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bbreland318's profile

New Member

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4 Messages

Thursday, March 9th, 2023 11:52 AM

Is there a way to request a phone be whitelisted?

I am wanting to buy a new phone that AT&T doesn't have listed on their white list and has no way of buying it from AT&T directly. However I really like the service I have with AT&T (phone, internet, etc.) and do not want to switch carriers. 

Is there a way to request a specific device be whitelisted so I may use it with the network?

Should I just start looking elsewhere?

Accepted Solution

ACE - Sage

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118.4K Messages

1 year ago

No. 

That's up to the manufacturer. 

The manufacturer has to have the phone tested to show that it can work with AT&T service especially voice services. If the manufacturer didn't, or won't, then none of those model phones are whitelisted for AT&T

New Member

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4 Messages

1 year ago

Ok so the phone in question is fairly new and the rest of the phones made by this manufacturer are listed on the white list. the phone is 4g and sold in the USA. Would it be a case of the white list just isn't up to date? I just don't want to buy this phone and then not be able to use it. 

ACE - Sage

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118.4K Messages

1 year ago

But you don't say what phone... 

The white list is essentially useless as it's not been updated since summer of 2022.  

You would be taking your chances. Make sure you can return the phone.  

Check imei (not that it's a garentee 

https://www.att.com/buy/byod/identify?devicetype=phone

New Member

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4 Messages

1 year ago

Yea I was trying to keep it generic but the phone is the CAT S22 flip. I have seen people  able to use it with prepaid sims... but I'm not alone on my plan so that is probably not a good route

ACE - Sage

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118.4K Messages

1 year ago

It has no effect on anyone else if you byod.  And IMEI are printed on the box. So you can check the IMEI before you even take the phone home.  

The worst that can happen is you switch your sim card into the phone and the phone won't make phone calls, which means you mean you have to switch the SIM card back into a functioning phone.

If buying from best buy, they should know if a phone is compatible. 

ACE - Expert

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6.6K Messages

1 year ago

The worst that can happen is you switch your sim card into the phone and the phone won't make phone calls, which means you mean you have to switch the SIM card back into a functioning phone.

Actually, that's not the worst that can happen. I remember a while back I put an AT&T SIM into an incompatible phone and they just flat out disabled the SIM. Had to jump through some hoops to get it re-enabled. Not sure if they still do that or not, but I'd think twice before trying it again unless I was right in front of an AT&T store :)

ACE - Sage

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118.4K Messages

1 year ago

They aren't suspending the lines anymore. If your phone doesn't work that's kind of the customers problem now.  

ACE - Expert

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6.6K Messages

1 year ago

They aren't suspending the lines anymore. If your phone doesn't work that's kind of the customers problem now.  

That's good to know. I'll feel better now about moving the SIM between phones. IMHO they should have never been so aggressive as to suspend, an SMS with info would have been good enough.

4 Messages

8 months ago

Just joined to say that AT&T is still (as of Oct 2023) suspending data for good on SIMs inserted on unsupported phones. It did happened to me after inserting a my AT&T SIM on an unlocked CAT S22 Flip. The only solution they gave me was to send a new SIM. Furthermore, I inserted a SIM from Spain on the same CAT S22, and it got disabled completely (no voice, text or data on any network (tried ATT, T-Mobile and a couple of others). I can't believe they do that with SIMs that are not their own.

ACE - Expert

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24.9K Messages

8 months ago

Why did you put your AT&T SIM in an unsupported phone? Aren't they offered exclusively thru T-Mobile only?

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