Can I do initial setup without inserting SIM card until I'm ready to activate?

[srothkin]

I've been using a Motorola Droid and I just received my new Thunderbolt. My plan was to initially skip activating the thunderbolt and just use the WiFi while I go through the process of getting all my data transferred to and apps properly setup on the Thunderbolt. This way if I need to spread this out over a few days (due to limited time to work on it), I can still take my Droid with me to have access to the apps I need away from home. I was going to activate the thunderbolt on VZW as the last step of my transition process.

However, I noticed that the Thunderbolt comes with a SIM card and that the instructions say to call the special number to activate the SIM card before putting it into the Thunderbolt and that the Thunderbolt would then activate automatically when I turn the Droid off and turn the Thunderbolt on. Originally I had figure that the activation to transfer service from my Droid to the Thunderbolt wouldn't happen until I explicitly asked for it by dialing *228 and following the activation process (like I did originally for the Droid).

So I'm wondering if I can get away with using the Thunderbolt without the SIM card until I'm ready to activate it, or if I have to insert the SIM card for the Thunderbolt to even work (and if that's the case, do I have to activate the SIM card first, or can I just insert it and activate it a few days later when I'm ready)?

[Ads]

[K3MPO]

as far as I know VZW went to the SIM for that reason... So I would say no you have to activate the SIM...I may be wrong...but doubt it

[Kai]

Verizon uses the SIM for 4G. You can turn it on with just the SIM card, I know this because I activated it over my old phone. However, I didn't turn on wifi, so I don't know if that would function. No harm in trying, as far as I know. But don't take my word for it. If you want to see if it will connect then go for it, if you are afraid it could do something to the phone then don't. If it was me and I wanted to see if it would then I would just do it, because I don't see how it could hurt anything at all.

[jntdroid]

You can boot it with the sim inserted before you activate it. All they need to activate it is the numbers on the bigger card that you pop the sim out of.

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[Kai]

Let us know if you are able to set it up completely, use wifi, and download your apps from the market. That is the part I'm not sure about, and if anyone else asks the question your experience will give us the answer!

[srothkin]

Let us know if you are able to set it up completely, use wifi, and download your apps from the market. That is the part I'm not sure about, and if anyone else asks the question your experience will give us the answer!

Yes.

I had to manually enter the WiFi password and manually set the date. Everything worked fine except phone and text messaging were (obviously) not available until I later activated/inserted the SIM card.

Activated now and so far everything is working fine.

[Kai]

Good to know, thanks.

[CharliesTheMan]

I had exactly this question when I got my Thunderbolt. Mine shipped from Verizon without the SIM included, and when I went to the local store the two elderly ladies argues with me about if Verizon had sim cards. So sinceI had to wait a few days I set it up on wifi, did everything besides things like talking and data that require the network.

This is where I had the problem. I rooted my phone and did some tweaking and modifying. This was my first Android phone and I just couldn't not dive right in and start hacking. Everything went fine, I put the sim card in and things were ok. BUT... and this is a big but that you need to watch out for, when I called the number to activate the sim card my phone did it's activation and IMMEDIATELY installed the OTA update on its own. No message or option to not install, as I was looking at it the phone just connected to the network and went into a reboot before I had finished the activation part on the telephone. This caused my phone to go into a boot loop of error messages. It wasn't a brick, but many people would have assumed it was, gone into panic mode, and either did real damage or assumed it was a lost cause and sent it back to Verizon. I ended up going into recovery and wiping then factory resetting because I didn't have anything on the phone that mattered to lose, as it was brand new.

This was overkill, I learned later that I didn't have to wipe all the data. I just wanted to post this because I know most people actually start with an activated working phone before they start hacking. For those of us though who buy a smart phone and don't really need the phone part of it, and can't wait that long if theres a problem with activation, this could be very useful information just so you know what to expect and how to avoid it. I did not ask for the OTA update or even check to see if there was one, it just happened that part of the sim activation process was apparently to instantly push and install the OTA.

For reference, How I got past OTA update forcing the Thunderbolt into recovery mode

[offroadace]

Thanks for the post CTM!
I got my TB and am still using my DInc right now.
Never rooted before and am playing before I start using the TB. The OTA issue is good info and probably would have freaked me out.

[CharliesTheMan]

Yeah, I was a little worried at first but due to the research I had done, I knew my phone wasnt really bricked and it would just take some figuring out. The Android Rescue guys on here are great, and had I needed to save my data they could have helped me out with a few simple directions.

That being said, it worked out GREAT not having my phone activated, because it gave me time to do nothing but play around and learn Android.

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