Help Can it be used without a sim card?

[TheAdvocator]

I'm on AT&T and have been off contract with them for 7 years, I really don't ever wish to renew my contract with them considering their customer service among other things. I don't even want to start paying for the data plans considering the caps and the un-fair price for them ($25 for 2GB!).

What I'd really like to do is get an LG Thrive and just use it something akin to an iPod Touch and simply utilize the Android device with wifi. Is this possible?

Would I have to root the device? Would I have to unlock it? Could I do so right out of the packaging without putting a sim card in it?

Thank you so much in advance for any information concerning this matter!

 

[greg4android]

I did take the SIM card out of mine out of curiosity, and it did work on wi-fi....just no phone calls.

 

[TheAdvocator]

Interesting. I decided to do some further research and contacted LG about the matter;

"2:50 PMCristina:Hello Guest. Welcome to LG Electronics! How may I provide you with excellent service today?2:50 PMCristina:Hello there, how are you doing today?2:51 PMGuest:Hi, I am thinking about purchasing an LG Thrive pre-paid GoPhone from AT&T. I have some questions about it before I make a purchase decision.2:51 PMCristina:I would be happy to help you.2:53 PMGuest:Awesome. What I would like to know is if I can use the device without use of a sim card from AT&T. I'd like to be able to use the device as a wi-fi only device akin to something like an iPod Touch. If I buy the device and activate it without inserting a sim card will I be able to utilize the phone or will it continually instruct me to "Insert a sim card"?2:57 PMCristina:Allow me a minute2:57 PMGuest:Sounds good. Thank you.2:57 PMCristina:I am experiencing system issues2:58 PMCristina:
2:58 PMCristina:I am sorry for the inconvenience.2:58 PMGuest:It's okay.3:01 PMCristina:Thank you very much for your patience3:02 PMCristina:I just double checked and you able to use the unit without the sim card3:03 PMCristina:And use the unit Wifi only3:03 PMGuest:Excellent. So just so I'm clear, I CAN use the device without the sim card and get on WiFi only, is that correct?3:04 PMCristina:That's correct.3:05 PMGuest:Well, I'm very glad to hear that. I hope LG keep making phones like this in the future.3:06 PMCristina:Perfect!3:06 PMGuest:Thank you for your help, Cristina"

I've also talked to an individual who owns the phone. He says a sim card is not required for use of the device.

Any thoughts?

 

[Hugtypim]

I took my LG Thrive to a cafe today that has free Wifi. There was no SIM in my phone at the time. I was able to connect to Wifi but I was not able to actually do anything via Wifi. For example, when I tried to go to google.com, the browser gave me an error message saying it could not connect to the web page. Anybody have any ideas about this problem?

 

[skeltonh]

The DNS server, like OpenDNS might have to be entered as AT&T might want to try to route through them regardless. If you did not activate your phone that might be your problem too. You get a few minutes with the Go Phone chip.

I haven't tried to use mine as a WiFi tablet but did it once on my home network with no problem.

 

[babu5955]

hi

 

[Sean Quixote]

How ironic and serendipitous that I accidentally "clicked" on this thread when attempting to zoom in via a double-tap!

This particular matter was actually the very first thing that I learned about my device after taking it out of the box. I was fiddling around with it, attempted to connect to my home wifi network, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked, which is just plain awesome. (On a sidenote another thing I didn't expect was that it also came with it's own sim as part of the package, but, is that just standard with Go Phone purchases?) I could even effectively use the device as a GPS navigation unit by accessing the pre-installed Google Maps app without installing the sim, at least at first - last time I attempted doing so it wouldn't load, but I can't be for sure whether it was due to the fact that I had since put the card in and begin also using it as an actual phone, or because I wasn't in a hotspot atm, or simply as a result of an update to the app, or some combination of these.

Funnily enough, it was indeed my decision to finally insert the sim card that gave me some issues. I activated the card that came with it (for "free" since I guess the activation charge is part of the price) but what I wanted to do was then switch that card into my old Samsung Impression and its old card into this one... but apparently this is confusing to newfangled technology - which is the actual funny part because I had to go to an AT&T store and transfer my info into a new card for this smartphone, but the card that came with it seemed fine with the switch to a relatively dumber phone (actually, I couldn't get service even though I was sure I activated it correctly, but that's a backburner issue for now). Another issue, and probably the more pertinent one for the OP if you do ever decide to put the sim in, is to go into your Wireless & networks settings, under Mobile networks, and make sure that you have Data disabled by unchecking the box that is checked by default because it WILL just sit there overnight and charge you a couple cents at a time for no apparent reason at all (I was told it had something to do with automatic updates, or something, but I'm not entirely sure if that was actually the case), at least until you're out of money. Good thing I had "only" put $15.00 on it that day.