In an ongoing effort to enhance the customer experience, Lucky is

>discontinuing our 3G/HSPA network.

As a result of this change, customers with devices that rely on 3G/HSPA techn

>gy will need to upgrade their device. This includes, but not limited to, devi
> that are 3G/HSPA only, 4G LTE devices that do not support Voice over LTE (Vo
>) and VoLTE capable devices that are not certified for VoLTE use on Lucky (in
>ding devices purchased outside of Canada).

VoLTE capable devices may also be impacted as part of this change if

>the device is utilizing a 3G/HSPA only SIM card or has incorrect
>settings on the device.

As you know, I use Lucky. I've been on their 4G for ages now and the
display says LTE so maybe my not-too-new phone will still be okay..
Not sure how to check the other things but it looks like they've
been in use for a long time (17 years?) so likely I'm covered..

The date they show for the change is March 1, 2027 so we do have
a little time still to sort things out.

---
þ SLMR Rob þ ** Individualists unite! ** þ

--- Scorpio BBS
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)

Hello Rob!

** On Friday 31.07.26 - 06:07, you wrote to me :

As you know, I use Lucky. I've been on their 4G for ages now and the display says LTE so maybe my not-too-new phone will still be okay..
Not sure how to check the other things but it looks like they've
been in use for a long time (17 years?) so likely I'm covered..

Just LTE may not be enough. Has your phone ever indicated that it is making or receiving HD calls?

I got an sms to my Blackberry Q10 and it said that my device is not impacted.

The Q10 makes and receives HD calls (a feature that only works when VoLTE is supported) ..so, that's a relief.

The date they show for the change is March 1, 2027 so we do have
a little time still to sort things out.

For my home phone, I use a ZTE MF279T. It has a VoLTE toggle in the main panel that has been enabled since I installed that thing a few years ago, so that device ought to be unaffected too.
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: Stare into this point intently ->.<- (1:153/757.21)

As you know, I use Lucky. I've been on their 4G for ages now and the display says LTE so maybe my not-too-new phone will still be okay..
Not sure how to check the other things but it looks like they've
been in use for a long time (17 years?) so likely I'm covered..

Just LTE may not be enough. Has your phone ever indicated that it is making

>or receiving HD calls?

Not that I recall, although I rarely get actual phone calls on my Cell.
It's more for emergency use, traval and Internet connectivity.

I got an sms to my Blackberry Q10 and it said that my device is

>not impacted.

They send me messages all the time but I didn't get one specific to that.
I wasn't even sure it was possible to test VoLTE with a text message
unless it was a reference to your phone model and/or Android version.

Later.. Maybe not. I looked online for ways to check if a phone
supports VoLTE and one said to open the dialer and dial: *#*#4636#*#*
..and it gives you access to a screen that shows all the phones
information. I did that and it showed the screen but near the bottom
it indicated that VoLTE is not active.. B(

Maybe there will be further warnings or tests from Lucky before
this goes through. I'd hate to have to buy a new phone when mine
works just fine for what I use it for..

---
þ SLMR Rob þ I'm afraid you suffer from delusions of adaquacy þ

--- Scorpio BBS
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)

Hello Rob!

** On Saturday 08.08.26 - 06:30, you wrote to me:

Just LTE may not be enough. Has your phone ever indicated that it is
making or receiving HD calls?

Not that I recall, although I rarely get actual phone calls on my Cell. It's more for emergency use, traval and Internet connectivity.

You might even be in a region where 4G does not reach. Have you looked at any of the cell-tower location sites to see what is nearest you?

[...] I looked online for ways to check if a phone
supports VoLTE and one said to open the dialer and dial: *#*#4636#*#* ..and it gives you access to a screen that shows all the phones information. I did that and it showed the screen but near the bottom
it indicated that VoLTE is not active.. B(

Do you enter that as if you were making a voice call? That code sequence doesn't work for me.

Maybe there will be further warnings or tests from Lucky before
this goes through. I'd hate to have to buy a new phone when mine
works just fine for what I use it for..

Be prepared. If 3G goes cold, so will HSPA+

Lucky might allow 4G users to hang on with basic LTE, for a while longer, but they might insist that the connection be VoLTE as a minimum.
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: Stare into this point intently ->.<- (1:153/757.21)

Just LTE may not be enough. Has your phone ever indicated that it is
making or receiving HD calls?

Not that I recall, although I rarely get actual phone calls on my Cell. It's more for emergency use, traval and Internet connectivity.

You might even be in a region where 4G does not reach. Have you looked

>at any of the cell-tower location sites to see what is nearest you?

I have been getting 4G here for almost 2 years now, and online
speed tests have verified much faster data transfers to verify that.
5G is out of the question since I'm too far from any place that
would support that, and my phone probably can't handle it anyways.

[...] I looked online for ways to check if a phone
supports VoLTE and one said to open the dialer and dial:
*#*#4636#*#* ..and it gives you access to a screen that shows
all the phones information. I did that and it showed the screen
but near the bottom it indicated that VoLTE is not active.. B(

BTW., it shows as a switch turned off so it's possible that the
phone might support it but it's not currently available or maybe
the SIM card is too old and a newer one might turn VoLTE on..

Do you enter that as if you were making a voice call?

>That code sequence doesn't work for me.

Yes, I just dialed it like a phone number, also wondering if it
would work, and it just opened up the info/test screens.

If you look up that 'number' online it says that it is an
Android code giving lots of information and it is useful for
switching the Netwrok Mode from 4G to 3G to 2G - they show it
in that order. Possibly they mean if you want to downgrade
your Network Mode to match poorer service in a new area..

Lucky might allow 4G users to hang on with basic LTE, for a while

>longer, but they might insist that the connection be VoLTE as a minimum.

I'd imagine, unless they slow things down due to multiple complaints,
it will switch all at once since it's a totally different system,
like comparing a cell signal to VOIP..

---
þ SLMR Rob þ To titillate an ocelot, you oscillate her tit a lot þ

--- Scorpio BBS
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)

Hello Rob!

** On Wednesday 12.08.26 - 06:05, you wrote:

*#*#4636#*#* ..and it gives you access to a screen..

BTW., it shows as a switch turned off so it's possible that the
phone might support it but it's not currently available or maybe
the SIM card is too old and a newer one might turn VoLTE on..

So.. you gonna just wait until March and see what happens?



--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: Stare into this point intently ->.<- (1:153/757.21)

*#*#4636#*#* ..and it gives you access to a screen..

BTW., it shows as a switch turned off so it's possible that the
phone might support it but it's not currently available or maybe
the SIM card is too old and a newer one might turn VoLTE on..

So.. you gonna just wait until March and see what happens?

I did some further testing today and it looks like my phone might
support some of the VoLTE utilities but not all of them so I may
find that Texting or Data or Phone Calls might work but not all
of them, and the most likely to fail would be phone calling.

I also got an eMail from Lucky today, rather vaguely worded, that
my phone *may not* support the new system and I may need to get
a new phone before next March.

I have a feeling that if YOU are not getting those messages then
they have some way of either testing your phone or they know
what phone you are using and already know whether it will work
or not and are sending out generic messages rather than sending
one specifically to you saying your phone definitely won't work.

I wonder how many other cell suppliers are going to switch over
to Only VoLTE soon, or have already. I could change to another
cell supplier and keep this phone for a while longer. It's not
the cost, I am just used to this old basic phone and like it..

I also seem to be getting a LOT of amazingly good offers from
Bell Mobile the last few weeks and I wonder if they are coming
in the hopes that if you leave Lucky (a Bell company) that
you'll switch over to Bell Mobility instead.

I have numbers that I can call to get more info on that but,
as we've discussed, I'd need to verify how long a price from
Bell Mobility would be locked in before they raise the price.
As you and I know, Lucky keeps the price that you sign up at
forever unless you switch to a different Lucky plan yourself.

Current Bell offer is Unlimited Canada wide 5G Phone service
and Texting from Canada to any supported system Globally and
100 Gig of Data, with unlimited slower data if you run out,
for $30 a month (after $10 auto-pay reduction).

---
þ SLMR Rob þ If you wish to succeed, consult three old people þ

--- Scorpio BBS
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)

Hello Rob!

** On Saturday 15.08.26 - 06:06, Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS:

I have a feeling that if YOU are not getting those messages then
they have some way of either testing your phone or they know
what phone you are using and already know whether it will work
or not and are sending out generic messages rather than sending
one specifically to you saying your phone definitely won't work.

It's simple. They compare your device IMEI against a whitelist.

They provide a whilelist/IMEI checking tool on one of their sub-pages.

I wonder how many other cell suppliers are going to switch over
to Only VoLTE soon, or have already. I could change to another
cell supplier and keep this phone for a while longer. It's not
the cost, I am just used to this old basic phone and like it..

Yes.. being forced to change to a new device can be frustrating when one has gotten used to the old one and all its quirks.

I also seem to be getting a LOT of amazingly good offers from
Bell Mobile the last few weeks and I wonder if they are coming
in the hopes that if you leave Lucky (a Bell company) that
you'll switch over to Bell Mobility instead.

I wouldn't hop over to Bell. As you know, their seemingly lower "offers" are only temporary. After a few months, the prices jump back to the higher tier.

I have numbers that I can call to get more info on that but,
as we've discussed, I'd need to verify how long a price from
Bell Mobility would be locked in before they raise the price.

Count on 3 mos max. It's in the small print.

As you and I know, Lucky keeps the price that you sign up at
forever unless you switch to a different Lucky plan yourself.

Lucky keeps the price the same. I have one number with an ancient $15/mo plan with data only. The $15 plan is nolonger an option for new users or existing users who want to switch to it. But.. I suppose since our Lucky "agreement" with them is not a contract, they can probably increase the price of any existing plan at any time. (?)

Current Bell offer is Unlimited Canada wide 5G Phone service
and Texting from Canada to any supported system Globally and
100 Gig of Data, with unlimited slower data if you run out,
for $30 a month (after $10 auto-pay reduction).

That might be a good value to someone always glued to their phone, and someone in a metropolitan area.

But I wouln't count that the $30 level would stay that way for long.

In other news..

I am registered with the $29/mo plan for three other devices. Unfortunately, I discovered that Lucky does not offer a direct $29 option in their pre-pay system for auto-topup. The closest option was $30. So.. every month I got billed $30 and the extra $1 got "parked" in the Balance.

Now.. 28 months later, I was prepared to wait for one more month to get that Balance to $29, disable auto-top so that the system pulls the money from the Balance, and then switch to their $30/mo plan so that I wouldn't have this $1 discrepency anymore. Infact, the $30 plan even offered almost double the 25GB data of the $29 plan. But.. Lucky *just* changed the $30 plan to just 10GB max. :(

I am a bit frustrated by their tactics, to say the least.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're a Cheese (1:396/45.29)

I have a feeling that if YOU are not getting those messages then
they have some way of either testing your phone or they know
what phone you are using and already know whether it will work

It's simple. They compare your device IMEI against a whitelist.

They provide a whilelist/IMEI checking tool on one of their sub-pages.

I checked that when you first mentioned it elsewhere, but they
wouldn't have your IMEI number unless they at least knew exactly
what phone you have, and maybe it would require checking it on
the phone itself since I've had no luck doing searches to find an
IMEI number for other phone models I wanted to check out..

I also seem to be getting a LOT of amazingly good offers from
Bell Mobile the last few weeks and I wonder if they are coming
in the hopes that if you leave Lucky (a Bell company) that
you'll switch over to Bell Mobility instead.

I wouldn't hop over to Bell. As you know, their seemingly lower

>"offers" are only temporary. After a few months, the prices jump
>back to the higher tier.

Yes, I talked to them the other day, although they said that the
offerf was likely in effect for 2 years. My niece recently got
a new plan with Bell and hers is locked in for 3 years so they
are doing more longer term deals lately. That said, she expects
the price to just about double when it comes up for renewal.

But Bell Mobility is changing over to the VoLTE only network at
the same time, likely why Lucky is doing it being a Bell company
using their network so if I have to get a new phone anyways I
won't change suppliers.

As you and I know, Lucky keeps the price that you sign up at
forever unless you switch to a different Lucky plan yourself.

Lucky keeps the price the same. I have one number with an ancient $15/mo

>plan with data only. The $15 plan is nolonger an option for new users or
>existing users who want to switch to it. But.. I suppose since our Lucky
>"agreement" with them is not a contract, they can probably increase the price
>of any existing plan at any time. (?)

Supposedly, but I've never seen a price change that I didn't initiate
myself in the 7+ years I've been with Lucky, mind you usually the
old plans are often less data for more money than the newer plans
so why would they want to change what they charge you?

In other news..

I am registered with the $29/mo plan for three other devices. Unfortunately,

>I discovered that Lucky does not offer a direct $29 option in their pre-pay
>system for auto-topup. The closest option was $30. So.. every month I got
>billed $30 and the extra $1 got "parked" in the Balance.

Yes, same here with my $34 plan, billed at $35.

Now.. 28 months later, I was prepared to wait for one more month to get that

>Balance to $29, disable auto-top so that the system pulls the money from the
>Balance..

Is that automatic, if you have enough in that balance they use it to
pay your monthly bill without you having to do anything but cancel
the auto-topup, or do you have to go online to set that transfer up?

..and then switch to their $30/mo plan so that I wouldn't have this $1

>discrepency anymore. Infact, the $30 plan even offered almost double the
>25GB data of the $29 plan. But.. Lucky *just* changed the $30 plan to just
>10GB max. :(

Not that long ago I switched to that $34 plan that gives unlimited
everything in Canada plus 30 gig of Data which goes to 60 gig with
auto-topup..

But I haven't checked out their offers in a couple of months so
that one may be gone now too..

---
þ SLMR Rob þ ... Clean mind, clean body: take your pick þ

--- Scorpio BBS
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)

Hello Rob!

** On Saturday 22.08.26 - 05:48, Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS:

They provide a whilelist/IMEI checking tool on one of their sub-pages.

I checked that when you first mentioned it elsewhere, but they
wouldn't have your IMEI number unless they at least knew exactly
what phone you have, and maybe it would require checking it on
the phone itself since I've had no luck doing searches to find an
IMEI number for other phone models I wanted to check out..

I think they probably have a pre-list of IMEI numbers or ranges, or blocks, not unlike IP (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) number ranges for specific countries.

Try https://www.imei.info/phonedatabase/ ...for looking up a specific phone model or carrier.

WRT Lucky/Bell, only phones that are authorized for use in NorthAmerica will be allowed on the network. So.. not wise to acquire a cheap 2nd-hand phone originally for the China/Europe market and expect it to work after March 2027.

I wouldn't hop over to Bell. As you know, their seemingly lower

"offers" are only temporary. After a few months, the prices jump
back to the higher tier.

Yes, I talked to them the other day, although they said that the
offerf was likely in effect for 2 years. My niece recently got
a new plan with Bell and hers is locked in for 3 years so they
are doing more longer term deals lately. That said, she expects
the price to just about double when it comes up for renewal.

Does she have an easy alternatives to move over to if necessary?

I've heard that some existing Bell users manage to steer around the increased prices at the end of their terms by complaining about the increases and threating to move over to an alternate, and Bell would then offer a "less" higher increase.

But Bell Mobility is changing over to the VoLTE only network at
the same time, likely why Lucky is doing it being a Bell company
using their network so if I have to get a new phone anyways I
won't change suppliers.

Yes.. Lucky *is* operated by Bell, but is just the "consumer level", or "self-serve, no contract, pay-as-you-go" type of tier.

The comparable list is:

- Luckymobile is to Bell
- Chatr is to Rogers
- PublicMobile is to Telus

There is another tier of brands riding on the primary Bell/Rogers/Telus networks too:

- Virgin / Bell.
- Fido / Rogers
- Koodo /Telus

Lucky keeps the price the same. I have one number with an ancient
$15/mo

plan with data only. The $15 plan is nolonger an option for new users or
existing users who want to switch to it. But.. I suppose since our Lucky
"agreement" with them is not a contract, they can probably increase the
price of any existing plan at any time. (?)

Supposedly, but I've never seen a price change that I didn't initiate myself in the 7+ years I've been with Lucky, mind you usually the
old plans are often less data for more money than the newer plans
so why would they want to change what they charge you?

Yeah.. so far no "increased price change" shenanigans on existing and active plans by Lucky.

...The closest option was $30. So.. every
month I got billed $30 and the extra $1 got "parked" in the Balance.

Yes, same here with my $34 plan, billed at $35.

Now.. 28 months later, I was prepared to wait for one more month to get
that

Balance to $29, disable auto-top so that the system pulls the money from
the Balance..

Is that automatic, if you have enough in that balance they use it to
pay your monthly bill without you having to do anything but cancel
the auto-topup, or do you have to go online to set that transfer up?

It is automatic. Just disable the auto-top *before* the next billing date. Make sure you do not miss the last confirmation at the very bottom of the page!

Not that long ago I switched to that $34 plan that gives unlimited everything in Canada plus 30 gig of Data which goes to 60 gig with auto-topup..

Well.. if the $35 plan has a good auto-top bonus, switch to that before they change their crazy minds!

But I haven't checked out their offers in a couple of months so
that one may be gone now too..

I just checked.. the $35 plan has 25GB data, plus 5GB only, now. So.. you may as well stay on the $34.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: Stare into this point intently ->.<- (1:153/757.21)

I think they probably have a pre-list of IMEI numbers or ranges, or blocks,

>not unlike IP (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) number ranges for specific countries.

Maybe.. I just know that it wasn't clear if my phone would still work
or not until I put in the IMEI number and they then said no way..

Try https://www.imei.info/phonedatabase/ ...for looking up a specific phone

>model or carrier.

I had a quick look there and it's really difficult to use unless you
are doing it backwards, have the IMEI number and are looking for
the phone it is from. There doesn't seem to be any easy way to do a
search for a specific model. Like I tried looking for my LG as a
test and it created an LG database of almost 1600 phones that I'd
have had to go through page by page to find my model since the K
from my LG K9 is far from the first or last page in the list.

WRT Lucky/Bell, only phones that are authorized for use in NorthAmerica will

>be allowed on the network. So.. not wise to acquire a cheap 2nd-hand phone
>originally for the China/Europe market and expect it to work after March
>2027.

Good to know..

Yes, I talked to them the other day, although they said that the
offer was likely in effect for 2 years. My niece recently got
a new plan with Bell and hers is locked in for 3 years so they
are doing more longer term deals lately. That said, she expects
the price to just about double when it comes up for renewal.

Does she have an easy alternative to move over to if necessary?

I didn't get into plans since I had a reference number for my specific
offer if I wanted to take it. Since my phone won't work on Lucky or
Bell I won't be bothered changing over to Bell.

I've heard that some existing Bell users manage to steer around the increased

>prices at the end of their terms by complaining about the increases and
>threating to move over to an alternate, and Bell would then offer a "less"
>higher increase.

Talking to my Niece tonight, her Bell plan price is locked in for 2
years, and contains a phone purchase in the plan. She says that
she's been told at the end of the 2 years she has to sort out what
to do about the phone but was told that the price of the plan will
stay the same.. (?) Unusual for Bell..

But her plan is not super cheap.. 100 gig plus USA access and
roaming with unlimited Phone and Text but it's about $80 a month,
but that likely has a phone buy charge in it and I'm not sure
if that's just an extra $10 added on each month or more..

Not that long ago I switched to that $34 plan that gives unlimited everything in Canada plus 30 gig of Data which goes to 60 gig with auto-topup..

I've been on that one for a few months now and, other than that
monthly dollar accumulation, it's great. I have about $11 extra
in my account at the moment. About $7 of that was from some odd
user bonuses they credited to my account a few times.

I just checked.. the $35 plan has 25GB data, plus 5GB only, now.

I was just at the Lucky site too and you are right. It's really
important to grab a good plan when one is offered because it will
maybe be gone soon with nothing near as good then available..

I like Lucky for the most part but that's a major annoyance,
and only new users get the best plan offers as well.

---
þ SLMR Rob þ The older a man gets the farther he had to walk to school

--- Scorpio BBS
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)

Hello Rob!

** On Tuesday 25.08.26 - 06:13, you wrote to me:

Try https://www.imei.info/phonedatabase/ ...for looking up a specific
phone

model or carrier.

I had a quick look there and it's really difficult to use unless you
are doing it backwards, have the IMEI number and are looking for
the phone it is from. There doesn't seem to be any easy way to do a
search for a specific model. Like I tried looking for my LG as a
test and it created an LG database of almost 1600 phones that I'd
have had to go through page by page to find my model since the K
from my LG K9 is far from the first or last page in the list.

True.. that site has a great database of devices, but Search sucks. And I thought it might provide a range of IMEI numbers for a model, but it doesn't.

Your phone is on this page:

https://www.imei.info/phonedatabase/phones-lg/?so=a&page=44


Or.. a simple model name in the url works:

https://www.imei.info/phonedatabase/lg-k9/



--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: Stare into this point intently ->.<- (1:153/757.21)