Don't dial *228 on your Bionic...

[Speeding Wheels]

You actually CAN activate a handset via *228, we've done it many times. Even ones not associated with your acct. I dont recall the exact order of the prompts, but when you call it asks you to input the number you want to activate the device on and then you have to verify the acct information.

Problem with the 4G phones is there is something in the system which nukes the 4G SIM card if you try to activate a 4G phone via that method. Hence the importance of this thread.

 

[Anathema]

You actually CAN activate a handset via *228, we've done it many times. Even ones not associated with your acct. I dont recall the exact order of the prompts, but when you call it asks you to input the number you want to activate the device on and then you have to verify the acct information.

Problem with the 4G phones is there is something in the system which nukes the 4G SIM card if you try to activate a 4G phone via that method. Hence the importance of this thread.

It should be noted that this only hurts the sim card if your phone has not been activated yet. If you dial *228 on a 4g phone with the sim card in AFTER activation, it simply does nothing. If you want to update the PRL on any verizon 4g phone, reboot your phone and it's done.

When you dial *228 to do PRL before activation it wont read your sim card an will push the update anyways, which is what nukes it. If you dial *228 AFTER activation, it recognizes that you have a sim card and will end the attempt before pushing the update.

This info really needs to be out there and it bothers me that verizon reps where telling me and other to use *228 on a 4g verizon phone. It's very misleading.

 

[phoenixus]

Wait a minute...can someone for sure tell me that dialing *228 fries your sim card?

I just traveled to colorado springs, which should be covered in 4g, and was having poor connection. So tried to dial *288 a box popped up on my screen saying that didn't work on my device. Do I need to go to verizon?

 

[Anathema]

Wait a minute...can someone for sure tell me that dialing *228 fries your sim card?

I just traveled to colorado springs, which should be covered in 4g, and was having poor connection. So tried to dial *288 a box popped up on my screen saying that didn't work on my device. Do I need to go to verizon?

No. It only effects the SIM card if you are attempting to activate your phone via *228. If your phone has already been activated, *228 won't do anything and will have no effect. Try rebooting your phone.

 

[alm0614]

Ok, so when I get my phone in the mail. what SHOULD i do to activate it, now that i know its not to dial *228

 

[Speeding Wheels]

Ok, so when I get my phone in the mail. what SHOULD i do to activate it, now that i know its not to dial *228

Read the activation guide.
If yours does not come with one here are the cliffs notes....


1. Activate LTE service - Call 877.807.4646 from a landline preferably and follow the prompts. You'll need the receipt that came with your bionic
2. Insert the SIM card and battery. Put the battery cover on the phone and power it up.
3. "Activation will begin automatically. If prompted, follow instructions to accept customer agreement"
4. Follwo on screen prompts to setup your phone.

NOTE:
The actual 4G synching of the phone to the network can take some time. There will be a message that says something along the lines of "Activating your phone, please wait while we activate and reboot your device" (NOT exact wording at all). Just let it do it's thing. Mine took about 20 minutes to finish.. other have taken hours. Relax, get a snack, do something else... your phone will connect to the network eventually.

 

[Iamthedragonwarrior]

Just got back from the store. The lady saw my Bionic box and said, "It won't activate?" So I told her about what the tech support lady said and she started laughing and said no it's not gonna fry it. She then took out my SIM card and put it into her phone and activated my number through her phone in less than 5 minutes and then put my SIM card back into my phone. She began to tell me that so many people are activating these 4G phones that it's messing up the system. She actually used a much more technical term but I can't really remember it so I just used my own words. Sorry about that.

So my Bionic is finally working!

 

[Anathema]

Just got back from the store. The lady saw my Bionic box and said, "It won't activate?" So I told her about what the tech support lady said and she started laughing and said no it's not gonna fry it. She then took out my SIM card and put it into her phone and activated my number through her phone in less than 5 minutes and then put my SIM card back into my phone. She began to tell me that so many people are activating these 4G phones that it's messing up the system. She actually used a much more technical term but I can't really remember it so I just used my own words. Sorry about that.

So my Bionic is finally working!

Good to hear.

 

[Bear in NM]

Speed,

Thanks for posting that, hopefully it will help the folks. When I ordered my phone the gal I spoke with in a "chat" to help me get through the ordering process told me that when I get the phone, all I had to do was *228 to activate. Well, I actually read the activation steps (what you wrote) and had no problems. Had I done the *228 as part of my activation, it sounds like I would have fried my sim card. Guess what, probably no sim cards here where I live for 75 miles. I would have been major cranky.

I understand that it all about training, but I do place a little Verizon blame here, as it seems like part of the "shroud of mystery" that surrounds these phone releases is to keep VZW employees pretty much in the dark until the last minute. Pull gun, cock trigger, aim at foot, pull trigger.............

Craig

 

[Speedy3]

It appears to me that having gone through this Process with the Thunderbolt, Revolution, and the Charge that the process would be ingrained in the Verizon Rep's minds by now. I'm sure that the activation process is the same since all 4G LTE phones require the sim card to be activated. Makes one wonder huh? SMH :icon_frown:

 

[don_droid]

Reset phone to get better connection?

I guess if you find yourself in a new area and not getting a good connection you could try resetting the phone. The rep told me that an easy way to reset the phone is to take the battery out and back in than restart it. That will do a hard reset for the phone and could get you connected to the network better.

For my ATT work phone that worked great in Korea nd Japan to get me connected when I travelled after the phone could not find the network. They said it helps to reset the sims card.

 

[droidtom]

That's interesting because I did the *228 on mine twice before reading this and it told me that the feature is disabled on my phone but it didn't do anything to my sim card

 

[Anathema]

That's interesting because I did the *228 on mine twice before reading this and it told me that the feature is disabled on my phone but it didn't do anything to my sim card

Because you're phone is already activated. It only fried the sim card if you dial *228 before you have activated your phone with the sim card in the phone.

For my ATT work phone that worked great in Korea nd Japan to get me connected when I travelled after the phone could not find the network. They said it helps to reset the sims card.

And they are correct. One of the beauties of a sim card is that is automatically updates your PRL on every hard reboot of the phone.


I feel like I've said this about 5 times in this thread lol.

 

[BePrepared]

I called Verizon Tech Support tonight because I've had areas where I would have internet access through my MIFI card, but not on my Bionic. (I'm all over the country.)

The tech guy told me that the MIFI updates automatically, but the Bionic didn't, and that I need to dial *228, then press 2 at the prompt. After having read this thread last night, I was a little leery. I asked him if it would cause any problem for my phone, and he said, "No."

So, I punch in *228 and send, and a message popped up that said, "A Verizon Wireless SIM card has activated your service and updated your phone's roaming capabilities."

Still, I had no internet service.

So, then I rebooted the phone, and 3G serviced popped up. :biggrin:

So, I can report that *228 does update your roaming capabilities with (apparently) no adverse affect on the phone.

 

[Bellyofthebeast]

I'd like to take the opportunity to give a brief overview/clarification on the purposes of *228 & its uses relating to 3g and 4g activation and PRL updates. First, on 4g devices, it is both useless and harmless, provided the phone has already undergone the automatic OTA programming, when the SIM its inserted. The main cause of SIMS frying, is that they are assigned one specific number, and one activation provision, so, you use another phone's upgrade, SIM fries the second it is activated, unless the SIM is provisioned for your number specifically, most store reps don't understand this... Second, SIMS update your PRLs automatically, so *228 opt 2 will not help, nor hurt the phone. 99% of the "SIM's fried" issues have nothing whatsoever to do with *228 and everything to do with someone incorrectly provisioning the line for the phone, resulting in auto retirement of the SIM. that said, there is no good reason to ever dial for activation, or PRL updates on a 4g phone. 3g, unless you have a palm smartphone, dial to your hearts content, can't hurt. (palms can only be activated once, otherwise it gets cloned in the system, and chaos ensues)
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