Can I use an iPhone only on WiFi or do I have to activate with a carrier

Question

Can I use an iPhone only on WiFi or do I have to activate with a carrier

Hi, I am considering getting an iPhone 5s. The town I live in does not have cell service but we have broadband. Can I use an iPhone just on my home WiFi network or do I have to subscribe to a mobile carrier to activate the iPhone to use? I understand some functions of the iPhone will be limited on WiFi only. One other question if I may. Does the iPhone GPS still function when there isn't a cell signal?

Thank you for any help with this,

Artie R. Demers

Posted on Jan 10, 2016 11:48 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 17, 2017 8:36 AM in response to Arthur R. Demers

Ya you can use google voice for free, it will give you a phone number that you can get text from and send Text, you will also have voice mail and you can make and receive calls. Just down load the app. I did not get much phone calls and I worked from home so I had WiFi so I canceled my cel Service and now got the free phone.

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Answer 2

Jan 10, 2016 2:32 PM in response to Arthur R. Demers

You must have both a carrier and cellular service from that carrier to make phone calls or send and receive text messages. Everything else will work over WiFi, but not the phone or SMS/MMS messaging.

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Answer 3

Jan 10, 2016 12:46 PM in response to sberman

Hi sberman,

Thank you for the reply. If I understand you correctly, I'll have to subscribe to a mobile carrier before I would be able to ues an iPhone on my home WiFi network. Once the iPhone is activated do I still need the mobile subscription? The only reason I thought of getting an iPhone (as I said eariler we do not have cellular service here) was it seems an iPhone on my WiFi would still be more functional than an iPod Touch on WiFi. And an iPhone 5s is a little less expensive than the iPod Touch.

Thank you again,

Artie R. Demers

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Answer 4

sberman

Level 10

272,550 points

Jan 10, 2016 12:25 PM in response to Arthur R. Demers

You can use the iPhone on your WiFi network. However, it will not act as a telephone without a cellular signal. Further, you must have a SIM card in the iPhone in order to activate it. So, once it is activated, you can use your iPhone as if it were an iPod.

GPS does not depend on cellular signals.

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Answer 5

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,552 points

Jan 10, 2016 2:39 PM in response to Arthur R. Demers

An iPhone without a cellular carrier has no more functionality than an iPod Touch.

Where you get the idea that it would be less expensive, I have no idea. A 128GB iPod Touch is $399. A 32GB iPhone 5S is 499.

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