Stupid Cellphone Question
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wrote on 31 Jan 2023, 20:44 last edited by
Rummaging through a drawer, I found an old AT&T flip phone.
I'm thinking it would be a nice thing to have in the car for emergencies, should Mrs. George forget her phone, or lets the battery go down.
I'm trying to find a SIM card that I can use with it that doesn't require a monthly subscription. I just want to buy 30 minutes of talk, or something like that.
Everything I see has a monthly subscription.
What am I missing.
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wrote on 31 Jan 2023, 20:52 last edited by xenon
@George-K said in Stupid Cellphone Question:
I think all of the prepaid plans will expire. So even though you won't use it.. it'll likely have a best-buy date after which you'll have to re-up and buy again.
They're basically charging you for staying connected to the network even if you don't use it.
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@George-K said in Stupid Cellphone Question:
I think all of the prepaid plans will expire. So even though you won't use it.. it'll likely have a best-buy date after which you'll have to re-up and buy again.
They're basically charging you for staying connected to the network even if you don't use it.
wrote on 31 Jan 2023, 21:19 last edited by@xenon said in Stupid Cellphone Question:
They're basically charging you for staying connected to the network even if you don't use it.
Yeah, that's all I see.
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@xenon said in Stupid Cellphone Question:
They're basically charging you for staying connected to the network even if you don't use it.
Yeah, that's all I see.
wrote on 31 Jan 2023, 21:29 last edited byBetter call Saul
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wrote on 31 Jan 2023, 21:57 last edited by
I think that is what Saul Goodman was selling, it seems obvious to me that you should be able to find something like this.
But I don't see one.
They all want to start a subscription.
And it sounds like you need an existing connection to activate the SIM. If I understand that correctly then it wouldn't work as an emergency backup.
If you just mean a 911 emergency, aren't cell phones supposed to support 911 calls even without a current SIM plan?
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wrote on 31 Jan 2023, 22:03 last edited by
Not to be flippant (see that?) but if no cell phone and emergency, she can probably borrow someone’s or walk to nearby store? Basically the plan up until 20 years ago. I’d suggest keeping $20 (or $100) in the car plus a note of phone numbers to remember. Sorry, not helpful, I know.
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wrote on 31 Jan 2023, 22:33 last edited by
I just carry a card with an emergency contact number on it.
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I think that is what Saul Goodman was selling, it seems obvious to me that you should be able to find something like this.
But I don't see one.
They all want to start a subscription.
And it sounds like you need an existing connection to activate the SIM. If I understand that correctly then it wouldn't work as an emergency backup.
If you just mean a 911 emergency, aren't cell phones supposed to support 911 calls even without a current SIM plan?
wrote on 1 Feb 2023, 01:20 last edited by@Copper said in Stupid Cellphone Question:
If you just mean a 911 emergency, aren't cell phones supposed to support 911 calls even without a current SIM plan?
I am pretty sure that this is correct. I was at a friends house, and their kid was messing with an old old phone that had no plan and dailed 911. It connected.
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wrote on 1 Feb 2023, 08:32 last edited by Axtremus 2 Jan 2023, 08:42
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/911-wireless-services
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“The FCC's basic 911 rules require wireless service providers to transmit all 911 calls to a PSAP, regardless of whether the caller subscribes to the provider's service or not.”
…Yeah, the typically works without SIM card. That said, “911” is an American thing. Phones originally sold in the USA know how to deal with “911” just fine, most phones originally sold in Canada do too. Probability of the phone knowing “911” is lower for other phones.
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Not to be flippant (see that?) but if no cell phone and emergency, she can probably borrow someone’s or walk to nearby store? Basically the plan up until 20 years ago. I’d suggest keeping $20 (or $100) in the car plus a note of phone numbers to remember. Sorry, not helpful, I know.
wrote on 1 Feb 2023, 08:35 last edited by
