Using a Nokia Lumia 928 on Page Plus

[bradbamford]

I've heard most Verizon stock phones will "just work" on the Verizon MVNO carrier "Page Plus".
However, I would kind of like to hear from someone who is using it currently before I jump ship to save half off monthly rates.
Anyone?

 

[hopmedic]

I'm interested in this as well.

 

[SomethingSomethingDarkSide]

do they have LTE?

 

[squadbumrush]

I jumped ship over a year ago and couldn't be happier (HTC Trophy). I use the $30 monthly plan (I only pay $27 though via a wholesale discount through Page Plus Direct) which offers 1200 minutes and 3000 text messages per month. The data allowance - 250 MB - may be too small for most folks, but I'm near wifi most of the time and very rarely exceed the allowance. Even when I do, I just pay $10 for an additional 10 MB, which is usually plenty for me, and that balance carries over each month. I can't speak to the LTE since my Trophy uses only 3G, but I have the impression that LTE Verizon phones still use their LTE data network.

The only significant adjustment is the fact that I have to take action each month to renew my plan, but since I'm saving nearly $60/mo, I can justify the inconvenience.

 

[peacefulberry]

I would like to know if Page Plus has a bring your own device program or is it just certain phones you can use on Page Plus.

 

[bradbamford]

I would like to know if Page Plus has a bring your own device program or is it just certain phones you can use on Page Plus.

you can bring your own capable device, but they say they cannot guarantee any device you attempt to bring will work properly. I assume any Verizon phone will work just fine, but any unlock cdma may or may not work.

Even so, I'd love to hear from someone who is using a 928 on Page Plus.

Oh, and most of the time a mvno will not offer LTE, but I am very happy to live with 3G+ if I can cut my bill in half.

 

[squadbumrush]

I have decided to take the plunge. I have a 928 I bought at retail price. I purchased a new 4g SIM card. I haven't seen any reports anywhere of someone trying this, so I'm flying blind. I'll report back with my experiences!
Sent from my Trophy using Board Express

 

[trwrt]

I've heard that it can be much more difficult getting an LTE phone working on Page Plus than it used to be with older CDMA-only phones. People have had a very hard time getting the Droid RAZR M to work, for example. Look at all the hoops you have to jump through, and not much of this is possible in Windows Phone as I understand it.

HOWTO: Droid RAZR M/HD/MAXX HD with JellyBean on PagePlus - VOICE/SMS/MMS/3G WORKING

 

[bradbamford]

I have decided to take the plunge. I have a 928 I bought at retail price. I purchased a new 4g SIM card. I haven't seen any reports anywhere of someone trying this, so I'm flying blind. I'll report back with my experiences!

I am sooo looking forward to your report!
Let us know as soon as possible, and Good luck!

 

[squadbumrush]

Not much to report as of yet, I'm afraid. You know, life and stuff...

I contacted Page Plus and received my MIN, MDN, and SID numbers. I also installed both Nokia Care Suite and DFS, neither of which I've used before. Nokia Care Suite appears, on first glance, to be more useful for full-on flashing and firmware recovery, but not necessarily tweaking specific settings. DFS appears to be better suited to tweaking the settings, but I haven't figured out how to specify the connected USB port in the connection manager, so DFS doesn't currently recognize my phone. I believe the next step for me is resolving the port issue, though I'm not sure yet how to approach this.

I also contacted a local Page Plus authorized dealer, who said initially that he wasn't capable of programming the Lumia 928 to Page Plus. He said he would call be back, but I have yet to hear from him. I may call him again to touch base.

Much of what I've read about (4G) Android and iPhone reprogramming for Page Plus suggests that the phone needs to be configured to prevent LTE use. Page Plus led me to believe that this is why the LTE phones cannot be programmed via the *228 method. So, it seems feasible that if I can configure this setting on the phone prior to activation, I may be able to allow the OTA programming.

Sorry for the lack of progress and spew of random thoughts. I only have about 1 hour per day to commit to this project, and that hour is pretty fragmented, which makes gaining any momentum a challenge. Luckily, I have a fully operational Trophy already working on Page Plus, so while I'd love to make the switch to the 928, I'm not totally starving to figure this out (yet). I'll keep in touch as I learn/do more!

 

[bradbamford]

Thanks for the update, I understand life gets in the way.
I just helped my brother port over a Droid X2 from Verizon.
I was expecting to have to dial *22890, but I didn't even have to do that.
Everything is working great, all I had to do is add minutes.
I hope a 928 is next to port .

 

[squadbumrush]

It's been awhile since my last message and I don't have much personal success to report. I have been in contact with a phone flasher over on XDA and he suggested to me that if it is possible to get the 928 into Diagnostic Mode - and, subsequently, recognized by CDMA Workshop - he feels confident that he'll be able to reprogram it. I can use Nokia Care Suite to put the phone into "Test Mode" and run all the diagnostic tests successfully, but this apparently isn't enough for CDMA Workshop nor DFS to recognize the phone in their Port Managers. (Only COM1 is ever visible; my impression is that the Windows Phone USB drivers should create a virtual COM port, though there are a handful of driver installation failures whenever I connect the 928 to my computer while in "Test Mode". So perhaps this is related...)

On a potentially more positive note, I discovered last night that DFS just released a new version, and the website now suggests that support development is now underway for both Lumia 822 and 928. They have designated both models as "Developer" (as opposed to which version of the software allows access), so I don't know exactly what that designation suggests, but it seems they are at least looking into it...

 

[RoboMWM]

I too am looking to eventually buy a Lumia 928 from an HTC Trophy to use on Page Plus (with Kitty Wireless as the dealer). It appears that flashing is required from what I've read... Hopefully squadbumrush can get his Lumia 928 working on Page Plus!

 

[bradbamford]

get the 928 into Diagnostic Mode - and, subsequently, recognized by CDMA Workshop

I didn't realize that the phone would need to be modified. I ported a stock Verizon Droid X2 and didn't have to do anything but port the phone, everything just worked exactly as before. Why doesn't this phone work the same way?

 

[trwrt]

I didn't realize that the phone would need to be modified. I ported a stock Verizon Droid X2 and didn't have to do anything but port the phone, everything just worked exactly as before. Why doesn't this phone work the same way?

As I understand it, LTE phones try to activate themselves using the ID info on the SIM like how GSM phones work, but since Page Plus doesn't use LTE you have to trick the phone into activating using its CDMA identification stuff (ESN and whatnot). For a non-LTE phone like the Droid X2 this isn't an issue.

 

[thatotherdude24]

Exactly. LTE phones on PP need reprogrammed which can be difficult and risky. That's why most stick to using non LTE capable phones on PP.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[bradbamford]

That's interesting. I'll keep a close eye on DFS progress.

 

[Anselm7]

Thanks for the explanation. I'll be watching this thread. I recently bought a Lumia 822 over Swappa thinking it would be easy to get it on to PP, since I did the same with the Arrive, and that was a Sprint phone. But they wouldn't, and beigephone can't even flash it over. Hard to believe that LTE capability completely prevents reprogramming to PP.

 

[bradbamford]

Any progress? Also, are there any links to XDA forums of others working on this?

 

[Trevor Halsey]

Unfortunately, all of those settings are SIM controlled on the 928. I don't have any physical evidence at the moment, but nothing can be changed via the PST menu, so it pretty much prevents that from happening.

Also everything WP8 uses the WinUSB driver, so there isn't a direct COM connection, but it simply needs the commands sent over that, but hooking it is another challenge at the moment.


Sent from my RM-860 (Lumia 928) using the OFFICIAL Tapatalk app.