Why Can’t I move my Sprint phone to Verizon?

For the longest time, the the issue with the US smartphone market was that you had to purchase the phones directly from the Cellular company.  The companies sold you the phone locked to their network.   Each carrier had their own rules on unlocking the phones.   Carriers held you hostage such that once you completed your contract, you would have to purchase another smartphone to move to a different carrier, making it financially prohibitive.     In the rest of the world,  purchasing a phone and buying service were 2 completely separate transactions.   The phones are sold completely unlocked. You are not tied to someone’s lousy network just because of  a locked phone.  Unlocking is a process by which you can take the phone to another carrier and use it on the new carrier.    For example taking an AT&T phone to T-Mobile etc.  Unlocking a phone is typically for GSM carrier (more on that later)

The US market is slowly evolving thanks to T-Mobile’s Uncarrier initiative.  Down the road,  purchasing the phone and finding a carrier are going to be 2 completely separate transactions.   And that is a great thing.  Why? Because carriers had you hoodwinked.  They would sign you up for a 2 year contract and give you a new phone for $200.  If used that same phone after the 2 years were up, your bill never went down.  No more,  now your bill will go down after you have paid off your phone,   the new transparency forces the carrier to be more ethical and fair – Thank you John Legere and T-Mobile

The USA cell phone market is divided into 2 different technologies GSM and CDMA.  AT&T/ T-Mobile are GSM providers ( think SIM card) and Verizon/Sprint are CDMA providers.  Further complicating the issue is the frequency that is used by the carriers – 800, 850, 1900.  For  a  phone to work to work on a different carrier, it should be able to accept that technology and frequency – think radio.

Verizon and Sprint being CDMA carriers require you to call them to activate the phone.  The phones IMEI number must be in their database for the phone to work.  The CDMA carriers marry the IMEI number to the phone number.  This is essentially a CDMA limitation.  Sprint and Verizon  have a gentlemen’s agreement (collusion) where they will not activate each other’s phones.  Your Verizon phone should for all practical purposes work on Sprint but Sprint will not put the IMEI number in their database.  Sprint will only accept the IMEI number from the manufacturer.   They will not insert a new IMEI number in their database.  Same for Verizon

Take the Sprint iphone 4s/5/5c/5s/6 or Sprint Samsung Galaxy.  Read the specs.  They have the GSM bands to support T-Mobile/AT&T etc but when you insert the T-Mobile sim in the phone, it will not work – Why because the phone is locked to Sprint.  Sprint will not unlock the phone no matter what.  Even after you complete your contract and have fully paid for that phone.   This is how Sprint unethically and desperately holds on to you .  Their last hope is to make it financially prohibitive for you to switch carriers,  You want to move to a different carrier – no problem just buy a new phone (but we really don’t want you to leave).

Recently however Google and Apple have decided to sell fully unlocked versions of their flagship products directly on their websites.

Apple iphone 6/6plus from Apple’s Website

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a wireless contract commitment or a carrier installment plan. You can activate and use the unlocked iPhone on the supported wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, or Sprint in the United States.

The unlocked iPhone does not come with a nano-SIM card for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, or iPhone 5c so you’ll need to get one from any supported carrier worldwide. To start using your iPhone, simply insert the SIM card into the slot and turn on iPhone by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.

Purchasing an unlocked iPhone means you will not qualify for the lower iPhone price associated with a contract or a carrier installment plan. The unlocked iPhone 6 model is A1586. The unlocked iPhone 6 Plus model is A1524. The T-Mobile iPhone 6 model is A1549. The T-Mobile iPhone 6 Plus model is A1522. For details on LTE network support, please see www.apple.com/iphone/LTE.

The IMEI numbers of the A1586 and A1524 versions of the iphones will be in both the Sprint and Verizon databases.

Google Nexus 6 purchased directly from the Google Play store 

This phone will work on Sprint, Verizon,  AT&T, T-Mobile and every other GSM provider.  This phone is fully unlocked for all GSM carriers and the Google Play version of the phone will have the IMEI number in both the Sprint and Verizon databases

Caution:  Only the Nexus 6 purchased from the Google Play store will work on all carriers.  If you purchase the Nexus 6 directly from Verizon, Sprint will not activate it or the other way around.

You can use the Google Play version of this phone on Sprint, give them the IMEI number and they will activate it.  If you do not like Sprint service, call Verizon and give them the IMEI number and that phone will work on Verizon.  You can take an AT&T sim card to that phone and AT&T will become your new carrier.   You can move this phone to Cricket, , Straightalk, T-Mobile, Metro PCS, by just inserting the SIM cards of the new GSM carrier.

At the end of the day it is your phone and Google  and Apple have done us a great service into making sure that you use that phone on every carrier in the world.

Why Cell phone insurance plans are a horrible idea for the consumer

So you got a shiny new phone and have now been convinced by the Store Clerk to purchase a Cellphone insurance plan.  You do realize they are comped for making that sale.  If not, you do now.  I wlll go on to explain why Cell phone insurance plans are a horrible idea and should only be used for a handful of very expensive phones.

As with everything you need to look at the fine print. I have done some of the research and for this particular blog, I am only going to concentrate on  Apple’s iphones and Sprint’s Insurance plan from Assurion.  Keep in mind the Asurion is the insurance provider for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon among others.

I was able to get all the information from http://www.phoneclaim.com/documents/Sprint/Sep2014SprintDeductibleSchedule.pdf     This document contains all the deductible information and charges for the plan.  You can go to Asurion,com and try to get the information on other carriers and cellphones.

For Sprint the phones are divided into 5 Tiers each with their own deductible and monthly fee.  http://www.phoneclaim.com/documents/Sprint/Sep2014SprintDeductibleSchedule.pdf

	Deductible	Total Equipment Protection Monthly Charge
Tier 1	$50	$8.00
Tier 2	$100	$8.00
Tier 3	$100	$11.00
Tier 4	$150	$11.00
Tier 5	$200	$11.00

So what iphones fall under which Tier

1) Tier 5  – $200 deductible and $11 Monthy TEP

iPhone 4S 16GB, iPhone 4S 32GB, iPhone 4S 64GB, iPhone 5 16GB,
iPhone 5 32GB, iPhone 5 64GB, iPhone 5S 16GB, iPhone 5S 32GB,
iPhone 5S 64GB, iPhone 5C 32GB, iPhone 6 16GB, iPhone 6 64GB,
iPhone 6 128GB, iPhone 6 Plus 16GB, iPhone 6 Plus 64GB, iPhone 6
Plus 128GB

2) Tier 4 – $150 deductible and $11/month TEP

iPhone 5C 16GB

3) Tier 3 – $100 deductible and $11/month TEP

iPhone 4 8GB, iPhone 4S 8GB, iPhone 5C 8GB

It is interesting to note that the iphone 4s 16gb has a $200 deductible, same as the much more expensive iphone 5 plus  and the the iphone 5c 16gb has a $150 deductible.  Goes to show how unpopular the iphone 5c really was.

Now lets take a few scenarios.  Keep in Mind that the scenarios are for October 2014.  The scenarios change with time

Scenario 1 – I lose my iphone 6 16 gb phone after 2 months – Original Cost is $650.  I can get it replaced for $200 deductible.  My total outlay for the insurance is $11/month for 2 months = $22 + $200 for the deductible  for a total cost of $222.   Worth it as those phones are still expensive and running $650.  Would even be highly recommended if you had the iphone 6 plus 128gb version as that phone runs $949 + tax.

Scenario 2  – I lost my iphone 5s 16 gb after 9 months.  Original Cost of the phone was $650.  I can get it replaced for $200 deductible and I paid $11 for 9 months.  Total paid out for a replacement  is 11×9  + 200 deductible =  $299.   It is not worth it. Why?

Well for one, the phone has depreciated and you can get a used phone  5s on swappa.com for under $300.

Somewhere in the 6 month to 1 year window after the release of the iphone, the insurance plans start getting expensive for the consumer and extremely beneficial for the insurance provider.   Keep in mind that the iphones hold their value very well.  The Android phones do not, they depreciate much faster and their window may not even last the first 6 months.

Things to keep in mind when purchasing Insurance plans

1. Your carrier gets a cut of the monthly fee.  It is a revenue stream for the carrier.  They incent the sales reps into selling them.
2. The person selling it to you is being comped for that sale.  Don’t expect the whole truth from them.   They are just trying to get their commissions.  That is why they are so overzealous in convincing you that you need insurance.  They have quotas to meet.   See bullet 1.
3. If you see an insurance plan added to your  account without your  knowledge and or consent,  now you know why  🙂
4. Once you add the monthly premiums,  the deductible and the depreciation.  It might not be worth it.
5. When you get the phone replaced – they will send you a used phone which may not work perfectly.  They will not send you a new phone but a refurbished phone and it might not be factory refurbished.  The logic used is  – well you lost or destroyed a used phone so we are replacing it with a used phone.  There even has been an instance where Asurion sent a replacement phone that was reported stolen!.
6. When you have to make a claim – the insurance company becomes the bad guy and the carrier  that has been collecting the monthly payment, washes their hands off the issue – leaving you with an extremely bad taste in your mouth.

Your mileage on whether the insurance plans are worth it  will vary.  I would highly recommend you do the math and look for the current replacement prices on swappa.com

Short link to this page http://bit.ly/1wY34vg

Why you should never pay the $36 Sprint Activation fees

Okay so you have decided to go with Sprint and their extremely low priced advertised plans.  You are slowly going to discover that there are plenty of hidden, non-advertised fees.  Sprint is going to get you one way or the other.   Sprint has a lot of “Just Because” fees.  These are fees that Sprint charges just because they feel that they can get away with it.  Us consumers have been trained to pay these “just because fee” by the likes of Airlines, Banks, Hotels, Healthcare providers  and now telecom.   One of the hidden fees is the $36/line activation fee.  Another well thought of fee is a low monthly charge fee of $7.99/line, it is called an Account Spending limit fee (ASL) .  If your bill is low, Sprint charges you a $7.99/line  fee just so you give Sprint the privilege of being your carrier.  I leave it up to you to tell Sprint where they can stick that privilege 🙂

Here is the reason you should never pay and how you can argue against this $36/line activation fee. Keep in mind AT&T and Verizon do charge you when you set up a new line of Service and you should be able to argue that piece away because T-Mobile does not have those hidden charges.  Competition Rocks!!

Sprint is a CDMA carrier unlike AT&T and T-Mobile that are GSM carriers.  With GSM carriers,  to move to a new phone all you need is the SIM card from the old device and move it to the new device and it works.  If the SIM card is a different size you can cut the SIM card yourself using a SIm cutter that you get on ebay for $5.   If the SIM card needs to be larger you can get a SIM adapter on ebay for $1.  You do not have to call your GSM carrier just because you got a new phone.  If you purchased that phone for full price on ebay, amazon or swappa.com  – you do not even have to tell the GSM carrier, the IMEI number of your new phone.  The IMEI number of the phone should really not be shared with anyone for security concerns.

CDMA carriers are  different.  CDMA requires you to call in to the carrier and they will match the phone IMEI number in their database to the phone number that they assign you.

When you call Sprint to activate the phone – they marry  the IMEI number of the handset  to the phone number.  This is inherently a CDMA limitation.  Sprint uses this limitation to their advantage and they charge you a $36 activation fee/line to marry the IMEI with the phone number – something they need to do anyway to give you Sprint’s CDMA service.

My question is why would you pay Sprint for an inherent limitation with their CDMA technology?

Truly Something to think about and Argue against.

Shortlink to this page   http://bit.ly/1nqIFit

Math Tax #1 : Bi Weekly Mortgage Payments are a Ripoff

Math Tax #1 : Bi Weekly Mortgage Payments are a Ripoff.

Math Tax #1 : Bi Weekly Mortgage Payments are a Ripoff

This blog is part of the Series I am writing to expose Corporations whose entire business revolves around “taxing” people who are bad at Math.     These companies have great marketing and play on peoples emotions  however they are not doing anything that  you could not do on your own.

Why Bi-Weekly mortgage payments is a horrible idea…

Sign a new mortgage and you within a few days you get a letter in the mail saying that you can payoff that mortgage faster – in 23 yrs vs the 30 year note that you just signed.  The company is playing on your emotions.  Yes you have signed a 30 year note and yes you are extremely concerned as this is the most expensive thing you have bought and now you have a monthly mortgage you have to cover .  Paying it off 7 years early sounds awesome  Now lets look at this and see why this is really bad idea.

There are 52 weeks in a year.  The company is collecting every 2 weeks, that equates to 26 half payments.  Twenty six  half payments  equates to 13 full payments.

52 weeks paid bi-weekly = 26 half payments

26 half payments = 13 full payments

You required to pay 12 monthly payments for your mortgage and bi going the bi-weekly route you are making 13 monthly payments.

But that is not all of what you are paying out of pocket – In reality you are paying more.  There is a setup fee of $300 – $400 and a monthly process fee or $6.  So the first year – you pay an extra $372  in fees  just so you can make 13 payments instead of 12.     Are you kidding me?

You can make that 13th payment just on your own – all you have to do is write (principal only) on the check so they don’t put the money in your escrow account.

Take the $372 and enjoy it with your family…

Why make any the payments to this company?

Why the Nexus 5 is the Best Sprint Phone you should buy

For the longest time, the the issue with the US smartphone market was that you had to purchase the phones directly from the Cellular company.  The companies sold you the phone locked to their network.   Each carrier had their own rules on unlocking the phones.   Carriers held you hostage such that once you completed your contract, you would have to purchase another smartphone to move to a different carrier, making it financially prohibitive.     In the rest of the world,  purchasing a phone and buying service were 2 completely separate transactions.   The phones are sold completely unlocked. You are not tied to someone’s lousy network just because of  a locked phone.  Unlocking is a process by which you can take the phone to another carrier and use it on the new carrier.    For example taking an AT&T phone to T-Mobile etc.  

The US market is slowly evolving thanks to T-Mobile’s Uncarrier initiative.  Down the road,  purchasing the phone and finding a carrier are going to be 2 completely separate transactions.   And that is a great thing.  Why? Because carriers had you hoodwinked.  They would sign you up for a 2 year contract and give you a new phone for $200.  If used that same phone after the 2 years were up, your bill never went down.  No more,  now your bill will go down after you have paid off your phone,   the new transparency forces the carrier to be more ethical and fair – Thank you John Legere and T-Mobile

The USA cell phone market is divided into 2 different technologies GSM and CDMA.  AT&T/ T-Mobile are GSM providers ( think SIM card) and Verizon/Sprint are CDMA providers.  Further complicating the issue is the frequency that is used by the carriers – 800, 850, 1900.  For  a  phone to work to work on a different carrier, it should be able to accept that technology and frequency – think radio.

Verizon and Sprint being CDMA carriers require you to call them to activate the phone.  The phone IMEI number must be in their database for the phone to work.  Furthermore Sprint and Verizon  have a gentlemen’s agreement (collusion) where they will not activate each other’s phones.  Your Verizon phone should for all practical purposes work on Sprint but Sprint will not put the IMEI number in their database.  Sprint will only accept the IMEI number from the manufacturer.   Same for Verizon

Take the Sprint iphone 4s/5/5c/5s or Sprint Samsung Galaxy.  Read the specs.  They have the GSM bands to support T-Mobile/AT&T etc but when you insert the T-Mobile sim in the phone, it will not work – Why because the phone is locked to Sprint.  Sprint will not unlock the phone no matter what.  Even after you complete your contract and have fully paid for that phone.   This is how Sprint unethically and desperately holds on to you .  Their last hope is to make it financially prohibitive for you to switch carriers,  You want to move to a different carrier – no problem just buy a new phone (but we really don’t want you to leave).  

Enter the Nexus 5.  You can purchase it directly from the Google play store or used at swappa.com.  This phone will work on Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and every other GSM provider.  This phone is fully unlocked.    The only carrier the Nexus 5 does not work on is Verizon.  There in no reason for the phone to not work on Verizon (it has the verizon radios) other than Verizon will not activate it, presumably because this phone will break the gentlemen’s agreement with Sprint and expose their collusion.

You can use this phone on Sprint, give them the IMEI number and they will activate it.  If you do not like Sprint service – you can take an AT&T sim card to that phone and AT&T will become your new carrier.   You can move this phone to Cricket, , Straightalk, T-Mobile, Metro PCS, by just inserting the SIM cards of the new carrier.   At the end of the day it is your phone and Google has does us a great service into making sure that you use that phone on every carrier in the world (except Verizon)

 

 

short link to this page http://bit.ly/1ldRaMZ