[nas t eh]

Skype or Zoom = Free video calls to anyone, anywhere in the world, who also has the app on a smartphone, computer, tablet.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Not interested in Video calling. Just wanna be able to use our AT&T home internet, rather than using up data from the TracPhone plan. That way I can get by with a cheap plan.

Yes you can use your home base internet to do internet on the phone.
And it will Not count off data from your phone plan.
Phone will have a toggle key to turn your Mobile Data OFF or ON
And a toggle to turn WiFi OFF or ON.
Just keep Mobile Data turned Off until you need it.

Here is an answer to a question you didn't ask -
Even if the phone has no service/contract/airtime .... just a battery that works
- it can still be used on any wifi as an internet device anywhere.
They are sort of like a miniature tablet ... phone ... in one.

I might have missed what level of plan you are going to get.
I use a pre-paid plan from PagePlus
$12 month (actually 30 days) = 500 talk minutes / 500 texts / 100 megs (not gigs) of data.
They use Verizon and Sprint and i think also ATT towers - depends on location (which tower is in best range at your zip code)

As far as i know - PagePlus works with just about any phone that can use a SIMS card.
I get my monthly reloads online and pay with PayPal.
No Contract or Commitment - although i have been using them for about 8 years @ $12 month

[ponyakr]

"...Even if the phone has no service/contract/airtime .... just a battery that works
- it can still be used on any wifi as an internet device anywhere..."

Now there's some good news !!!

So, if that's correct, I can keep the cheapest plan we could get with TracPhone, when we 1st bought it, & use this new Moto G Power phone to make & receive free Wi-Fi calls/texts ??? Is this correct ?

IIRC, TJ said our current plan is about $20 for 90 days, purchased at Wal Mart. For a while, we renewed every 90 days. Later switched it over to automatic renewal.

So, if we can make & receive calls & texts for free, over our in-home AT&T internet Wi-Fi, we'll only need the TracPhone plan in case we need to make an emergency call, when away from home, & no Wi-Fi is available.

"...enabling “wifi” should get the phone looking for your or any wifi in range. Then you should be able to select the wifi network and enter the password, most phones will then look for those wifi networks you have used before and remember the password and auto connect for you when ever in range "

If I understand Wi-Fi calling correctly, we can make a Wi-Fi call from ANY Wi-Fi network we can connect to. That means that we could make calls over the Wi-Fi at McDonalds, Burger King, and any other business that offers free Wi-Fi for it's customers.

Could also use the free Wi-Fi available at most public libraries. Is all this correct ? If not, somebody please post the correct info !

Thanks for all the help, ya'll !

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I have never made a WiFi Call or WiFi Text , so no clue.
Since you sort of have to have an established phone number to make or receive calls, you "could possibly" be at the mercy of Trac-Fone's policy on that working or not.
They have ways of curbing certain abilities.
And then too, work-around hacks/apps pop out of the woodwork on some things - until the Corporates get the news and diffuse them.

For instance - PagePlus can keep their users from Hot-Spotting with their data.
Even though the Phones have "Hot-Spot" ability and icons for it - etc ...
It just means The Phone cannot be the Hot-Spot provider for other devices.
--just an example--

My neighbor used to do the free wifi calls with hack apps and yada yada, with a cell phone that had nothing but a battery.
But it assigned him a different phone number every time he rehooked to it.
So it had limited fundamentals in that regard.

[ponyakr]

"... it assigned him a different phone number every time he rehooked to it.."

Yeah, that wouldn't work for us.

We gotta have a permanent number to which others can text. Almost everything you sign up for today requires a mobile number to which they can text a code of some sort, which must be used to complete the sign-up. You'll also need it if they ever need to contact you, for any other reason. It seems that they don't wanna use Email, but require a mobile device.

So, that brings up another question. Is there some way to have them route the code text to our phone, through our AT&T home internet Wi-Fi, or will it have to go thru our TracPhone plan network ?

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

The text will have to come through your mobile phone network/system.
Phone will have to be ON - but won't need any internet of any kind for texting.

You will get an allotment of talk minutes/ texts (incoming & outgoing all count) / data-internet / per 90 day period.

But it won't be much of the above for $20 per 90 days.

My PagePlus used to be only 250 minutes/250 texts/ 10 megs (not gigs) of data.
It was only $10 per month back then - iirc
Once in a while i would have to re-up before the 30 days was over.

500 / 500 / 100 gets me through every month , everytime.

[ponyakr]

"... text will have to come through your mobile phone network/system..."

So, I can text to other phones thru Wi-Fi, but nobody can text me thru that same Wi-Fi ?

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

So, I can text to other phones thru Wi-Fi, but nobody can text me thru that same Wi-Fi ?

You will have to ask whoever said you could even text via WiFi or Internet.
I have never heard of it.

If it falls into the same category as my neighbor doing internet calls with hacked apps - and getting a different number assigned each time - i don't see how you stand a chance of a company sending you a security or verification code under those conditions.

We gotta have a permanent number to which others can text.
Almost everything you sign up for today requires a mobile number to which they can text a code of some sort, which must be used to complete the sign-up.

This ^

You could probably make it work with friends and family (internet text ?) (if there is such a thing?) by sending them a text and saying - Hey it's Ponyakr, I'm using the crazy thang again thats free to send internet based text messages from random numbers.
What you up to ?

After a while they might get used to the random numbers with you.
Most people ignore anything from random numbers.

The powers that be do not want anyone getting free cell phone calls/texts.
They work hard to disarm anything like that or make it as difficult as possible to use with any type of static identity.

SKype and Zoom require accounts to be set up , like an email account so to speak in loose terms.
And that is your identifier from person to person.
And they are Video Calls
No phone numbers involved.

Texting doesn't require any internet activity or internet signal.
It works along the phone service signal. fwiw
It doesn't take "data" to text - and doesn't use any of your data allowance.

[ponyakr]

"...It doesn't take "data" to text - and doesn't use any of your data allowance..."


Well, if that's the case, our cheap Tracphone plan should be all we ever need.

[johnta1]

I have 'texted' my wife using my computer email account.
Can't remember if she has replied back to my computer. Not sure why it wouldn't.

These are the links you can use to send txt messages from computer.
(these are year or two old, should still be same possibly? I use Verizon only)

Popular US SMS GATEWAY DOMAINS

Verizon Wireless - vtext.com
Virgin Mobile - vmobl.com
Alltel - sms.alltelwireless.com
ATT - txt.att.net
Boost Mobile - sms.myboostmobile.com
Republic Wireless - text.republicwireless.com
Sprint - messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile - tmomail.net
U.S. Cellular - email.uscc.net

Put the phone number before the link with @ after phone number.
1112225555@vtext.com - example

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Thanks John
More old dogs learning new tricks every single day !

Will see if i can send one to myself.

result =
Yes, It Worked !

@vtext.com from my yahoo email account to my cell phone

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Replied back to the text from my phone
It sent the reply to my yahoo email instantly.
Modern Marvels

[ponyakr]

Got an Email notice that my Moto G Power phone will be delivered by FedEx, today.

So, I'll probably have lots of dummy questions. Should be able to get it set up by watching the YouTube videos.

But, I may also get some help from Tracphone, when I call to get everything switched over from our flip phone.

But, If I can't get my questions answered, I'll ask you guys for help.

[nas t eh]

Maybe we need to step back and clarify some things,
Phone plans come with three things, calling minutes, an amount of incoming and outgoing texts, and an amount of data..

Data is used when on the internet and is the expensive part of the contract and usually what we try to save on using wifi. Cell minutes and texts if they are limited rather than unlimited in your phone plan can also be saved using wifi, but you may have to be creative doing it. Simply connecting your phone to the wifi will save your data, but it will not automatically help you save minutes or texts. To save minutes you need to make internet calls rather than cellular calls,. To save texts you need to make internet texts rather than cellular texts. Internet calls are made using an application (app) such as Zoom or Skype or FaceTime(IPhone) they can be with or without picture(video).

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Just for the additional knowing -

The internet based text messages i just did using @vtext.com from my yahoo email account to my cell phone :

The incoming text deducted 1 text from my allotment on my phone.
The outgoing i sent back deducted 1 text from my allotment from my phone.
Not complaining - that was fair play - just relaying the results.

(checked my text balance before i did anything - and afterwards)

However - my yahoo mail account seems unaffected so far, no billings or warnings issued - yet .
So it was FREE (in basic terminology) on that end of the exchange.

Thanks again John and Nas T Eh

[ponyakr]

"...Internet calls are made using an application (app) such as Zoom or Skype..."

I haven't really tried to learn the details of either of these. So, for you guys who have either used these or at least know exactly how they operate, I'll ask you this question.

Can you retain your cell phone number ? OR, will someone who wants to call you have to call a different number, which is specific to your Skype/Zoom account ?

I may be confused.

But, from what I've read so far, it seems that it's up to your phone plan carrier & your internet carrier, as to whether you can make & receive Wi-Fi calls on your cell phone, using your phone's number.

Is this true or false ?

[ponyakr]

The Moto G Power came today.

So far, it's been a nightmare.

I told the lady that I was old & it was my 1st smart phone, so she'd have to go slow & give me simple instructions.

Without going into great detail about it, I'll just tell this one thing that happened. After having trouble finding what she wanted me to click on & me describing what I was seeing on the screen, she somehow decided that I must have the charger plugged in to the phone.

After telling her at least 3 times that the charger was NOT plugged into the phone, I told her that TJ had unplugged the charger from the phone & brought the phone across the room to me, so the charger was at least 15 feet from the phone.

I suppose she thought I didn't understand & spelled out the word UNPLUG to me. I then said that I didn't know any other way to tell her that the charger was NOT plugged into the phone, other than the 3 times I'd already told her.

Hey, it got worse from there.

Anyhow, we muddled on thru a few steps & she said it should be set up to make & receive calls/texts over the AT&T network. Told me to try making a call to verify that it was working, & someone would call back on my land line to see if it was.

BUT, it would not even get a signal inside. Went outside, dialed our home phone & got a robot message from VERIZON that I'd have to call my provider & get a PIN number in order to make a call with that phone.

So, I assumed that meant that the lady had set my phone up with Verizon, rather than AT&T, like she'd agreed to do.

So, I called back & this time got a lady who seemed to actually know what she was doing. After checking everything she said that the phone I'd bought which was suppose to work on any of the networks was actually locked into Verizon, ONLY. She said that even a different SIM card could not change that.

But she said that she could fix it so that it would work on the Verizon network. Well, it took nearly an hour, but she finally did get it to work.

A little side note here: While talking to her, & while holding the line, I could hear the unmistakable sound of a rooster crowing. I mentioned it & she said she lived on a farm. Said that lots of the customer service people worked from their home.

Anyhow, after she did her thang, the phone would indeed make calls. I called My Sister, then rang our land line. BUT, just as with our flip phone, there is no signal inside our house. Have to take the phone out on the front porch to get a strong enuff signal.

She did say that the phone will connect to our AT&T home internet Wi-FI. She was correct.

Next problem I had/have is that even tho I have entered the correct Google Email address, it said my password was not correct. I knew it was. But, I went ahead & got a new one. It wouldn't work either.

So, I am probably doing something wrong there.

Accidentally learned a couple of things about the keyboard. Needed some numbers plus a # & a @. Kept clicking on stuff 'til I found 'em.

Still don't know how to make a capital letter. So, what do you use for a shift key ? Or, how do you make a cap letter ?

My fingers could really use some bigger keys. Is there a way to make the keys any bigger ?

[nas t eh]

Originally Posted by ponyakr

"...Internet calls are made using an application (app) such as Zoom or Skype..."

I haven't really tried to learn the details of either of these. So, for you guys who have either used these or at least know exactly how they operate, I'll ask you this question.

Can you retain your cell phone number ? OR, will someone who wants to call you have to call a different number, which is specific to your Skype/Zoom account ?

I may be confused.

But, from what I've read so far, it seems that it's up to your phone plan carrier & your internet carrier, as to whether you can make & receive Wi-Fi calls on your cell phone, using your phone's number.

Is this true or false ?

When making a Skype or Zoom call, phone #s are not used at all.

You join Zoom, your friends join Zoom, your find your friends on Zoom and you call them, Same with Skype. Then you can talk to them forever without using any minutes, Skype and Zoom offer this free,.

But they also have plans you can buy to make group calls, to replace having an in person meeting. They offer free short group meetings without the purchase of a plan, but cut you off around the 40 min. mark.

[nas t eh]

I don’t know your phone, but shift key is usually an “up arrow”

[johnta1]

The phone didn't come with an instruction book or something?

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by johnta1

The phone didn't come with an instruction book or something?

Yeah, there's instruction books from both Motorola & Tracphone. BUT, they assume the buyer already knows the basics of using a smart phone. I'm a TOTAL beginner, a smart phone DUMMY.

" I don’t know your phone, but shift key is usually an “up arrow” "

OK. I Googled it. One site says you type the word with small case letters, then highlite the word. Tap that word to highlite it, then click the up arrow to capitalize the 1st letter, or double click it to capitalize the whole word. Another site says you just tap the up arrow once to capitalize the next letter typed. Haven't tried that yet.

https://www.computerhope.com/issues/...htm#smartphone

Here's another dummy question:

Are your Google account log-in ID & password the same as your gmail log-in & password ?

If not, that is probably why my phone don't seem to wanna accept my Google account info.

The reason I asked the question is because when I looked thru my list of log-in & PW info, I didn't find Google. Only found gmail. The PW is what I have to type in to open my chromebooks.

This is an answer I Googled up, to the question.

"...Your Gmail password is the same as your Google account password. ..."

But, here's what another site said:

"...Think of it this way: All Gmail.com accounts are Google accounts, but not all Google accounts are Gmail.com accounts. For example, a user can sign up for a Google account with her @yahoo.com email address..."