3G on a bionic

[Boria]

Will a bionic work on 3G? I am looking at changing from my droid x to a bionic but I don't want to change plans with verizon(since I have an umlimited data plan). Do I have to have a sim card for the bionic to work on 3G? Can I get a bionic (whether refurbished or used) and set it up on my account on the verizon website? When I switched to the droid x, I made the changes thru my account on the verizon website so I was wondering if I could do the same with a bionic as long as I didn't want 4g and sim card?

 

[Somniferum]

The Bionic will not function without a SIM card. However, you should be able to upgrade and keep your unlimited data plan -- my wife and I are both grandfathered in and upgraded with no problems. I would recommend upgrading at the VZW store though just to be sure there are no glitches. Once you upgrade and install the SIM card, you can toggle 4G/3G or 3G only in the settings. I normally use 3G only to save battery, and toggle on 4G only when I need more bandwidth and Wi-Fi is not available.

 

[Boria]

Thanks for the info but I was hoping not to sign a new two year agreement. My contract has been over for six months and I would like to keep it that way in case I decide to leave verizon. My droid x I have now I bought on ebay used for $150. I have seen used bionics going for $200 or a little better and I was hoping to by used and not sign a contract. May not be possible without me changing to a 4g contract.

 

[BigRedGonzo]

Thanks for the info but I was hoping not to sign a new two year agreement. My contract has been over for six months and I would like to keep it that way in case I decide to leave verizon. My droid x I have now I bought on ebay used for $150. I have seen used bionics going for $200 or a little better and I was hoping to by used and not sign a contract. May not be possible without me changing to a 4g contract.

Contractually, I don't think that there is a difference between 3G and 4G on Verizon. You should be able to buy a used phone, place a Sim Card in it and use 4G. I may be wrong, but I have a friend that did the same thing and he didn't have to sign a new contract. He had been on month to month for over a year.

BigRedGonzo

 

[Boria]

I don't know much about the sim card other than what they are. How would you obtain one for my account?

 

[Groid]

If you buy a used Bionic verify that is has a sim card in it already. It should if the phone was ever activated. When you activate the phone on Verizon's network, it will authenticate the sim card in the Bionic.

 

[mamawm]

I don't know much about the sim card other than what they are. How would you obtain one for my account?

just go into the closest Verizon store and tell them you need a SIM card. they should be happy to fix you up. they may charge a small fee, I'm not sure about that but it won't be much if they do.

 

[Lars]

All you are doing is activating another phone on your number. This does not affect your plan. Make sure you don't get a stolen phone because you won't be able to activate it on verizon

 

[richphitzwell]

If you buy a phone from Verizon at less then full retail they will start you on a new 2 yr contract. If you either buy at full retail $600+ or just activate a phone you found somewhere else that is legite then there shouldnt be any issues with only haveing 1.5 yrs of your contract. Currently there is no difference between 4g and 3g pricing wise and i dont recall changing anything contract wise to get 4 g. In fact v really would rather migrate people to 4g but thats neither here nor there.
Bionic will work on both systems just fine. It seems your issue is with the contract of having an end date of 11/2013 vs 6/2014 and all the providers will try to extend the contract as much as possible but if you own the phone outright they really cant do much.

 

[richphitzwell]

With that said v is doing away with unlimited and their newest thing is if you are not grandfathered on 4g your unlimited is going away

 

[johnlgalt]

From VZW:

• Customers will not be automatically moved to new data shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
• When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing, i.e. Signing new contracts.
• The same pricing and policies will be apply to all 3G and 4G LTE smartphones
• Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan, will be able to keep that plan.

If you stop buying phones from VZW and buy them elsewhere, unsubsidized, you can keep your current plan.

Any contract upgrade, however, will include being switched to a new tiered plan.