GasBandit
Staff member
Oh shit. I do have 2-factor turned on for my google accounts.[DOUBLEPOST=1513023832,1513023560][/DOUBLEPOST]I tried hooking up my old Moto Droid... but the sim card doesn't fit, and it doesn't power on either, anyway.
Let's hope you generated and wrote down those backup codes. And stored them somewhere OTHER than your phone.
Note: I have done so previously. Just checked.
GasBandit
Staff member
Yep!
Noooope.
[DOUBLEPOST=1513023944,1513023891][/DOUBLEPOST]What I may do is start a new google account just to get the phone running, so I can receive texts, then add the other google accounts.
GasBandit
Staff member
I may end up having to go to the verizon store for help (especially if the sim card is different), but I'm leaving that as a last resort. I'm trying not to get roped into another contract so that I can bail on Verizon when a less shitty option becomes available. I already made sure this phone can GSM.You can set up the pixel without a Google account then add it later, aka after your phone reactivates. Assuming you have the same number. I think. Honestly I just did a peer to peer transfer of my old phone at the Verizon store.
I mean, you should be able to switch carriers and keep your number these days, but good luck on that not getting a contract thing.
GasBandit
Staff member
Oh yeah, I'm already using my old landline number, so that's not a big deal. I know I can keep my number. But yeah... like I said, I'm trying to keep verizon out of this transition as much as possible.I mean, you should be able to switch carriers and keep your number these days, but good luck on that not getting a contract thing.
My folks just switched from Verizon to T-Mobile, and T-Mobile paid off their 2 pixel phones, around $1100. They're also getting some kind of signal booster for their house from them to help with the signal, but I made sure to turn on their wi-fi calling for them in the meantime.
Verizon has not kept up with signal demand in my area and so now my signal went from being great to total shit with deadzones all over my neighborhood and random parts of my house in the last few years because they have not kept up with the population increase. Sadly, switching plans would probably not help since all those small carriers just piggyback off the established network.
Dude, go download KeePass RIGHT NOW for your PC. Then put the file you use on Google Drive. That'll keep it "everywhere" for you. Then go download Keepass2Android (I dunno about other apps) and use THAT to access it from your phone from Drive directly.
Free, no worries about subscriptions or "peeking" like LastPass or the like, and you can put "other" information in the encrypted DB as well.
GasBandit
Staff member
Nah, I can get a signal just about anywhere, unless I'm in the mountains on a hiking trail or something.
Do you not have a backup email address assigned to your account in case you don't have your phone?
Yeah, I’ve moved away from it and just switched to sms two factor. Not as secure, but secure enough. Made the transition for the remainder of my accounts November when I got a new phone.
GasBandit
Staff member
Welp, it got here today, but it needs a nano sim instead of a regular sim... soooo I gotta go to the Verizon store anyway and get that swapped out.
Calling it right now - when I get there, it's gonna go like this:
"Sir, this is a GSM only phone, it won't work on our network."
"What? But the guy who sold it to me said it worked on Verizon.... sonofabitch."
And then I'm gonna have to go be one of those poor sons of bitches who's on... euugh... AT&T. Because switching over providers would be less hassle then sending back the phone.
Calling it right now - when I get there, it's gonna go like this:
"Sir, this is a GSM only phone, it won't work on our network."
"What? But the guy who sold it to me said it worked on Verizon.... sonofabitch."
And then I'm gonna have to go be one of those poor sons of bitches who's on... euugh... AT&T. Because switching over providers would be less hassle then sending back the phone.
Both Pixel 1 and 2 on Google's website say they have both GSM and CDMA, so you should be fine: https://store.google.com/product/pixel_phone_specs
You can click through yourself to pixel 2, similar "tech specs" section, dropdown for "network" says it.
GasBandit
Staff member
What makes me think this is that I went to Verizon's device registration page, put in the IMEI for the new phone, and it said it wasn't compatible.
So I'm wondering if I got an international version or something that might only have GSM.
So far as I can tell there's only one US version, G-2PW4100, and it's verizon capable. They don't appear to have made one that doesn't support CDMA.
If you got the international version (G-2PW2200) it doesn't support CDMA2000 at 1900MHz, but is in other ways equal or better than the US version in supporting frequencies and modes.
So there's no reason for verizon to turn you away. If they do it's their loss, I suppose, but the phone is compatible.
https://www.techwalls.com/google-pixel-pixel-xl-model-number-differences/
If you got the international version (G-2PW2200) it doesn't support CDMA2000 at 1900MHz, but is in other ways equal or better than the US version in supporting frequencies and modes.
So there's no reason for verizon to turn you away. If they do it's their loss, I suppose, but the phone is compatible.
https://www.techwalls.com/google-pixel-pixel-xl-model-number-differences/
GasBandit
Staff member
So I went to the verizon store, and they popped a new SIM card in it, and the thing didn't work. Or, rather, any attempt to make a call would go to the "welcome to Verizon! to complete this call, enter credit card number" automated system. No matter what the dude or his manager did, they couldn't get it to work. They tried clearing out the magic numbers deep inside the phone's configuration and re-entering it by hand and whatnot, still no dice.
So they had to call up Verizon itself and tell them what was going on, and the Verizon lady had them read off my IMEI number (at which point I mentally said "Here it comes...") and sure enough she said "That's coming up as incompatible."
DOH
But then she said "Let me see if I can try something," and put us on hold for like 10 minutes. Suddenly the backlog of text messages that have been waiting for me since my G3 died start rolling in.
Success!
So... now I just gotta get my google accounts set up on it, reimport my contacts, then start the long process of getting it to being as useful to me as my old phone was (load up the music, get the apps, teamviewer (which also will need 2 factor authentication), etc etc etc)... oigh. Good thing it's a slow day at work and I have time to futz with this.
Also I got a new otterbox for it while I was there. Which I'd planned to do in any case at some point.[DOUBLEPOST=1513198550,1513198063][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh but first I'm waiting for it to download Oreo, which is taking FUH-REV-VUR.
So they had to call up Verizon itself and tell them what was going on, and the Verizon lady had them read off my IMEI number (at which point I mentally said "Here it comes...") and sure enough she said "That's coming up as incompatible."
DOH
But then she said "Let me see if I can try something," and put us on hold for like 10 minutes. Suddenly the backlog of text messages that have been waiting for me since my G3 died start rolling in.
Success!
So... now I just gotta get my google accounts set up on it, reimport my contacts, then start the long process of getting it to being as useful to me as my old phone was (load up the music, get the apps, teamviewer (which also will need 2 factor authentication), etc etc etc)... oigh. Good thing it's a slow day at work and I have time to futz with this.
Also I got a new otterbox for it while I was there. Which I'd planned to do in any case at some point.[DOUBLEPOST=1513198550,1513198063][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh but first I'm waiting for it to download Oreo, which is taking FUH-REV-VUR.
Phones are usually "destined" for one carrier or another. Supposedly they can "re-SKU" a compatible phone to be in the family (sort of like adding its machine acct to a privilege group in Windows) and then it'll start working. I assume that's what had to be done here.
--Patrick
Wait, was it because your TV acct was compromised? Or were you saying you just forgot your login info?
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
I had 2FA turned on on my TV account, so I needed to check my token in my authenticator to log my phone in to the TV app... but I loaded the token on my old phone in Google Authenticator, which doesn't back up your tokens online (counterintuitively). I also had the 2FA disable keycode saved... on my phone /facepalm
I KNOW, SHUT UP.
Now I've got it saved in a text file in my dropbox, just in case.
I run into this FAR more often than I want. Like, almost daily I have to go through the 21st-century equivalent of the whole Dear Liza, Dear Liza with people who can't remember their password, can't remember which fake birthday they lied about when they created their account, no longer have access to their backup email ("I haven't used that college account in years!") or who just relied on their phone/computer to remember the password and now can't get back in again and therefore can't get the email to reset it GRAAAAHHHH.
Don't ruin my image of you by being like them. Please.
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, fortunately all my other 2FA things are set up to do so via SMS, so it shouldn't be an issue.[DOUBLEPOST=1513206676,1513206296][/DOUBLEPOST]A clue you might have the international version of your phone:
Incidentally, this is why I have a physical authenticator for my Blizzard account still, but it's irrelevant because you can just get SMS authentication. Though my son's account was authenticated through an iPad he broke, but thankfully the account was in my name so I just had to go through the account ownership verification process.
Hence why I use sms all the time.[DOUBLEPOST=1513216017,1513215978][/DOUBLEPOST]Also as long as you know the tag number on it, it's really easy to remove it, unlike if you break your mobile device.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, I have to say I am MUCH happier with the Pixel's battery life than the G3's. Despite having a smaller battery (2770 mAh vs 3000), a Pixel at rest seems to use one quarter the power percentage. If I left it unplugged overnight, I could count on my G3 using 5% (sometimes even 10%) of its battery per hour, usually resulting in me waking up to a charge of 50-60% remaining.
After the same conditions with the Pixel, however, the battery was still at 90%.
After the same conditions with the Pixel, however, the battery was still at 90%.