Are you a former Verizon customer who has a great Verizon phone and wishes to keep it but also wants to switch to a more affordable service provider with less expensive plans, such as Straight Talk? If so, you have come to the right place! Below, we will answer one simple question – can you use a Verizon phone on Straight Talk? Moreover, you will learn how to do so.
Why Would You Want to Use a Verizon Phone on Straight Talk?
Verizon is one of the three largest carriers in the country. It is a huge telecommunications company that offers wireless, internet, TV, and phone services, as well as a huge number of mobile devices and accessories. All of Verizon’s plans come with tons of great benefits, including bonus subscriptions to Apple Music, Disney +, Hulu, etc. However, Verizon’s plans also tend to be quite pricey.
If you have purchased a phone from Verizon and you have paid it off in full, you may now wish to switch to a more affordable mobile service provider, such as Straight Talk. Straight Talk is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that offers no-contract mobile devices and services on the nation’s most reliable networks at considerably lower prices. The company’s reliable services and affordable prices both make very compelling reasons why you would wish to take your Verizon phone to Straight Talk.
Can You Use Any Other Phone on Straight Talk?
If you are planning to become a Straight Talk customer, you will have two options.
You can either buy a new phone directly from Straight Talk (which offers a decent amount of basic and smartphones) or decide to bring your own phone and only purchase a BYOP (Bring Your Own Phone) SIM card.
The simple fact that Straight Talk offers a Keep Your Own Device program enables customers to bring their own phone to Straight Talk and use it on the company’s services. However, not all phones are eligible to be used with Straight Talk’s services. See the details in the next section.
Straight Talk’s BYOP Program Details
Apparently, you have decided to keep your phone and bring it to Straight Talk’s services. The fact that the company offers a Keep Your Own Device program enables you to do so. But first, you must check whether or not your phone is eligible to be brought to Straight Talk.
- First, your phone must be carrier-unlocked. Regardless of whether you have purchased the device from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or any other company, you must unlock it before you can use it on Straight Talk’s services.
To carrier-unlock your phone, you must contact the phone’s provider and ask a representative to remotely unlock the device. The agent will then check if the phone is eligible to be unlocked (paid off in full, purchased directly from them, and not associated with any fraudulent activity). If so, the representative will remotely unlock your phone within a few moments.
- Secondly, the phone you bring must be compatible with Straight Talk’s services and network. You can check your phone’s compatibility with Straight Talk by visiting straighttalk.com/whyst/keep-your-own-phone and entering your phone’s ID in the provided search box.
The general BYOP rule is that the phone is more likely to be compatible with a service if they share the same network. For example, if a phone was purchased from Verizon and if the company where you are taking the phone is an MVNO that also uses Verizon’s network, the phone will likely work perfectly with Straight Talk’s services.
As Straight Talk is an MVNO that uses the networks of all the largest U.S. carriers (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T), its BYOP program has a huge range and supports most GSM and CDMA devices. Phones purchased from any of these companies or any of their MVNOs are likely to work well with Straight Talk’s services.
Can You Use a Verizon Phone on Straight Talk?
One of the companies that provide Straight Talk with a network is Verizon. Therefore, the answer is yes – you can use a Verizon phone on Straight Talk. However, depending on your phone model, you may be limited to using Verizon’s network on Straight Talk.
Then again, all Straight Talk customers can only access one of Straight Talk’s networks (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, or AT&T) and are not at liberty of switching between the networks as they please. However, if you purchase a phone directly from Straight Talk you are able to choose the network you wish to use in advance, depending on which network has the best coverage in your area.
Nonetheless, if you bring a Verizon phone that is only compatible with a CDMA network, you may have no choice but to stick to Verizon’s network, regardless of whether it has the best or the worst coverage in your area.
To make sure that you can use your Verizon phone on Straight Talk, check the device’s compatibility with the provider at straighttalk.com/whyst/keep-your-own-phone.
How to Use a Verizon Phone on Straight Talk?
So, you wish to use a Verizon phone on Straight Talk. As we have already established, you should be able to do so. Now, let’s take a closer look at exactly how to do so.
- First, you must become a Straight Talk customer. Visit the company’s store or contact its customer support service so that you open a Straight Talk account and transfer your old phone (if you wish to do so).
- Order a Verizon-compatible Bring Your Own Phone SIM kit at straighttalk.com/devices/phone-sim-cards/bring-your-own-phone-sim-kit-verizon-compatible. Follow the on-screen prompts to place the order.
- Once you receive your BYOP SIM kit, make sure to also prepare the Verizon phone. Charge it and turn it off.
- Locate your phone’s SIM card slot and open it. Remove your old SIM card and carefully insert your new Straight Talk SIM card. Close the slot.
- Turn on your phone.
- Activate the phone. See how in the following section.
- Finally, receive a text message confirming that your phone has been successfully activated or try to place a call to check whether or not the activation process was successful.
How to Activate My Verizon Phone on Straight Talk?
Once you have inserted your Verizon-compatible BYOP Straight Talk SIM card into your Verizon phone, it’s time to activate your Verizon phone on Straight Talk.
There are two ways to do so – by phone or online.
You can call 1-855-222-2355 and follow the prompts to activate your phone.
Or you can visit straighttalk.com/activate.byop and follow the on-screen instructions to activate your cell phone with Straight Talk Wireless.
Which Other Providers Are Compatible With Straight Talk?
The fact that you can use a Verizon phone on Straight Talk tells us that Verizon is compatible with Straight Talk. So, are there any other providers that are compatible with Straight Talk’s network and services?
Of course! As mentioned before, Straight Talk is an MVNO that partners with not one but all of the country’s largest carriers, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T and uses their networks. As Straight Talk’s services run on all of these networks, it means that all of these carriers (as well as their MVNOs) are compatible with Straight Talk. Providers that are compatible with Straight Talk include:
- Boost Mobile (Sprint)
- Consumer Cellular (AT&T, T-Mobile)
- CREDO Mobile (Verizon)
- Cricket Wireless (AT&T)
- FreedomPop (Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T)
- FreeUP Mobile (AT&T)
- Gen Mobile (T-Mobile, Sprint)
- Good2Go Mobile (AT&T)
- Google Fi (Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular)
- H2O Wireless (AT&T)
- I3 Mobile (AT&T)
- Lively (previously GreatCall) (Verizon)
- Metro by T-Mobile (T-Mobile)
- Mint Mobile (T-Mobile)
- Net10 (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T)
- Page Plus (Verizon)
- Pix Wireless (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T)
- PureTalk (AT&T)
- Red Pocket (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T)
- Republic Wireless (Sprint, T-Mobile)
- ROK Mobile (Verizon, Sprint)
- Simple Mobile (T-Mobile)
- Spectrum Mobile (Verizon)
- Tello (Sprint)
- TextNow (T-Mobile, Sprint)
- Ting (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile)
- Total Wireless (Verizon)
- TracFone (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T)
- Twigby (Verizon)
- Ultra Mobile (T-Mobile)
- Unreal Mobile (Sprint)
- US Mobile (Verizon, T-Mobile)
- Virgin Mobile (Sprint)
- Visible (Verizon)
- Wing (T-Mobile, AT&T)
- Xfinity Mobile (Verizon)