This is our Grab Bag, Part One.  Or in other words, a little bit of everything.  And it’s all from YOU, our readers and visitors.

People ask us all the time about activating old phones on Verizon.  It’s a relatively simple process, really, but there are a few things you should know before making any purchases or switches.  We will explain what constitutes and “old” phone, what to look out for, and how to get the device active.

“There must be some mistake, I just checked last month and I’m eligible as of today.”

What happened?

Although you may not see it mentioned in the agreement itself, the main thing you get out of the contract is subsidized pricing on a phone.

So what did you agree to?  What did your carrier agree to for that matter? 

Read on to get the less-boring-almost-as-good-as-reading-the-real-thing overview of the main points of the standard wireless customer agreement.

So if it’s an exception that can be made that’s not available in general, why is AT&T putting out press releases that they’re raising prices for early upgrades?  This creates a couple of problems.  Firstly it’s going to confuse people.  Secondly it’s going to draw all kinds of flames from confused customers who don’t like to see the words “price increase” in any article about their cell phone service.

Upgrade eligibility for all lines, regardless of cost, will now be 20 months.

As stated in the original article on the upgrade policy update, AT&T followed suit with Verizon and eliminated the extra discounts available for upgrades on higher cost lines.  They didn’t follow suit with changing how quickly those more expensive lines became eligible and kept 13 and 18 month renewals for the more expensive lines.  Well, now they have followed suit.  Mirroring Verizon’s policy change from 2 months ago, all lines become eligible at 20 months no matter what plan they’re on.

Early upgrade policy is also changing.

An early upgrade is something that may be offered to you if you need a phone but aren’t eligible.  Early upgrades aren’t a regular part of upgrade policy.  Prior to the change you would pay $200 more than the upgrade price for a smartphone or $75 more for a nonsmartphone.  Those amounts have now risen to $250 and $85.

We’ve talked at length about contracts, discounts, upgrades, and phone pricing until we got blue in the face.  But there’s one phrase in this business that we have yet to spend much time on:  the “free” upgrade.

These ads play to a very specific information age consumer insecurity:  technology becomes obsolete quickly.  If you don’t adapt to the rapidly changing technology you too will be left in the dust.

The power of these ad campaigns and general lack of consumer understanding is evident in calls I receive from users of basic phones with no internet at all worried about not having the next generation of mobile technology.

Does the current state of 4G deliver on the marketing promise?  What is a 4G network capable of?  Are current networks even 4G at all?

Put on your high boots and join PhoneCan as we attempt to wade through the murky waters of marketing and confusing terminology to define just what is– the current state of 4G.

Come along as we take a quick trip through the world of chargers.

This question is understandable, really, seeing as how Verizon’s upgrade policy has been rewritten a bit over the past couple months.  But even before the changes, people were asking us for help.

Upgrades are really quite simple, but because of the recent changes, we’re going to split this answer into two sections: customers who signed their last contract in 2010 or earlier, and those who signed their contract in 2011.  New customers will want to pay attention to the second section, as this will pertain to them as well.

Come along with us as we tackle the complexity of a Verizon Wireless upgrade.