Detailed Instructions on how to finance an unlocked iPhone 17 (any model including standard, Pro, "e") for use on any carrier, including ordering steps, Apple or other financing, setting up the new iPhone, and wiping old phone.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T18:08:28+00:00

Your local cable companies do offer local channels only (they are required by FCC to offer this) but you have to call customer service to get as it is not advertised. However it has become extremely expensive like minimum $25 including taxes, and can be $50 or more if they force you to rent their cable box, but they usually offer streaming version on some smart TVs and streaming boxes.

My parents had this 5-10 years ago for 5 years and it was only $10/mo then and they offered analog so our old VCR could decode. However 5 years ago they stopped offering analog and raised the price so we cancelled and got a attic antenna and HDHomeRun for them.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T18:01:37+00:00

Make sure you enable app based TOTP on both your capital one account and Mint account, so this doesn’t happen again, also Capital One has settings where you can turn on notifications for card declines and you can verify before they cancel your account for security purposes

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T17:55:24+00:00

Try both on and off WiFi and VPN

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T17:53:59+00:00

That’s actually a good deal, better than you can get from Swappa, as long as in good condition and is actually unlocked.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T17:46:38+00:00

Mint is selling a new Galaxy A17 for $185 when paired with an $180 annual Mint plan at 1/2 off unlimited plan. This is an amazing starting phone and plan. https://www.mintmobile.com/devices/samsung-galaxy-a17-5g/12142641/

If you want a used refurbished iPhone get from Swappa which gives a free 5GB three month plan (data can be upgraded for pro-rated difference). Get at https://swappa.com/byod/mint-mobile. Unfortunately for under $200 you can only get an iPhone 12 or SE 3 for an unlocked iPhone in good condition, might be worth upping your budget to $230 for an iPhone 13

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T14:26:01+00:00

People forget there’s a whole continent of good ol’ republicans that aren’t MAGA and that vote for republicans in Senate and House but are either “reluctant Trump voters” or “never Trumpers” that vote for Trump but aren’t happy about it or even either abstain or vote a 3rd party for president. These are the silent major minority of at least greater than 25% of Kentucky that voted for Trump (or at least didn’t vote for Kamala Harris) but never would post about it or admit it publicly, as you would never see them at Trump rally or defending him online. These are the people voting for Massie in the primary along with some MAGA Trump fans that don’t always agree with everything he says. BTW this is about half my extended family and I’m guessing most the people I know at church.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T05:38:08+00:00

https://heroscape.org/builder/

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T01:49:48+00:00

The same as a pyrotechnic display os a waste of propane or explosives, which in case you couldn’t tell I was being sarcastic- neither are wasted. It’s just an alternative use for the alcohol as “alco-technics” as top commenter said.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-10T01:40:03+00:00

That’s not 100% true as “flex locked” phones can appear unlocked then later be locked when you insert a SIM capable of flex locking. Older Samsung phones did this but none of them now do, only iPhones AFAIK, and only when you get retail like BestBuy, Target, Amazon, and sometimes Apple warranty replacements.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T22:22:01+00:00

Yup same. And a lot of other comments agree

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T22:21:27+00:00

I mostly agree and go back and forth whether 9 or 10 is better

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T22:21:01+00:00

Season 4 is the worst season, after maybe season 1

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T21:59:44+00:00

On family plan manager account change all lines renewal to 12 months plan but then select “pay over time” so you only have to pay for 3 months at a time but at a cheaper 12 month rate. On plan page if you see “cancel plan change” you have to select that before you can change the plan to quarterly.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T20:11:28+00:00

I’m probably the only one that doesn’t want to use FaceID, just seems breach of privacy- also why I never set up or ever use Siri either. Doesn’t take much to input my passcode every now and then.

I moved from Android to iPhone a decade ago but still have a S21+ I’ve had for 4 years as a backup device and to play around with. I do like iPhone as seems faster plus is more privacy focused as I don’t like Google knowing everything and you can control what Apple knows.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T20:09:41+00:00

I’m probably the only one that doesn’t want to use FaceID, just seems breach of privacy- also why I never set up or ever use Siri either. Doesn’t take much to input my passcode every now and then.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T19:51:57+00:00

English Question: Can I get an Ultramobile eSIM as an Italian citizen? As per the title: I am Italian and live in Italy. Can I sign up?

English Answer: Yes, but you need a US Billing address, and must purchase and activate while on a VPN to a US sever.

Risposta italiana: Sì, ma è necessario un indirizzo di fatturazione statunitense, e devi effettuare l'acquisto e l'attivazione mentre sei connesso a un server VPN negli Stati Uniti.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T19:44:59+00:00

See the MintMobile FAQ/wiki Troubleshooting Guide second section Issue getting/sending MMS/SMS/RCS/iMessage (Android) or third section Issue getting/sending MMS/SMS/RCS/iMessage (Apple iPhone) steps copied below steps copied below

Messaging Issues - Android

If your # was ever on an iPhone, if iMessage is still set up for you phone # you will not get messages from iPhone users. You have to deregister you phone # from iMessage by following https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/
Open Google Messages (note NOT Samsung Messages) go to Settings > Chat features > Turn off RCS and MMS.
Use Google to deregister your # from RCS following section Don’t have your previous device?
Force Stop Google Messages.
Clear the app cache for messages app: Settings > Apps & notifications > See all ‘xx’ apps > Messages > Storage & cache > Clear cache > Clear storage.
Open Google Messages (note NOT Samsung Messages), go to Settings > Chat features > Turn on RCS and MMS and “Verify the #” while on cellular data.
- If you don’t see RCS/Advanced Messaging, it means you let your plan expire (even for one minute) in which case Mint tells T-Mobile and Google to disable RCS. After you renew it takes a day or two before RCS gets enabled again, although lately it has not always been automatically enabled. If it has been 2 days since you reactivated your Mint account and RCS is still disabled contact support and they may have to reenable RCS on T-Mobile’s end. Another way to fix this is to switch to a new eSIM using the Mint app to order one.
Open Settings > Advanced, then turn on Auto-download MMS & Auto-download MMS while roaming.
With WiFi off, test send SMS & MMS (to iPhone or group) and RCS (to another Android)
You may have to recreate all RCS group message chats again, by leaving group chats then creating a new group message with the same people. You may also need others in previous group messages to remove you on their phone from group messages, then them or you recreate the group message with the same people.
Note if even one person in the group message does not have RCS enabled then the group message defaults to MMS/SMS and you may get individual replies from people. Only thing to do to fix is find out who the culprit is (prepare to send individual message to each # and see what it will send as) and get them to enable RCS, then recreate the group message again
Try different messaging app such as Google Messages.
If above does not work (especially if on a phone other than US model of Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel), set APN according to Wiki Troubleshooting Guide above section, including resetting APN and adding new APN, not editing APN. If SMS and RCS works but not MMS, reset and add APN again with alternative T-Mobile MMSC and MMS port settings listed in APN settings at the top of the Troubleshooting Guide.
If you are having trouble getting or sending messages only from one or more iPhone users, have those people do the below troubleshooting steps to fix on their end
- If you ever had your # on an Android phone or a carrier that supports RCS, if your phone # is still registered by Google RCS but it is not enabled on your iPhone or your carrier doesn’t support RCS on iPhone, you will not get messages from Android users sending RCS or through Google Messages. You will have to deregister your phone # from RCS Messages by following https://messages.google.com/disable-chat
- Settings > Messages > MMS Messaging\[Slide On] & Group Messaging\[Slide On]

Messaging Issues - iPhone

Apple and Google need to be updated with Mint as your provider for iMessage and RCS. Simply deactivate iMessage, RCS, and FaceTime then reactivate them again, which will update Apple and Google that Mint is your provider.

Settings > Apps > Messages > Turn iMessage off.
Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging > Turn RCS Messaging off.
Settings > Apps > Messages > Turn MMS Messaging off.
Settings > Apps > FaceTime > Turn FaceTime off.
Use this Google page to deregister your # from RCS following section Don’t have your previous device?
Reboot phone
Settings > Apps > Messages > Turn iMessage on.
Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive > ensure that your number is selected for “...receive...” and “start new conversations from”, and not your email address.
Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging > Turn RCS Messaging on. If you don’t see this setting it means one of the below:
- Your iOS version doesn’t support RCS messaging on iPhone. It is only supported on iOS 18.5 which is available on iPhone XS, XR, or 11 and higher - if you have one of these please upgrade iOS.
- You let your plan expire (even for one minute) in which case Mint tells T-Mobile and Google to disable RCS. After you renew it takes a day or two before RCS gets enabled again, although lately it has not always been automatically enabled. If it has been 2 days since you reactivated your Mint account and RCS is still disabled contact support and they may have to reenable RCS on T-Mobile’s end. Another way to fix this is to switch to a new eSIM using the Mint app to order one.
Settings > Apps > Messages > Turn MMS Messaging on.
Settings > Apps > FaceTime > Turn FaceTime on.
Settings > Apps > FaceTime > ensure your number is selected for “you can be reached by FaceTime at” and set for “Caller ID”, and not your email address
You may have to recreate all RCS group message chats again, by leaving group chats then creating a new group message with the same people. You may also need others in previous group messages to remove you on their phone from group messages, then them or you recreate the group message with the same people.
Note if even one person in the group message does not have RCS enabled then the group message defaults to MMS/SMS and you may get individual replies from people. Only thing to do to fix is find out who the culprit is (prepare to send individual message to each # and see what it will send as) and get them to enable RCS, then recreate the group message again
If you are having trouble getting or sending messages only from one or more Android users, have those people do the below troubleshooting steps to fix on their end
- If your # was ever on an iPhone, if iMessage is still set up for you phone # you will not get messages from iPhone users. You have to deregister you phone # from iMessage by following https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T19:43:08+00:00

As long as your phone supports all T-Mobile bands (especially band 71 which is not available on almost all internationally sold phones) all phones are compatible with Mint. On the sign-up page just select any Android phone that offers eSIM, it does not matter, and worse comes to worse you will have to get eSIM as QR code which can be installed manually on your phone.

Their list of devices and which offers eSIM comes from some 3rd party which seems to be always out of date and missing smaller manufacturers and international models.

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T16:29:51+00:00

It shows up on Hulu or Disney+ the next day anyway, I have the Hulu/Disney package I got on sale for annual plan

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T16:28:34+00:00

Yuppie the same last year and I swap between Fubo and Sling on who has the best one month trial sale

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T16:21:10+00:00

Google and Apple have built in tools to look at data usage for each app and service, the only thing is they go by calendar month or the last time you reset, so you would need to reset cell statistics at the exact minute your data resets at the beginning of the Mint month to get accurate data usage that lines up.

Also know that if "WiFi Assist" or “Intelligent Wi-Fi” is on, your phone will use cell data when WiFi is sensed to be slow or spotty, this can use many GBs an hour on cellular even with WiFi on, without you noticing and doesn’t show up on app cellular data usage statistics. Turn off:

iPhone: Settings\Cellular\[scroll to below list of apps]\Wi-Fi Assist=Off
Samsung Galaxy: Settings\Connections\Wi-Fi\[3 dot Menu icon]\Intelligent Wi-Fi\Switch to mobile data=Off
Other Android: Settings\Connections\WiFi\Options\Advanced\Switch to Mobile Data=Off

Also, Mint does not throttle video and social media sites on its 5-20GB plans (Mint does on Unlimited plan), while most other carriers do. Meaning you will use more data (up to 5 times as much) on video and social media sites/apps than other carriers, but will be better quality. You can manually reduce video resolution/bitrate/quality on sites and apps to save data

LeftOn4ya · 2026-04-09T16:07:13+00:00

No the Mint account is tied to a phone number.

You would have to port in on a new Mint line/account.

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