Tracfone Closing 3G CDMA Network- (Now Extended to late 2020)
Tracfone CDMA Phones Must be 4G VoLTE by end of 2019
The latest news and information from TracfoneReviewer.
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| Why Tracfone is Making Users Get New Phones |
What does this mean for you and why is it happening? We've got those answers for you plus additional information on phones that are VoLTE capable.
Why is Tracfone Shutting Down 3G and 2G CDMA Networks?
Many users are asking why Tracfone is shutting down their network and forcing them to get a new phone.
The answer is, Tracfone uses Verizon's networks, and Verizon is shutting down their 2G and 3G networks which will affect any Tracfone CDMA devices using these networks.
Verizon has been planning this closure for several years and planning accordingly by including VoLTE with the phones they sell. But Tracfone doesn't seem to have planned it out so well, with only some of their more recent phone offerings including VolTE so many users will have to get a new phone to maintain service coverage.
UPDATE: Verizon has decided to push back the closure until the end of 2020, thus allowing Tracfone users to also have a little more time before they will need to upgrade phones. We will continue to update with more information soon.
Why do you need a new phone to get service? The answer is VoLTE capability.
What is VoLTE and Why Do I Need It?
The term VoLTE simply stands for Voice over LTE (with 4G LTE meaning 4th Generation Long Term Evolution) which means phone calls use the LTE data networks rather than the older voice networks.
In the past (and with many of Tracfone's CDMA phones), smartphones would use the LTE networks for data, while using the 2G or 3G networks for voice calls. Only phones that are VoLTE capable can make voice calls on the 4G LTE network. Thus, with Verizon closing 2G and 3G networks, only VoLTE capable phones will be able to make calls.
Some may be asking why Verizon needs to close their 2G and 3G networks? The reasoning is that they will be able to repurpose these bands for higher speed 4G LTE and possibly 5G in the future.
Do I Need to Upgrade my Tracfone CDMA Smartphone?
If you received a message from Tracfone that your phone is not compatible after 2019, then you will likely need to buy a new phone.
Check out the Latest Tracfone Smartphones available.
However, in some cases it seems that the VoLTE capability can be 'turned on' for an account/SIM card. Information is still difficult to nail down, and how or why this works is also a bit murky, but some users have reported several different methods for getting VoLTE on their phone.
This only is working on somewhat newer phones, like the Samsung Galaxy J3 Sky, Sky Pro, and Luna among others. It may be worth trying before going out to buy a new phone.
To try and enable VoLTE turn off your phone, remove the SIM card and remove the battery (if possible) and wait for 20 minutes. Then reinstall the battery and SIM, and turn the phone on. To check if the phone has VoLTE, make a call and look in the top bar to see if the phone switches from 4G LTE coverage to 4G or 3G. If the phone switches out of 4G LTE, it is not using VoLTE.
Additionally, some users reported transferring service from a non VoLTE enabled device to a VoLTE capable device, and then transferring back and keeping the VoLTE. Activating a new SIM card in your phone may also turn on VoLTE.
Tracfone didn't activate VoLTE on the phones they were selling until more recently, but many are capable, they just need to be activated.
So what phones are VoLTE capable?
List of VoLTE Capable Phones from Tracfone
The phones listed below are compatible with VoLTE according to Tracfone. This list is not complete, and we will continue to add to it as we learn more. A number of older smartphones may be compatible, but- Samsung Galaxy S7
- Samsung Galaxy J7 Crown
- Samsung Galaxy J3 Orbit
- Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Pro
- Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro
- Motorola Moto G6
- Motorola Moto E5
- LG Fiesta 2
- LG Stylo 4
- LG Stylo 3
- LG Premier Pro
- LG Rebel 4
- LG Rebel 3
- LG Rebel 2
- Alcatel TCL LX
- Alcatel TCL A1
- Alcatel MyFlip
- ZTE Blade T2
- ZTE ZFIVE C
- ZTE Z233
- iPhone 6 or newer
What About Unlocked Phones?
For unlocked devices, almost all recently released phones are VoLTE compatible. Here is a list of compatible phones that is from 2017 but includes which older devices (such as the iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S5) have VoLTE.
For those who might want to dig deeper there is a lengthy thread on HowardForums on this topic.
Leave a comment if you have questions, thoughts or additional information. We will continue to update this post as more details emerge.
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