Author Topic: Google Fi SIM activation question  (Read 2074 times)

thingamabobs

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Google Fi SIM activation question
« on: December 04, 2018, 11:20:05 AM »
I know with the recent announcement the Google Fi SIM card can now be activated on phones other than Google's.

However, I have a SIM card from before the announcement that I'd like to activate and still requires use of a Google phone to do so. I've read that I can do this on a phone that's not already activated on Fi, but that it will lock the phone to the phone # associated with the SIM. My question is: how do I dissociate the phone used to activate the SIM card from the number afterwards? Will this automatically happen once the SIM card is placed in a new phone?

what happens if someone sells a phone that was previously used for Google fi? The new owner would have to be able to activate their account on it, right?

Thanks!
« Last Edit: December 04, 2018, 12:00:48 PM by thingamabobs »

jamesbond007

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Re: Google Fi SIM activation question
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2018, 04:23:22 PM »
Google Fi does not "lock" you phone like how other big carriers do. I have been a Fi customer for 3 years and I travel internationally. One time I visit a different country and I used a local SIM and it worked fine. That tells me that the phone is not locked. Hope it helps. Even if it is locked, you are not in a contract, just call them and they send the unlock code.

Syonyk

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Re: Google Fi SIM activation question
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2018, 11:38:51 AM »
However, I have a SIM card from before the announcement that I'd like to activate and still requires use of a Google phone to do so. I've read that I can do this on a phone that's not already activated on Fi, but that it will lock the phone to the phone # associated with the SIM. My question is: how do I dissociate the phone used to activate the SIM card from the number afterwards? Will this automatically happen once the SIM card is placed in a new phone?

Whatever you read is wrong.  Google Fi doesn't play any games like that - are you thinking of Republic Wireless or one of those other carriers?

My wife & I have both used Nexus 5Xes on Fi, and when hers died, I swapped mine over to her with no problems at all (I had mine as a backup device while we figured out local internet reliability).

The downside of using a non-supported phone is that you're stuck with T-Mobile's network (I think).  One of the real values of Fi is that it will roam between networks for us - we've got, between personal and work phones, AT&T (my phone), Verizon (a work phone), T-Mobile and Sprint (my wife's Fi device).  We're pretty well covered, connectivity-wise, plus a pair of rural wireless connections.  We don't use that much data, but it's nice to have the diversity when we're traveling.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!