older model flip-phones - fits in my pocket when I run around town and doesn't weigh a ton. Just need it when I'm out and about short trips, etc. Not interested in spending $1000 that does everything but drive my truck for me. I use it only for talk-text or an occasional interesting photo butI could skip the photo part as I usually have my Canon with me...

When I read flip-phone reviews, most are 3.0 or less. Would prefer a better quality, but it seems no one builds them anymore.

Anyone got any advice here. I'd want it to attach to my T-Mobile senior account which allows two phones. I only use one line now.

I mostly do not believe the Advertising, but I do believe RV.net tech guys 🙂
Thanks, M44 -

[free_radical]

I had to buy new phone mainly bc Goverment killed Blackberry which was still working fine and has many fans too.Strange times indeed.

Got unlocked Moto G at Best buy for $ 250.

Im no conspiracy theorist but BB with its most secure OS cant be hacked or spy on its users,makes me wonder why kill it?

Btw Huawei is also very secure unable to be hacked and was baned by Gov also.

Maybe its too much competition to Iphone which btw is great tool for spying on everyone.
:B

https://youtu.be/QspfZcS8y38

[monkey44]

The older phone will live in my office - although will take it on camping trips so we have hotspot. The new one goes with me when I run around. Mostly so I can call wife, or in an emergency. I will only return office phone calls if I recognize the caller, or it leaves a message I want.

Retired now, so no loss of new business - regular continuing clients know how to reach me ... they leave a message if I don't pick up. I'd estimate half my calls now are Robots, which I block - helps slightly.

Family ONLY will have new number.

[NamMedevac_70]

As of a few days ago my uber driver had a new flip phone from Cricket. Surprised me.

[2112]

monkey44 wrote:
I have two lines, but only use one at the moment. I can buy a phone, use that line, and my bill will not change

Been there with the spammers. My old one is now my truck phone. It lives under the passenger seat of my truck plugged into a USB charger. No outgoing voice message, no voice mail, it rings 6 times and hangs up if I don't answer. The truck tells me if I missed a call. After about 2 years the spammers finally gave up. Only family calls me on it now.

[Gdetrailer]

Yeah, scammers will try anything at least once or twice.

Typically, we do not answer the phones unless it is a number we know, everything else goes to VM. Although we do still have a home phone as our main contact number but we use an answering machine so we can screen the calls. Let it ring, once the answering machine picks up we just listen to see if it a robot or someone we know.. Robots typically don't speak until you speak and often are able to distinguish between prerecorded message or a real human on the line. Sometimes they do start speaking and we simply stop the recording and delete it..

Our sticks and bricks phone company does offer a call screener, requires the person calling to enter a specific number that you setup before the call is sent to your phone.. Great idea, but may cause issues with DR appointments which use Robots to call you with reminders or changes to appointments.

[monkey44]

Comment on those Scammer intrusions... Lately it seems the Extended Warranty scammers have added a new wrinkle - /buysell your home. We're waiting on a call from Comcast to update our home service. Have no clue which number they use, so tempoarily, must answer any calls in case it's the service tech making his appintment and for gate access.

Today, the call went like this:

ME: Hello, who's this?
Caller, male, heavy accent...
Him: I'm Jason, representing Homebuyer, calling to see if you want to sell your house on XXXXXXX street.
Me: Well no, not this one, but I have one in Virginia and one in the Antarctica. I only want to sell the Antarctica one tho.
Him: Okay. Where is Antartica, is that Florida too?
Me: No, it's a little farther South.
Him: Why sell it, and not the other two?
Me: Well, I'm having a hard time dating that far south.
Him: Oh, that's too bad. Why is that?
Me: I guess I don't look or smell enough like a Penguin...
Him: After a few seconds - just a click and a dial tone.

And a follow up on getting a new number scammers may already have. I normally never answer a call if I don't recognize the number. If the caller won't leave a call back message - I just don't call it back. But for the next week or so, need to answer in case it's the Comcast tech.

[Gdetrailer]

pianotuna wrote:
Gdetrailer,

I was recommending they simply ASK if their current devices are 3g. Your posts seem angry.

I'll be forced into two new phones on my next visit south of the border. Annoying to say the least.

I addressed that in my first post in this thread which was directly under the OPs first post..

Gdetrailer wrote:
I hear you, miss my old flip phones, simple and reliable devices without the endless parade of "updates", they just worked and fit easily in a pocket.

Sadly very few vendors making the old simple flip phones.

Did you check your service provider (T Mobile)?

They do list a Alcatel "GO Flip 4"..

HERE

I have had Alcatels when I was a TracPhone customer, I would put them as OK, not the greatest or best but OK.

After an issue I had with Tracphone when I tried to use an unlocked Motorola phone I bought new unlocked from Motorola and they (Tracphone) bricked it and blamed Motorola I would really recommend you stick with buying phones from your phone service.. It will save you tons of aggravation..

As noted in my first post that I have added to this response, T mobile is offering a Alcatel GO Flip 4, and per T mobiles own website (follow the link) it indeed does state that the Alcatel GO Flip 4 does have 4G WITH VoLTE..

I suspect that at this time T mobile (or any other cell phone company) would be pretty stupid to offer any phone that is not 4G VoLTE capable..

Now if one were to venture off the company menu and buy an unlocked phone from a third party, that can be a problem (can find lots of unlocked phones on Amazon).

[pianotuna]

Gdetrailer,

I was recommending they simply ASK if their current devices are 3g. Your posts seem angry.

I'll be forced into two new phones on my next visit south of the border. Annoying to say the least.

[Gdetrailer]

monkey44, your not going to "make a mistake" if you purchase through your current cell phone company.

The phone should work fine and should have similar operating range.

There may be a couple of other brands available that are not offered by your cell phone company but in reality a flip phone is a flip phone.

It is there to mainly make and receive phone calls and texts, well the phone keypad dance is one of the reasons I found a smart phone to be nicer to use.

Something to consider though, unless they have added call and text blocking like smart phones you might be wishing you had that feature. Especially since you are adding an extension which results in getting a new number for that phone. Phone companies reuse a lot of numbers when old customers drop service so it is often the luck of the draw and you might get a number that spammers and scammers abused a lot.

Something else to consider, there is newer smart phones out that fold up like a flip phone.. They use a new folding glass technology LCD which bends. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is one example that I can think of right now that may be a good choice. Not sure of cost and longevity of the bending glass but gets you a flip phone that folds compact, has soft keypad for texting plus should have call and text blocking for the annoying spammers.. Kind of the best of flip and smart phones.

[monkey44]

Yes, all you guys - I intend to visit the T-Mobile store. I'd only buy from my service provider for the reasons stated, AND from experiences in the past ...

I was looking for info here, to make sure I make no mistakes. I'm not very tech smart. And, ya'll reinforced my idea to buy from T-Mobile. I do have a free line available, so will use it, get a different number, and leave the SPAM intrusions on the old phone. I have two lines, but only use one at the moment. I can buy a phone, use that line, and my bill will not change. We have unlimited data, text, and voice on it ... 🙂 thx for assistance. M44

[Gdetrailer]

pianotuna

NO ONE told the OP to buy a 3G phone.

They DO make flip phones which have 4G WITH VoLTE capability. Models are pretty limited but there ARE 4G WITH VoLTE flip phones available.

To MY point, absolutely NO cellphone PROVIDER is going to intentionally sell you a non 4G VoLTE phone at this time PERIOD.

If one purchases through their cellphone provider they WILL get a cellphone with at min of 4G VoLTE capability INCLUDING A FLIP PHONE as the OP was inquiring about.

Now, if one were to go "off the grid" and go rogue and buy a unlocked phone, yes, the possibility does exist that one may end up with a 3G/4G (non VoLTE) doorstop.

And by the way, VoLTE was not available in 3G, it was brought out in LATER 4G systems. If one was an early 4G adopter, there is a good chance that your 4G phone may not have VoLTE capability and that phone will also have to be replaced when the 3G networks go dark as the new minimum supported standard is 4G WITH VoLTE.

One also can search the model numbers of the phone you are looking at and see if the manufacturer offered it in 4G VoLTE. Most of the cell phone companies also have a supported phones list to help determine if the phone you are looking at meets the current 4G WITH VoLTE requirements.

My recommendation to the OP still stands, by the flip phone that your Cell phone service offers, it WILL meet the minimum 4g WITH VoLTE requirements and IF the phone does not work, the Cellphone company you bought it from MUST make things right.. Buying from a third party while you can save money or buy a better phone can and does open you up to the cellphone provider to stick it to you if the phone doesn't work on their network (I learned that the hard way).

[pianotuna]

Gdetrailer wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

As of July 2022 T-Mobile is dropping g3 voice service. That is going to mean you can't use them except for voip programs such as Whatsapp.

I hate this forced obsolescence.

Umm, no, not fully true statement.

Yes, "3G" is being in process of being sunsetted, but as long as the flip phones have 4G digital "Voice over LTE" (IE VoLTE) capability there is zero issue using a flip phone..

The Alcatel Go flip 4 I found on T mobiles website DOES indeed support 4G VoLTE per T mobile website "Enjoy enhanced audio and clear VoLTE calls with 4G LTE connectivity."

Buying an very old obsolete third party flip phone from another vendor does have the real possibility of being 3G/4G and the 4G may not have "VoLTE" capability which would make it a worthless paper weight..

The key here is finding a new enough flip phone which has 4G VoLTE capability..

My provider is Sasktel. My current device(s) do not support VoLTE.

My point is that replacing a 3g voice phone with another one is not going to work. Here is what they sent me.

"A few months ago, we let you know that starting in February 2022 our U.S. roaming partners AT&T and T-Mobile had plans to evolve their networks. With this evolution, AT&T has indicated they will be shutting down their 3G network in February 2022 and T-Mobile is expected to follow in July 2022. We wanted to send you a friendly reminder of what this means for 3G wireless devices and how you can make sure you continue to have the voice calling service you need if you travel to the U.S.

Our records show phone number(s) xxx-xxx-xxxx are 3G wireless device(s) affected by the shutdown. When AT&T shuts down their 3G network in February 2022, voice calls in the U.S. will continue to be able to be made in T-Mobile 3G coverage areas. Once T-Mobile shuts down their 3G network in July 2022, you’ll no longer be able to make or receive voice calls when in the U.S with your current wireless device. You may also not be able to call 911. Data and text messaging will not be impacted by these network changes.

To continue using voice calling in the U.S., there are two options:

Option 1: Upgrade to a VoLTE-capable device. VoLTE (Voice over LTE) devices can make voice calls over an LTE network instead of 3G. With all devices available for $0 upfront with Plus Pricing, we have something for everyone. Check out sasktel.com/wirelessdevices.

Option 2: Use an alternate voice service app. Apps such as FaceTime, Skype, or WhatsApp use data services for voice calls. Please be aware 911 calling is not available through apps.

To learn more about these upcoming changes and roaming in the U.S., including a complete list of VoLTE-capable devices, visit sasktel.com/usnetworkchanges.

To upgrade your device, please visit a SaskTel Store or Authorized Dealer and we’ll be happy to help you find the right device for you."

[wa8yxm]

The older Flip phones are getting hard to find save for perhaps the Jitterbug (Sold via AARP) I just upgraded my T-Mobile to a Galaxy A-32 5G.. Mostly painless (Some things changed) but it too has a wi-fi hotspot and the SSID and PSK transferred. So did nearly all my other stuff. Some stuff took me a while to recover however.

Suggest "Back up everything before doing anything"

[WNYBob]

I was told I would be charged an extra $30 if I bought through a sticks and bricks or via phone!
I bought on line.