I just picked up my new 950 XL! Now what?

[Lumious]

I am very happy to have my new 950 XL but I have to go to ATT and switch over as I am still on Verizon. I am doing this on Thursday. My question is whether or not I should turn on the phone and set it up before I go ATT. I really want to turn it on and play with it but I heard here that people were having problems with their 950 XLs not connecting to ATT's network properly or accessing some of the bands, something like that, because they set up the phone before they activated the sim.

So should I wait until I go to ATT to turn on the phone and set it up or can I do that now? Anyone with any information on this, thanks in advance. Possibly this problem has been solved already so that's why I am asking...

 

[Allen Rhodes]

Being that the phone is not technically supported by ATT yet, you may have an issue. Others have posted that by activating with the IMEI of a supported phone then just swapping the sim over worked for them, but you are coming from Verizon. Then again you may get a rep that doesnt have their head up there bung-hole and will be able to do it. I had a 1020, just cut the sim and swapped it over, no issues.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

I think it's always best to set up the phone in the most optimal conditions, which would mean setting the phone up on AT&T as you set up the phone in general. However, I know the urge to play with a new phone and I think you shouldn't fight it.
My suggestion? Start playing with your phone, and install any system/firmware updates that you're able to. When it comes time to set up your phone with AT&T, do a hard reset to reset the phone to factory conditions. You'll then get a clean install of the latest build of Windows 10 Mobile and you'll still have gotten the pleasure of playing with a new phone.

 

[Skippy07]

Based on reading this Here is why you are not getting full LTE on AT&T when using the Lumia 950 XL | Windows Central, I decided to wait until I visited the AT&T store before setting up the phone, or even turning it on.

I've had very few issues with the phone (anything I have had has been minor), so I'm glad I waited.

-Skippy

 

[Lumious]

Based on reading this Here is why you are not getting full LTE on AT&T when using the Lumia 950 XL | Windows Central, I decided to wait until I visited the AT&T store before setting up the phone, or even turning it on.

I've had very few issues with the phone (anything I have had has been minor), so I'm glad I waited.

-Skippy

Hmm tough decision. I waited for almost a year for this phone and over month since its been released. Based on the above posts I think I should wait a couple more days to just be on the safe side I guess. Thanks for the fast replies guys!

 

[DeathMoJo]

Hmm tough decision. I waited for almost a year for this phone and over month since its been released. Based on the above posts I think I should wait a couple more days to just be on the safe side I guess. Thanks for the fast replies guys!

Good call. Not sure if its an option for you but Cricket (which uses the AT&T network, albeit slower network speed and ping time) had no issues with plugging in a brand new SIM and working. I just had to apply the MMS settings from their website to get that working and good to go.

I would also recommend not doing backup recovery if you already have a windows phone and just start fresh. My 950 XL had some hangups and issues until i reset and started fresh. Yes, it takes time downloading all your applications manually but it was worth the headache. After a week or so the battery normalized and I have had very little issues with the phone in the month of use. A couple random reboots and one time the screen didn't respond until I locked it than unlocked it.

 

[Lumious]

Good call. Not sure if its an option for you but Cricket (which uses the AT&T network, albeit slower network speed and ping time) had no issues with plugging in a brand new SIM and working. I just had to apply the MMS settings from their website to get that working and good to go.

I would also recommend not doing backup recovery if you already have a windows phone and just start fresh. My 950 XL had some hangups and issues until i reset and started fresh. Yes, it takes time downloading all your applications manually but it was worth the headache. After a week or so the battery normalized and I have had very little issues with the phone in the month of use. A couple random reboots and one time the screen didn't respond until I locked it than unlocked it.

Thanks I always start fresh!