Activate Net10 Phones

How to Activate a Samsung T401g

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Here's how to activate Net10 phones. You can do it by calling, but it's usually easier and quicker to activate online. I use Net10's new phone with a qwerty keyboard. You can now get $30/Month Unlimited when you purchase the Samsung T401G Unlimited Bundle!.

Holiday Note

Last year I activated a Motorola W408g and got a note at the end that, "Due to the holiday volume, the activation process may take 4 to 24 hours." My new activation still only took about 15 minutes, but I just wanted to let you know.

Back to the process . . .

Gather Your Stuff

Open the box, put in your battery (the SIM card should already be in the phone), and either charge it for a couple of hours or just leave it plugged into the charger during the activation process.

Make sure you have your Red card with the serial number handy.

Turn on the phone. Go to page on their website to activate Net10 phones. Click on the Activate/Reactivate Phone drop-down menu option.

Are You a New Customer?

Choose the New Customer option unless you have used and activated a Net10 phone before.

Create an Account or Activate Anonymously

You can now create an account or go to the bottom of the screen and "click here" to activate without an account. With their sister company, Tracfone, the advantages of creating an account include receiving promo codes for bonus minutes. There is indeed the option to receive pre-recorded messages at your Home Phone number with special offers. Net10 emphasizes its 10 cents a minute simplicity, so there are no airtime promo codes.

Receive Account Confirmation

If you do decide to create an account, you will receive a confirmation that includes the email address as your login name. Save the account detail on a piece of paper or on your computer!

Choose whether you want a new number or wish to port a number. Also identify your phone.

You choose whether you want to activate your Net10 phone with a new number or port a number from another phone. If you choose to port, a ticket is created, and you have to come back to the site later to complete the activation. Don't use this option if you have another Net10 phone. Then you can simply transfer the number in one step by going back to the beginning and choosing the Transfer Number option.

Enter Serial Number

Enter the Serial number of the phone by reading if off the Red Card that came with the phone or going into the phone's Prepaid Menu. It's sometimes easier to read it off the phone's screen as the number is broken down into groups of three digits. Don't put it the spaces when you enter it on the site though. You can choose a nickname for the phone. I just usually use the phone model, since we're unlikely to have more than one model of a phone active at one time. However if you've bought a couple of identical phones for your family, you probably want to use a nickname that identifies who's phone it will be.

Enter a Zip Code

Enter the zip code where you'll be calling from most often.

Add airtime cards if you have any.

You can choose to add any airtime cards you have right away. However, since you get 300 minutes and 60 days of service when you activate Net10 phones, you can skip this step.

Update

Most Net10 phones no longer offer 300 minutes free upon activation. You now just get 20 minutes free upon online activation - just enough to test out the phone. However, many phones now come bundled with an airtime card instead.

Steps to Complete Activation

Turn your phone off and then back on. It is supposed to just a few minutes to update. Let's check.

Success?

Their website says the activate Net10 phone process has been successful and 300 minutes has been added to my phone. I'm still waiting on the phone however.

First the date and time update, but the display still shows zero minutes and zero service days.

Yes!

Then a few minutes later, the phone updates again, and the display now shows 300 minutes and sixty service days and a new phone number!

SBI!