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Can these still be connected to the AT&T or Verizon networks? When I tried attaching one in 2020 they immediately disabled my sim card (irreversibly) and when

Can these still be connected to the AT&T or Verizon networks? When I tried attaching one in 2020 they immediately disabled my sim card (irreversibly) and when I called support told me it was much too old and I must get a newer phone (thanks a lot, ATT). To be fair, this is often the claimed solution with AT&T and at least sometimes I'm certain it's BS (e.g. for a Samsung S10e, Verizon told my elderly friend the same thing last year). Hence my question.

Quasimarion 4y ago
Exactly the reason I left ATT and moved to T-Mobile. My old device still works, no need to throw it away.
- technothrasher 4y ago
  Back around when AT&T was first making noises about killing 3G and telling me I needed a new phone, I bought a T-Mobile prepaid SIM just to try it out. When I put the SIM in, the phone lit up like a Christmas tree with features that AT&T wouldn't allow (because it was a non-carrier phone). I since switched over and haven't looked back. Course it also helps that I've now got a T-Mobile tower on the same hill as my house, 1/4 mile away, and I live in a pretty rural area. So it's as if I have my own private tower. I regularly get 700-800mbps down on my phone at my house.
  - metadat 4y ago
    What new features specifically were unlocked with T-Mobile?
    - jackofallballs 4y ago
      [dead]
    - technothrasher 4y ago
      Wifi calling and VoLTE were the two biggest ones.
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
    Living in a rural area, proximity to tower is just huge. We have the choice of either HughesNet for internet or pointing a Waveform antenna at a T-Mobile tower 7 miles away. We get 40 down and 2 up with the Waveform which is enough for zoom calls and is way more capable than HughesNet. If we didn’t have line of sight to the tower it would be so much worse.
    - toast0 4y ago
      Just don't be too close. Can't catch a signal from the AT&T tower two lots over, because it's directed over our heads.
  - vinay427 4y ago
    For what it’s worth, I’ve regularly gotten 700-800 Mbps down in a relatively populated metropolitan area when in the US (T-Mobile, 5G), but it’s probably less consistent than your connection.
yftsui 4y ago
Right AT&T has that crazy device allowlist, they say they require VOLTE support however if the device is an international or foreign model they will disable your line immediately. Verizon doesn’t do that luckily, I believe they suspended new line activate with 5S however for existing lines they are not disable your line like AT&T yet.
- metadat 4y ago
  I suspect the policy is to slowly force everyone to 5G (and every successive generation) ASAP because they make more money per line due to lower cost to serve each device (more connections served per base station translates to needing less infrastructure and a better COGS ratio).
  - radicaldreamer 4y ago
    Yes, this is mostly an airtime use issue. Older devices have less efficient radios and thus cost more. Specifically iPhones with Intel modems.
  - Analemma_ 4y ago
    I'm all for cynicism, but it really is true that spectrum is a limited resource and turning off 3G service means you can repurpose that spectrum for newer standards. If we never shut off old generations of wireless standards, eventually the spectrum would run out and we could never upgrade anything. I also don't really understand what you mean by "slowly force everyone ASAP". That's sort of a self-contradictory phrase.
    - metadat 4y ago
      3G: 800 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,700 MHz, 1,900 MHz and 2,100 MHz bands. 4G: 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 1700/2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 2500 MHz, bands. 5G: 24 GHz up to 54 GHz. Sure, it's an eventuality. But in the near term, is 6g really going to use 900MHz?
      - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
mdasen 4y ago
No, they can't be connected to AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile in the US. Both of them have shut down their 3G networks so phones that don't support VoLTE won't work (and it seems like carriers don't want to take on the liability of letting someone have a data-only "phone" on their network that can't make calls in case of emergency). In this case, it's not quite BS from AT&T. They wanted to use the spectrum they had been using for 3G to make their LTE network better and certain old LTE devices couldn't do voice-over-LTE (the 3G network would handle voice communication). One could argue that they could have kept the 3G network alive longer (Verizon and T-Mobile shut 3G down in 2022), but at some point old devices stop being able to talk on modern networks. At some point, there's a balance between keeping old networks alive and being able to reuse that spectrum for more efficient networks that serve the vast majority of your customers. Many countries still have working 3G networks that the iPhone 5S can connect to and they can still be used as WiFi devices in the US (oh, and I'm sure there are some regional carriers in the US that still support 3G).
- gok 4y ago
  iPhone 5 and 5s are LTE devices though...
  - sgerenser 4y ago
    Do they support Voice over LTE though?
    - technothrasher 4y ago
      The hardware supports it, but Apple only supports it on iPhone 6 and newer. So, the short answer is no.
      - oneplane 4y ago
        It's often not a matter of technical feasibility, but "is it on the list". Ideally things that could technically do it should be "on the list" but in reality it's probably a janky business process that decides what gets in and what doesn't.
canadianfella 4y ago
[dead]

Quasimarion 4y ago

Exactly the reason I left ATT and moved to T-Mobile. My old device still works, no need to throw it away.

technothrasher 4y ago
Back around when AT&T was first making noises about killing 3G and telling me I needed a new phone, I bought a T-Mobile prepaid SIM just to try it out. When I put the SIM in, the phone lit up like a Christmas tree with features that AT&T wouldn't allow (because it was a non-carrier phone). I since switched over and haven't looked back. Course it also helps that I've now got a T-Mobile tower on the same hill as my house, 1/4 mile away, and I live in a pretty rural area. So it's as if I have my own private tower. I regularly get 700-800mbps down on my phone at my house.
- metadat 4y ago
  What new features specifically were unlocked with T-Mobile?
  - jackofallballs 4y ago
    [dead]
  - technothrasher 4y ago
    Wifi calling and VoLTE were the two biggest ones.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
  Living in a rural area, proximity to tower is just huge. We have the choice of either HughesNet for internet or pointing a Waveform antenna at a T-Mobile tower 7 miles away. We get 40 down and 2 up with the Waveform which is enough for zoom calls and is way more capable than HughesNet. If we didn’t have line of sight to the tower it would be so much worse.
  - toast0 4y ago
    Just don't be too close. Can't catch a signal from the AT&T tower two lots over, because it's directed over our heads.
- vinay427 4y ago
  For what it’s worth, I’ve regularly gotten 700-800 Mbps down in a relatively populated metropolitan area when in the US (T-Mobile, 5G), but it’s probably less consistent than your connection.

yftsui 4y ago

Right AT&T has that crazy device allowlist, they say they require VOLTE support however if the device is an international or foreign model they will disable your line immediately. Verizon doesn’t do that luckily, I believe they suspended new line activate with 5S however for existing lines they are not disable your line like AT&T yet.

metadat 4y ago
I suspect the policy is to slowly force everyone to 5G (and every successive generation) ASAP because they make more money per line due to lower cost to serve each device (more connections served per base station translates to needing less infrastructure and a better COGS ratio).
- radicaldreamer 4y ago
  Yes, this is mostly an airtime use issue. Older devices have less efficient radios and thus cost more. Specifically iPhones with Intel modems.
- Analemma_ 4y ago
  I'm all for cynicism, but it really is true that spectrum is a limited resource and turning off 3G service means you can repurpose that spectrum for newer standards. If we never shut off old generations of wireless standards, eventually the spectrum would run out and we could never upgrade anything. I also don't really understand what you mean by "slowly force everyone ASAP". That's sort of a self-contradictory phrase.
  - metadat 4y ago
    3G: 800 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,700 MHz, 1,900 MHz and 2,100 MHz bands. 4G: 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 1700/2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 2500 MHz, bands. 5G: 24 GHz up to 54 GHz. Sure, it's an eventuality. But in the near term, is 6g really going to use 900MHz?
    - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago

mdasen 4y ago

No, they can't be connected to AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile in the US. Both of them have shut down their 3G networks so phones that don't support VoLTE won't work (and it seems like carriers don't want to take on the liability of letting someone have a data-only "phone" on their network that can't make calls in case of emergency). In this case, it's not quite BS from AT&T. They wanted to use the spectrum they had been using for 3G to make their LTE network better and certain old LTE devices couldn't do voice-over-LTE (the 3G network would handle voice communication). One could argue that they could have kept the 3G network alive longer (Verizon and T-Mobile shut 3G down in 2022), but at some point old devices stop being able to talk on modern networks. At some point, there's a balance between keeping old networks alive and being able to reuse that spectrum for more efficient networks that serve the vast majority of your customers. Many countries still have working 3G networks that the iPhone 5S can connect to and they can still be used as WiFi devices in the US (oh, and I'm sure there are some regional carriers in the US that still support 3G).

gok 4y ago
iPhone 5 and 5s are LTE devices though...
- sgerenser 4y ago
  Do they support Voice over LTE though?
  - technothrasher 4y ago
    The hardware supports it, but Apple only supports it on iPhone 6 and newer. So, the short answer is no.
    - oneplane 4y ago
      It's often not a matter of technical feasibility, but "is it on the list". Ideally things that could technically do it should be "on the list" but in reality it's probably a janky business process that decides what gets in and what doesn't.

canadianfella 4y ago

[dead]