How To Activate Your Cell Phone

So you bought a new or used cell phone, and a nice one at that - speakers, 3G, multimedia, the works - but now its time to hook it up with a plan for it to be used. Depending on your circumstances, particularly whether or not you already have a plan in order, activating your cell phone may or may not be easy. The first order of business is to make considerations about the carrier you will be using, if you haven’t done so already. In the United States, the four most popular carriers are AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint. For each carrier, there are separate guidelines you’ll need to follow to activate your phone.

How To Activate Your Cell Phone

T-Mobile

1. The SIM Card. For T-Mobile, the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card is the centerpiece of your service. The SIM card is thin and quite small in size, and makes it possible to contain all information about your service within your phone. Therefore, you’ll need a SIM card to activate your phone. If you don’t yet have service, you won’t yet have a SIM card, but you’ll certainly need to get one before beginning.
2. Turn off your phone and ready your SIM card. Then, go ahead and open the phone’s battery compartment using the release button. The Sim card is stored below the battery, so next you’ll need to remove the battery from the compartment. Here you will see the slim door where the SIM card fits in.
3. Insert the Sim Card. Gently pick up your SIM card and slide it into the door, with the the gold of the card facing the gold of the compartment. Now that the SIM card has been properly inserted, proceed to putting things back in order, replacing the battery cover and then turning on the phone. At this point, you should be setup to use your phone with T-Mobile.

Verizon Wireless

1. Connect to your My Verizon. At VerizonWireless.com, you can connect to your online Verizon customer account, My Verizon. Once you have connected, select My Services and then click  to the go link. On this page, there should be a link pointing to your phone’s activation, labeled Activate Phone.
2. Begin Activation. Click the Activate Phone link and follow the instructions shown. At some point, you will be asked for an ESN - f - located on the back in  the battery compartment of your phone.
3. Dial *228, select option 1. This is needed to download and update the Verizon activation onto your cell phone. A message will be played when your phone has been programmed successfully. You can also consult with a Verizon representative at (800) 922-0204 for extra help, though a charge may be applied to your account.

Sprint

1. Identify your cell phone’s ESN number. First remove the battery, as the number is usually located in this compartment. The ESN will appear in one of two ways - an 11 digit decimal formatted number or an 8 digit hexadecimal formatted number. This ESN number, in whichever format, serves as an identifier when activating your phone with Sprint. Also be sure to remember that the ESN is not the same as the serial number.
2. Charge your cell phone to its fullest. During activation, it will be necessary that your phone is on and fully functional. Since this is probably he first time your using your phone, fully charging your battery is recommended anyways.
3. Call in to activate. Sprint’s activation number is 1 (888) 211-4727. By calling, you can opt to speak with a representative who can easily activate your phone. Provide the representative with your phone’s ESN, and in exchange, service will be switched to your phone. If you do not yet have service, make sure to enlist in one. This method is less convenient, but usually more desirable than going to the store, which may cost you for activation.

AT&T (does not apply for iPhone)

1. Get your SIM card and fully charged device. To activate, you will, of course, need a phone, and it needs to be fully charged. Not only is this important for preserving the battery, your phone also needs to be on and functional during activation. Also have have your SIM card readily available for installation.
2. Turn off phone and Install SIM card. Usually the SIM card slot is located in the battery compartment. Simply sliding your SIM card into the slot should normally be adequate. However, be sure to read the instructions that came with your cell phone to make sure.
3. Call or activate online. With AT&T, you are given the choice between calling to activate or activating online. From your computer, you can visit https://www.wireless.att.com/activations/. If you choose to call, the number for conducting phone activations is 1-866-895-1099. You will also need to have this information at hand to successfully activate: cell number, zip code, identifier (SSN or tax number).