Many, many questions about ordering and using a Pro1 (US/VZW)

[UncleBob 3]

Hi.

I live in the US (sorry world) and have had a physical QWERTY keyboard phone since the LG enV waaaaay back in 2006.  Lord, it's almost old enough to drive.

I'm on Verizon as well.  Currently rocking the Samsung Stratosphere 2, which is essentially the last decent smartphone made with a keyboard from 2012.  Yes, it's 2020 and I'm using a phone from 2012.  I blame Steve Jobs.

Anywhoo, it was abruptly brought to my attention by Verizon when my WiFi hotspot just stopped working that, by the end of the year, they'll have shut down their CDMA network which includes the limited 4G band that the Stratosphere 2 works on.  Which means I'll have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into updating to a modern phone.

Truth is, I would absolutely LOVE to have a modern phone, but do NOT want to give up my physical keyboard.  Also, I like to yell at kids to get off my lawn and at clouds.

Imagine my surprise when I do some searching and find there's a whole community of like-minded luddites who also refuse to allow a growing world of buttonless devices to change us.  Viva les boutons!

I have many questions.  I will quite easily drop the cash for this phone if it works for me.  I've read through many threads about it working on Verizon - but VZW themselves can't seem to tell me much (a rep is researching and is supposed to give me a call back) - are there any issues or weird set-up quirks I should know about if using the phone in the US on VZW?  I am also curious about the dual SIM nature of the phone.  Verizon does a great job providing me coverage, but I sometimes find myself in areas that are lacking - so a dual SIM and the ability to use, say, AT&T would be nice - anything unusual I should know here?

Ordering... I shot an email last night and am (im)patiently waiting for a response and scrolled through some of the threads.  10-12 week lead time is killer.  Is this where things are at right now?  I know COVID-19 is causing issues, of course.  Are there any expedited delivery options available?  Can I offer someone higher up on the list $100 to steal their spot?

Anyone who can answer any of these questions would be appreciated.  :)

[MvBoe 31]

They are currently working on the pre-orders that have been received. 10-12 weeks for new orders are realistic ±.
There are some offers used or practically new, so something should be possible.
I can't say anything about the problem with Verizon (D).

[Wheeljack 212]

There´s a whole thread about the Pro1 with Verizon:

https://community.fxtec.com/topic/2133-fxtec-on-verizon/

[UncleBob 3]

4 hours ago, MvBoe said:

They are currently working on the pre-orders that have been received. 10-12 weeks for new orders are realistic ±.
There are some offers used or practically new, so something should be possible.
I can't say anything about the problem with Verizon (D).

 

I've only managed to find one device for sale. and it's a QWERTZ version.  While I think I can adjust to the flipping of the Y and Z, I would definitely rather pay full price for a brand new QWERTY version.

 

2 hours ago, Wheeljack said:

There´s a whole thread about the Pro1 with Verizon:

https://community.fxtec.com/topic/2133-fxtec-on-verizon/

Yeah, I've read through it - seems like it works but there are issues.  The thread hasn't been updated in a few months, so I was torn between bumping it or just asking in my thread where I wanted to ask about shipping/ordering info anyway.

[Hook 3,021]

Pretty much nothing has changed since that Verizon thread.  The Pro1 has not been officially registered with Verizon.  To get it to work you will need a "mule" phone that has a Verizon SIM where the mule phone has been provisioned for VoLTE.  You then transfer that SIM to your Pro1 and the Verizon system thinks it's still the mule phone.  It works fine, mybe for months, but for some, myself included, it breaks down, usually with the symptom of refusing to send SMS.  However, not everyone has reported that.  I was lucky enough to be able to go to a GSM carrier (AT&T in my case) because I didn't want surprises.