Unlocked a Moto phone from Verizon, now I can't get my service to work

[jnelsoninjax]

I bought a Moto E4 Verizon prepaid phone from Walmart, and ordered the unlock code off of Ebay. I received the unlock code this morning and the phone accepted it, but I still do not have active service. When I restart the phone I get a message about a non verizion sim installed, but that is all it says. I am at a loose as to what to do at this point!

[jnelsoninjax]

So, I reset the phone, and then configured the APN, and suddenly I have service...

[PGHammer]

On 1/20/2018 at 10:47 AM, jnelsoninjax said:

So, I reset the phone, and then configured the APN, and suddenly I have service...

There are differences between SIMs - and this has gotten especially critical as more and more handsets support multiple providers - it's no longer even CLOSE to what it was in the era of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus - where you also had hardware differences in addition to SIM differences (the toroplus (Sprint) version of the Galaxy Nexus, for example - included IR-blaster functionality; but that was the only difference from the more common toro (VZW) version.  In the case of the Galaxy S7 - the SIMs are - literally - the SOLE difference - otherwise, they are - literally - the same handset, basically.  Just from following the traffic on xda-developers.com, there are a LOT of network-locked S7s out there, as moving them to another provider to make them useful again is a hot topic.  Rather amusingly, despite the locked bootloader, it's no harder to move an IMEI-blocked S7 than it is to move a Nexus 5 from one provider to another.  All you need is a SIM and firmware from the target provider; the latter costs only time, and the former can cost as little as $1.00 (Tracfone triple-punch SIM kit).  Tracfone is in a very enviable position because it has a split network - between VZW's towers and those of T-Mobile - the infamous UnCarrier.  T-Mobile has decided issues with older phones (such as the lifeline phones at the bottom of their lifeline service - I've certainly thrown enough brickbats at the UnCarrier for exactly those issues) - however, wither with a high-end phone (in my case, this ex-VZW S7 reflashed with Project L V3 firmware outfitted for UnCarrier duties) it is - literally - a radically-different beastie.

 

First off, I have both VoWifi AND VoLTE - as standard.  Despite VZW being first - both regionally AND nationally - with LTE, it offers neither - even to their customers.  I live in the greater Washington, DC - practically dead-center of VZW turf.  Before I dropped into lifeline service territory, I was a VZW customer; my mom still is.  There are family and friends that still are - in fact, most of them.  There are a grand total of three exceptions - one lives on the Death Star (AT&T) and the other two fly the Sprint flag.  Yet the question begs - why doesn't VZW offer VoLTE?  It's not as if the HANDSET isn't capable.  (Remember, other than the firmware, it is - literally - as they sold it to the original owner - complete with the current "Verizon" logo on the phone's back; I bought the case for protection reasons - not to engage in logo-coverup.)  While I don't blab the NAME of the previous owner, I don't hide that my handset itself is ex-BigRed - why would I need to do that?  Yet I feel like Ricky Ricardo - "Verizon Wireless - you got some serious 'splanin to do!"  I am - literally - the SOLE family member in UnCarrier Nation - and I have no plans on leaving any time soon.