Bluegrass Cellular

[herofan]

I know there are people from KY here, and I have a question.

Is practically any phone compatible with Bluegrass? I suppose I'm old fashioned and don't need a phone like the Starship Enterprise, and I'm not crazy about the contracts. My contract is currently up, but of course, the service continues. If I have an old flip phone, or if I get a phone from a friend that he used with AT&T, can I take it to Bluegrass and have them program my number in?

 

[bbirder]

Open old phone. Remove sim card. slip in new or borrowed phone. Should work with all your contacts.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Open old phone. Remove sim card. slip in new or borrowed phone. Should work with all your contacts.

You may be right bbirder, I'm not highly knowledgeable in this area, but last time I went to monkeying around with this type stuff, I had to see what type of towers the cellular provider used. If it is AT&T towers, you should be good to go with the above plan, if you have an AT&T unlocked phone. If the phone is older an not unlocked, I can probably help you get it unlocked.

Once you get a phone that matches towers- most providers use AT&T, Verizon, or T-mobile, and you get a matching phone that is unlocked, you should be in business by doing what bbirder said.

I dislike the contract stuff myself and went with straight talk from walmart. That may be something to look into. It is a flat monthly charge.
I learned a little about all this trying to fight the contract catch 22 business. Feel free to p.m. me as well, I'll try to help as much as I can.

 

[tripleBfarms]

Bluegrass uses CDMA technology, like Sprint and Verizon. At&t and t mobile use GSM, which basically means the programming ( account name, number, contacts etc) go on the SIM card, where with CDMA phones, its built in. As long as you find a phone without a sim card, its probably a CDMA phone and they can fix you right up. I've got Bluegrass service, and they have awesome coverage around here.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Bluegrass uses CDMA technology, like Sprint and Verizon. At&t and t mobile use GSM, which basically means the programming ( account name, number, contacts etc) go on the SIM card, where with CDMA phones, its built in. As long as you find a phone without a sim card, its probably a CDMA phone and they can fix you right up. I've got Bluegrass service, and they have awesome coverage around here.

Yeah, found that they are using Verizon towers http://www.aglmediagroup.com/rural-cell ... -spectrum/

I apologize, I was dealing with AT&T towers and before that T-mobile. I didn't realize Verizon didn't use SIM cards in their technology. Learned the difference between GSM and CDMA, thanks.

Doesn't the phone still have to be unlocked?

 

[tripleBfarms]

Yes, if you are moving a phone to another carrier, the losing carrier will have to unlock it, and they will if it was under a subsidezed contract, and that contract is now up. The easiest thing of course is to find one that was on Bluegrass before. Hero, just post on craigslist that you are looking for a used Bluegrass phone and you will get a billion replies.

 

[herofan]

Yes, if you are moving a phone to another carrier, the losing carrier will have to unlock it, and they will if it was under a subsidezed contract, and that contract is now up. The easiest thing of course is to find one that was on Bluegrass before. Hero, just post on craigslist that you are looking for a used Bluegrass phone and you will get a billion replies.

I've never been on Craigslist. Does one order directly from there like on E-Bay?

Will cell phones ever become simple, without contracts, and at reasonable prices?

 

[tripleBfarms]

Yes, if you are moving a phone to another carrier, the losing carrier will have to unlock it, and they will if it was under a subsidezed contract, and that contract is now up. The easiest thing of course is to find one that was on Bluegrass before. Hero, just post on craigslist that you are looking for a used Bluegrass phone and you will get a billion replies.

I've never been on Craigslist. Does one order directly from there like on E-Bay?

Will cell phones ever become simple, without contracts, and at reasonable prices?

Craigslist is just a classified ad website. You can post things for sale, or post a wanted ad. You can put your phone number in the ad, or they can contact you by email. Then you can meet them in person and make the transaction. My wife has a Net10 phone. Its all prepay, no contracts. You can get the phone for free, and you buy cards in the checkout line at walmart, or the dollar store. Type in the number on the card, and it adds minutes to your phone. Very simple,pay as you go. 200 minutes is $20.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

My wife and I both have Straight talk and it does well for us. Same kind of thing as net10 but I think a better deal. We have unlimited minutes, unlimited web and unlimited texts for $45 a month. Or you can get 1000 minutes and some text and web stuff (that it sounds like you don't need) for $30.

You can pick up one of these if you have a phone but it isn't unlocked, or you can likely go through a free process that is a little more tedious.
http://www.walmart.com/c/kp/unlocked-ce ... ght%20Talk

But they also sell phones you can buy for around $35.
http://www.walmart.com/browse/no-contra ... rch_sort=4


The reason I went with them, is that AT&T has better towers around us, so I was able to get a phone that used AT&T band. You can do the same with Verizon. Since bluegrass is working with Verizon, I imagine they have the best service in your area. As was previously said, the CDMA phones should work.
This site has more info and link to a coverage map: http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/2013/05 ... izon-ties/

It is true that the customer service is bad, but I don't have to call them since I'm not being charged for things I don't need or want.

There are other pre-paid phones there as well. I just liked the plan we have the best since it is unlimited.

 

[greybeard]

You can still find Verizon connectivity phones with GSM at some retailers. They won't say Verizon on them but they are using Verizon's towers.
Straight Talk btw can be almost anything--depending on where you shop. I use it and my wife does as well. My ph (GSM) says Straight Talk by Trac Phone--wife's (GSM) says Straight Talk by Verizon. Both use Verizon's signal and towers.