Trying to Figure out a Straight Talk Wireless Samsung Galaxy S3

Lisa asks…

Hi there,

Okay. So. I am pretty confused right now.

I bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 from Straighttalk, at Walmart…and I just realized that I have no SIM card. I just came back from Walmart and I feel like that was a total waste of gas. The woman who worked in the Electronic section thought I was talking about SD cards when I clearly told her SIM card. I spent 20 minutes trying to explain the difference and she clearly still had no idea what I was talking about.

So, to simply my post…

What I would like to know is, which SIM card activation kit will I need to buy? Is it the STRAIGHTTALK AT&T COMPATIBLE STANDARD & MICRO SIM ACTIVATION KIT, in which is 6.99 online and 59.99 in the stores? Or will I need something else?

Please let me know as soon as you can. Thank you. 🙂

Hi Lisa,

You are correct that this can be a little confusing, but I will try to explain.

You have your phone, which you paid for at the store.  All you need to do now is activate it, select your plan, and pay for it. You can use the prepaid service cards from Walmart to pay for your monthly service, or pay by credit card on their web site.  In the package with your phone, there should be red Activation card,  you enter the number on this card on the web site.

You start here. https://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/h/a/options/phone

Read This Before You Activate

When you buy your phone directly from Straight Talk, you don’t need to buy a SIM card or network activation code separately.  Those SIM cards are for Bring Your Own Phone (BYOP) customers, people bringing phones from the other wireless companies over to Straight Talk.

Not all phones use SIM cards. Straight Talk doesn’t own their own cellular network. They lease time from AT&T, TMobile, Verizon, and Sprint.  The phones that use the ATT and TMobile networks need SIM cards. Phones that use the Verizon and Sprint networks do not.

Your Samsung Galaxy S3 phone will use the Sprint or Verizon network. I can’t say for certain which network without knowing the exact model number on the package. If the phone was advertised as supporting 4G LTE, then it will use the Sprint network, otherwise its will use the Verizon network.

My recommendation, take a step back. Decide what network your phone will be on. Decide what network you would like to use.  Most people want to be on the network that works best where they  work, live, or use their phone the most. In some areas, that is Verizon and others AT&T. T-Mobile and Sprint have great coverage in some areas but not others.

Once you know what network, you want to be on, pick a phone that supports that network and then sign up for Straight Talk.   You should still be able to return the S3 if its not the right phone for you.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

 

 

Comments are closed.