Freedompop LTE SIM $1 at Target, ends today 1/6

I Have a puzzle.
My new unlocked tablet supports 850/1900/2100MHz bands,
But yet when i run the imei through the freedompop, att, tpo , tmobile, and verizon devie checkers it comes up unsupported?????
Any suggestions?

What result do you see from the Ting BYOD checker?
Please note the lines below the CDMA : GSM graphic.

I'm assuming your tablet is GSM only, which should give you a failure on any CDMA test. (VZW and Sprint).
I think the TPO and FreedomPop tests are really "Sprint" tests. (For GSM, you're activating the SIM, not the phone IMEI, so they just add the caveat that a GSM phone needs to be unlocked.).
Can you paste URLs to the testers you're using? Maybe I could run some known devices through and see how they react.

Here's the Red Pocket test:

If I select CDMA (Sprint or VZW), it wants me to enter MEID.
If I select GSM, it moves straight to offering to sell me a SIM. (It doesn't verify unlocked GSM status.)

Thanks,
I don't get it,
being gsm, all I thought I needed to do was buy a sim, pop it in, fund my service and good to go.
At least that is the way it worked in Morocco and South Africa,
I tried to activate my freedompop sim purchases from target, and can't get past the spinning wheel.
I've selected no trial promos, basic plan, no add ons ,and unselected the $10 prevent overages deposit.
No joy,
If it's gsm, why do I need to go through a imei checker?
byod checkers returning rejections, are
https://store.tpo.com/bring-your-device
http://www.freedompop.com/discountbyod

als, I'm still running into the exact same problem trying to activate the LTE SIM I got from Target. Despite my earlier experience, it might not be possible any longer to activate the SIM without accepting either the free trial, or paying the $10 deposit. The process looks like it should work, but it keeps failing for me, too.

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one with the activation whirly-gig just going round and round.
@ $0.99 for sim+
$0.99 for activation

  • $10.00 charge for overage protections ( even though freedompop states they no longer charge overages,)
    Sums up to almost $12.00 for 200 mb of recurring data. (I've also seen mention of fees for inactivity)
    Plus having to have a credit card open on freedompop, or the pain of setting up a virtual card.

I don't think I'm a good fit for a freedompop customer.
I'll try to return my unopened sims to Target where I purchased them last week,
and re- think what I am going to use for cell data.

My apologies for suggesting the Target route, als! It's not working the way I expected.

However: remember that with FreedomPop Friends (easy to acquire), it's not 200mb a month-- it's 700mb. (technically 600 if you don't pay the fee to disable auto top-up.)

And, if you're willing to deal with having to manually downgrade something, the out-of-pocket expense should be as low as $5 above the SIM cost + activation fee. (So $5, plus $0.99, plus $0.99 activation for the Target SIM, or $5 + $0.01 if you get a promo SIM straight from FreedomPop.)
(Last checked, their is a route to downgrade to the basic free plan & disable auto-top-up with a $5 deposit, as long as you disable auto-top-up first.)

It's still the cheapest data you can get.
Next cheapest. Maybe Red Pocket Ebay annual plan, typically $60/year for 100/100/500mb/month, and I don't think you need a credit card on file for that one.
TPO/T-Mobile "club" plans linked from the Social forum could get 100/100/100mb + fallback 2G for $5/mo, or 250/250/250mb + fallback 2G for $7/mo. Getting those rates on TPO requires auto-pay with CC on file.

Here's what I see testing an unlocked ZTE gsm (aftermarket unlock), and a factory-unlocked BLU gsm phone.

TPO: "If your ZTE xxxx is unlocked you can bring it to TPO Mobile today! It will support the following services on our GSM network"
The BLU phone returns "The good news is your BLU Advance 4.0 L2 will allow you to choose between our GSM or CDMA devices." (I wish this were true-- it's definitely GSM only.)

FreedomPop-- My gsm devices fails, and yours should too. This tester is for FP's Bring Your Own Phone plan on the Sprint Network side, not GSM. The SIM plans are GSM. I don't think they have a check tool for eligibility on the GSM SIMs.

T-Mobile: ZTE: "We do not recognize the IMEI number you entered." The BLU got the same results. Both should be eligible on T-Mobile. Perhaps it's only functional for devices originally sold by T-Mobile? Just to be sure, I also checked a factory-unlocked universal-carrier Moto G4 Play, and T-Mobile didn't recognize that phone, either.

AT&T: My ZTE returns: "Your device is compatible, but we are unable to find the correct SIM card".
My BLU returns "We found some problems with the IMEI number you have entered. There are a number of reasons this can occur. Please ensure the IMEI you entered matches the device. If you continue to encounter problems contact Customer Service at 800.331.0500 for further help."
I checked the factory-unlocked Moto G4 Play here, too, and it was accepted with the same note about not finding the correct SIM card.
(I think that just means they don't know what size SIM the phone needs.) .

Verizon: Both of my gsm devices, and your device, should fail, since you can't use a GSM-only device on Verizon. I got tired of waiting for the results-- it seems like the tester itself is failing, instead of just my devices.

From what I'm seeing of the above sites:
the TPO site gives the most reliably correct info on GSM eligibility (although they seem willing to activate my gsm-only device on their cdma network.)
The AT&T site has a good reliability for devices from major manufacturers (The ZTE started life as AT&T prepaid), but doesn't recognize the lesser-known BLU, despite the fact that the BLU currently works fine with both FreedomPop LTE (AT&T) and Global (T-Mobile) SIMs.

The Ting IMEI/MEID tester at Bring your phone to a happier home gives the correct results for all 3 phones I tested.

I am able to register without down grade. I use a new email. I will buy a few more.

@dav Thank you so much for posting the information, If using a different email address from one already on file with freedompop is the magic to to the 3rd party freedompop LTE sims,. More power to everyone who can activate. Good luck to all.

@KentE
Au contraire....:slight_smile: It is I, who am indebted to you, for all your generous great advice and assistance.
I took my, new to me, gently used tablet with gps out for a two day backroad spin, and the here we go gps app surpassed all my expectations.
I've ordered a free TPO sim and will give the admirable plan with unlimited 2g after 100mg a one month spin to see if 2g will meet my needs when I go cross country again.
With TPO , you know ahead of time what you are getting, no one has reported any un-expected charges. I'd rather watch sunsets and wildlife than fret about what charges freedompop is adding to my account while I am off grid..

dav, could I ask for more details?
Were you starting with a SIM from Target or Best Buy?
And did you manage to end up on the Basic 200 (free) plan without paying the extra $10 deposit/credit during activation?

I'm using a new email address as well, and can't manage to get that result. It looks like it should work, but keeps timing out or giving me "unexpected error has occurred".

KentE, I did got the steps you have. Yes I'v e been able to go for the basic 200 without paying extra except the .99 activation fee. I use the virtual credit card number generate from Bank of America. I would suggest try a different way to pay.

KentE,
Thanks sooooo much for this Freedompop thread!
We were reluctant to try it because of all the claims of shady charges. Happy to report we got the SIM cards from Target, your instructions were spot on! With Freedompop Friends we each have 700 mb of LTE data. None of us have disabled auto top up so we watch our data very closely. We won't use more than 250 mb each. So in total, .99 cents for each SIM and .99 cents to activate each. You saved me a bunch! Thanks to you and all the folks on here that post HELPFUL tips. Dilly, Dilly!