FreedomPop Franklin 850 Hotspot Woes

Motorola Moto G5 Android 7 single-SIM phone with a cheap prepaid T-Mobile SIM. When I added the $20 500-MB/month-free-data-for-life hotspot, the hotspot took over the 'phone' function and, being wifi only, can't perform it. It provides wifi just fine, but I can't make voice calls using the T-Mobile 'phone'.

When I try to phone, I get a Freedompop blue screen and the following message:

"Unable to recognize SIM Make sure FreedomPop SIM card is inserted properly and in the primary slot if dual-SIM. Please contact customer support if you continue to have issues."

There are [OK] and [Manual Login] buttons. Neither one helps. No difference with the hotspot being on or off.

I also have a phone with a Freedompop SIM, and I think that somehow SOMETHING is getting them confused.

FP responded to my email in 5 days with instructions for updating the PRL, which made no difference. When I replied to their email, 3 days later they sent the same instructions. Awaiting the third response.

I can't find any setting in the G5 that I might change/delete to eliminate recognition of the hotspot.

If FP doesn't help, I'll phone Motorola next week. Worst case: factory reset, which is NOT what I want to do under any circumstances.

The little hotspot is perfect for what I want it for -- occasional use when I'm away from home or any other wifi source, which is rarely. NOT at the cost of the phone function, though. I can use the google hangouts dialer with the hotspot, but I'm willing to bet that T-Mobile's coverage is better than whatever the hotspot uses, and I use the phone only for 'emergency' calls ("Don't leave, I'm on my way..") rather than ordinary usage.

The 99-cent FP SIM in the OTHER phone has been really useful (Gas Buddy usage alone is well worth the price of admission!) , so FP provides an amazingly good free service -- their CUSTOMER service, OTOH, is abysmal.

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Cheers, Bev 
    "So I'm at the wailing wall, standing there like a moron, 
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The Real Bev
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I had to reset my LG Android twice now. Once when the camera stopped working, the second time when Whatsapp dropped dead.

The second time around, I figured out the correct method of backing up my contacts list so I didn't have to re-enter them all by hand.

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"I am a river to my people." 
Jeff-1.0 
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Fox's Mercantile

Those and the apps are apparently backed up via google so it just takes time, it's the settings and general personalization that cause trauma, most especially the 'favorites' for the GPS apps -- Osmand and CoPilot for instance.

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Cheers, Bev 
  "Once you've provoked a few people into publicly swearing they are 
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The Real Bev

Something Freedompop-related (I assume, since FP was the only thing that used it) installed a 'Messaging' app which caused the problem. Deleted it and everything works now, including the hotspot the way it's supposed to.

Their customer service sucks badly, but their SIM (in a different phone) and hotspot (works with 3 different devices so far) actually work once you get organized!

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Cheers,	Bev 
   "...and then I'll become a veterinarian because I love children." 
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The Real Bev

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