Pay as you go Cellular USA

The Tracfone LG 225 is one of their best GSM cell Phones.

This Camera Flip-phone is available in most of the United States. It is available from Track Phone anywhere that there is good GSM coverage from At&t or T-Mobile. Tracfone sells both GSM and CDMA models but prefers to sell GSM models working on the AT&T network.

Tracfone is a MVNO

This means that Tracfone does not have their own cell phone network with towers and connections etc. They buy minutes from the National and regional cell phone companies like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Alltel*, and others.

Tracfone W376 next to an LG 225 Camera Phone with DMFL

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Can I port my phone number to Tracfone or  Net10?

Yes

Almost any phone number in the United States can be ported to a Tracfone.  You cannot port an 800 number or a 900 number to a Tracfone or Net 10 phone.  The porting process sometimes can be very simple and take a couple of hours or sometimes it can take weeks.

The Phone Number Porting Process
When porting a phone number the company that currently is using the number has to release the number to be activated by Tracfone/Net10.  Since Tracfone and Net10 do not own their cell network (they buy minutes from the big cell phone companies At&t, Verizon, T-Mob) they have to get the network they are going to use for your phone to activate the number.  They sometimes have trouble getting their provider in your area to get your number transferred.

Motorola W370 from Tracfone

Can I transfer my AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint number to Tracfone or Net10?  Can I transfer my Qwest landline number to Tracfone?

Yes

It is Getting Better
In the last couple of years transferring your number has become simpler and usually faster to do.  It used to take a minimum of a week and sometimes several weeks.  Most of the time now it will happen within 24 hours.

Do Tracfone Minutes Roll over?
Yes, as long as you keep your service active your Tracfone service time or Minutes will roll over.  Currently if your Tracfone service expires and you reactivate within two months you will get to keep your minutes.  This rollover policy is different than almost every other prepaid phone service which do not roll over minutes or service time.  If you run completely out of minutes or do not refill before your service expires you will lose your Tracfone phone number.

What is Tracfone DMFL?
Tracfone DMFL means Double Tracfone minutes for life of the phone.  This means for the life of the phone with DMFL any time you add a Tracfone card the minutes added to your phone will be double the number on the card.  Unlimited DMFL will not be transferable to your next Tracfone if the phone it is on quits working or is lost or stolen.  Most of the nicer Tracfones now come with DMFL.  The Unlimited DMFL is so much better a deal than a Tracfone without DMFL, lI do not recommend adding a Tracfone Minute card to any phone without DMFL.

Tracfone LG 225 Camera Phone with One Year 800 minute Card

Tracfone DMFL Motorola W370 and DMFL LG 225 Camera Phone

What is the Tracfone DMFL Transfer Trick?
Some people want to keep a Tracfone Prepaid phone that does not have DMFL.  You can put DMFL minutes on your non-DMFL phone.    Add the Tracfone Minute card you want to a DMFL phone.  Then Transfer the minutes and service time on your DMFL phone to the phone without Double minutes.

You can get a free Unlimited Double Minute Tracfone when buying a phone card on the Tracfone.com web site.

While transferring you will have to transfer all the service and minutes from the Double Minute phone to your non DMFL phone.  If you have 400 minutes on your DMFL phone you will not be able to shift just 200 minutes to your non-DMFL phone, you will have to transfer all the  Tracfone Minutes and sevice time from your Double minutes phone.

The best deal on a Tracfone is always from the website and it will be a DMFL phone with Minute Card package deal. The Tracfone LG 225 Camera Phone with One Year 800 minute Card is one of the best deals right now.

What is a Tracfone SIM Card?
A SIM card is the tiny little card you put in or is installed in the back of your phone.  It is only used in GSM cell phone systems.  It is normally installed under the battery.  It holds the information on how your phone will communicate with the cell phone tower, and the phone company that owns the tower and Tracfone.

SIM Cards
With most GSM phones you can move SIM cards from phone to phone and they will work fine.  To do this your phone must be Unlocked.  All of the information in dealing with the Cell phone Tower and the billing is on the SIM card.

This picture shows the SIM card where it fits under the battery.

How are Tracfone SIM Cards Different?
Tracfone SIM cards are different than other SIM cards.  The Tracfone SIM is locked to the phone that it is activated in.  You cannot move an activated Tracfone SIM card from phone to phone.  Before being activated you can put any Tracfone SIM card into any Tracfone GSM phone.

Can I use my T-mobile or AT&T Sim card in a Tracfone?
No You cannot use a different companie’s SIM in a Tracfone without a complete reprogram of the phone.  Even after reprogramming you will probably not be able to get a T-Mobile or AT&T SIM card to work in a Tracfone.

Can I use a Net10 Sim card in a Tracfone?
Before the SIM has been activated I believe you could use a Net10 Sim in a Tracfone or a Tracfone SIM in a Net10 phone but I am not positive.

You cannot move an activated SIM from either a Net10 or Tracfone Phone and get it to work in any other phone.  That is why after activating a Tracfone if you want to change the phone number Tracfone will send you another SIM card to activate, they will not reprogram the current one to another number.

This picture shows the Motorola W376, LG 225, and Motorola C126. All of these phones are GSM phones with SIM cards.

Are All Tracfones GSM Phones?
No, most Track Phones are GSM phones but in some areas they also sell CDMA Phones.  This normally is only in areas where the GSM networks of AT&T and T-Mobile do not work.

Buying Minutes Online
I always buy minutes online from Compare-prepaid-cell-phones.com.  Buying from this website allows me to both add minutes and check for bonus Tracfone coupon codes at the same time.  If one bonus code I try does not work then I can try another one.

How to Buy a Tracfone
I always recommend buying a Tracfone online to get the best deal.  The best deal on a phone will always include buying a DMFL phone and minute card at the same time.

Buy an LG 225 phone with One year card, 800++ minutes and free shipping at Tracfone.com!

You can also check out this regularly updated page to find the best Tracfone Deal.

How does Tracfone Prepaid Wireless Work?
Three steps.  First you purchase a Phone, activate it and then add a Prepaid Tracfone Card.  It is really simple.  You need to add a new phone card every ninety days to continue your phone working.  If you run out of minutes or service time your Tracfone Wireless phone will no longer work.  If you let Tracfone phone service expire or use every last one of your minutes, you will lose your number.  If you have given your number to a lot of friends this can be a major hassle.