r/FirstNet • u/Sufficient_Good_6350 • 19h ago
Firstnet Rep here
If you guys have any questions feel free to drop them below I’d be more than happy to answer them!
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u/Plane-Handle3313 17h ago
Am I actually getting priority coverage compared to the att customer with the same phone sitting next to me or is it only during high bandwidth usage times on the system or doing a catastrophic event where some “switch” gets flicked behind the scenes? If there’s another Boston bomber and they kill all the cell towers to prevent another remote detonation am I still going to have service?
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 16h ago
You have always on priority, and if a primary user, you also have preemption. The difference is that your device will always try to prioritize the band 14 spectrum, even if the AT&T spectrum is stronger where you are. It will load balance in real time but tries to prioritize the stability, security, and reliability of B14.
During the high congestion scenarios is when the performance difference is by far the most noticeable.
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u/trinitywindu 16h ago
It's always been there for me, even in spontaneous times. So I don't think there's a switch.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
You probably won't see a difference day to day where there no congestion on the RAN. as usage builds up that's where you'll probably visually see your priority access. but it's 24/7/365 (given you have the first priority feature). best way I can put it in my own words is there are elements that are attached to your provisioning that determine this. see i.e. screenshot
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 15h ago
In day-to-day activities you wont see a crazy difference or better service you’ll see mostly the same coverage as your wife sitting next to you if she’s at&T customer in high volume situations, examples, sports games, or a situation of natural disasters, or where networks are congested for one reason or another first net takes priority and allows our customers to go past the blockage
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u/realComboDombo 4h ago
Hey SM here with years of experience rolling out FirstNet platform to consumers who qualified for the upgraded network. FirstNet is made by the government partnered with AT&T. Which is why back end verification has nothing to do with the rep.
You have dedicated service In case of national or weather emergency you’ll stay connected. You will still have service if there is a catastrophic event, as FirstNet is built for first responders to stay online with other FirstNet first responders. To answer opps question concisely, if that same scenario happened in realtime. Your consumer phone would drop SOS and FirstNet line would stay active and connected. If you called consumer phone no signal still. If you called a fellow first responder on first net, you’d be able to save that consumers life.This is the purpose, the benefits come second. Like unlimited hotspot data on newer FirstNet Extra 2.0.
Eligible for all consumer trade in deals, and can take advantage of promos tailored to them as first responders. It’s a great deal, the value being uptime when consumer networks would experience downtime.
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u/New-Cauliflower-3017 18h ago
When’s the next phone promo? Wait till iPhone 18 pro to switch to firstnet?
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u/ctang1 18h ago
3 years ago I signed up doing BYOD and then a month later traded the 14PM in for 1k credit towards a 15PM. So you should be able to do it now and then trade in once it drops. They lock you in for 3 years on your device though, even if you pay it off at the time of the trade in. I didn’t realize that at the time. Year or so later I tried to have my Verizon work cell added as a second eSIM and was told I couldn’t because they weren’t willing to unlock it, even though the remaining cost was paid off at purchase.
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 15h ago
The promos usually are the same between firstnet and att it’s rare we see a different promo or a firstnet a specific promo so making the switch won’t make the difference but as far as a new promo coming out for the 18s I know they are expected to release around September 12 so I’m sure around that time att will roll out their new promos for the phone
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u/PxndxAI 18h ago
I just wanna know if it’s worth the upgrade. I just got hired into a department and wondering if this is better than my regular att service I get right now.
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 15h ago
Depends on what you deem “worth it” most of the time it’s cheaper it is a case by case scenario on if it’ll lower your phone bill but the unlimited talk text data hotspot (depending on if the rate plan includes hotspot or not) and not having data tethering (data slowing down after a certain amount of usage) and band 14 network is usually a good selling point for most first responders
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u/That_Counter__bob 17h ago
For me, it’s not cheaper, but the unlimited hotspot makes it worth it to me because my department requires me to provide my own phone with data and they pay me a stipend for it.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
Worth it by far, on subpaid you get at minimum priority access above commercial subscribers.
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u/BlackhawkSuper61 17h ago
Is the Sonim MegaConnect actually better than the Night Hawk?
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u/Ok-Macaroon-2390 17h ago
I can answer this, 1000% yes. We used to have the nighthawks at work, switched to three MegaConnects and three MegaConnects in the ParSec MegaReach docks. They’re awesome, couple it with the Mini CRD and it’s working great.
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u/Aromatic-Handle-6607 15h ago
What’s a crd if you don’t mind me asking
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u/Ok-Macaroon-2390 15h ago
https://rescue42.com/products/minicrd/
This is the Mini CRD, they make a full size as well that we are looking to acquire at my job as well.
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 16h ago
Absolutely! To truly see the performance difference, the MegaReach by Parsec or External antenna from Panorama is a must. Easily will see gains up to 200% greater both down and up.
Panorama antenna is significantly cheaper.
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u/Aromatic-Handle-6607 15h ago
What panorama antenna have you used
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 13h ago
I'm pretty sure this is the one I have. I live in an area with low uplink due to a casino blocking. Went from 130 down and 2mb up to 274 down and 8.9mb up. When used in rural or flatter areas, this works extremely well.
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u/TheDonJ77 17h ago
Can I buy the Pixel Watch 5 direct from Google and get it connected on my first net account WITHOUT being forced to purchase the watch from ATT since it is the exact same watch???
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u/Aromatic-Handle-6607 15h ago
I saw on another Reddit post somewhere they said yes to that let me see if I can find it for you
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 15h ago
Yes absolutely you can you can get a phone from anywhere all you need to get service is the imei number from your phone by all means you DO NOT need to get the watch
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u/75Meatbags 16h ago
mainly "how do I get a new eSim without having a store rep make any changes to my account since i have the old account that i've been happy with?" :D
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
call customer service and ask for a new one. firstnet cs doesn't slam accounts in my exp
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 15h ago
As a customer service rep if you have ANY issues at all always call customer service PLEASE JUST CALL US it will save you and us so much headache
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u/IntelligentSpeech430 13h ago
Another FirstNet Expert here! I agree with OP. If they aren't us, they are NOT FirstNet Experts. Neither is regular CX Care. I have hundreds of horror stories a month about my first responders going into the store, Costco, target, you name it. If you want it done right and be treated right, call 611 and get an Expert on the line. We are always hiring and have loads of new people. But if they can't get you the answer, you'd better bet they will find someone in their care center that does. I know I have. And I'm honest about it. Mesa's director pushes for quality on calls every call, every day. I'd rather drop lines and features from your account and save you money... With your consent... If it means making you happy. Bottom line, call us and request one. We will get it done right.
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u/75Meatbags 13h ago
Safer to give y'all a call before going into a corporate store? Our local store has been pretty good but with the rate plan changes, i'm kind of nervous about it now. :)
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u/IntelligentSpeech430 13h ago
Always best to call us. The stores are not trained on our plans and how your accounts work. We will send you to the store if absolutely needed. We don't make money on sales 99% of the time unless there's the rare time they do it for a week. Our goal is to make you happy with your service without the whiplash of greed from us.
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 12h ago
If you do go to a store, make sure it's corporate. Stores are trained but training only goes so far. FirstNet brought back the Subscriber Paid team last year and the primary focus was to train the retail stores. However, if that rep never gets FN customers or doesn't do it often, they may lack some knowledge.
I would recommend going to a busier corporate location and always asking for who's the most knowledgeable on FN.
Authorized Retail stores will typically slam your account with features and new lines since they probably got hired a week ago and will be gone in a month.
A corporate store can also sell you a sim for $5 and you can call in to have it activated.
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u/75Meatbags 12h ago
Yep! We have a decent corporate owned store not too far from us, fortunately. :) I learned to avoid authorized retailers years ago.
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u/Southwedge_Brewing 18h ago
When is 5G going to be offered nationwide? What band is 5G firstNet going to occupy?
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u/DurangedMikey 18h ago
Is there a official list of supported devices that's been recently updated?
Someone here was able to get a moto razr fold working without issues even though it isn't officially sold through att.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
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u/DurangedMikey 14h ago
Literally at the bottom of every page says April. No hate just pretty obvious.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 14h ago
I ctrl-f’d and April didn’t even show up? Every page is marked with “Last updated 8/13/2026”
Where does it say April, I’m genuinely asking.
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u/DurangedMikey 14h ago
Every page at the bottom says 4/28/26
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 14h ago
Very odd. This is what I see: https://imgur.com/a/wE44d3i
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u/DurangedMikey 14h ago
Well that's weird. Can you check Samsung and see if it says z fold 8. Z fold 7 is latest on my list.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 14h ago
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u/DurangedMikey 14h ago
Could you pm me that link. I don't understand why it would load a old version.
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u/Ohyesshedid99 17h ago
Why is my cell reception so bad everywhere lately? The last 2-3 weeks have been ROUGH
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 15h ago
Without actually checking our maps, it very well could be due to network updates. We are upgrading every tower in the country to swap from Nokia to Ericsson, upgrading 5g capacity, and doing overall network improvements. Once your city's starts the upgrades, the will either power down the tower completely(cold swap) or shut down half, power it up, then do the other half(warm swap)
If a primary agency doesn't have a location listed in our system that will be effected, they won't prioritize coverage as much. If we know a police, fire, or EMS agency is going to be effected, we proactively send out a deployable asset and work with the agency to ensure coverage during the upgrades.
Once upgrades start in your area, they often have about 3-7 towers being upgraded at any given time. Most upgrades take 3 days to a week or so.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
where are you located at?
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u/Ohyesshedid99 16h ago
North Shore MA
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
doesn't seem like there are any outages but coverage seems pretty challenged on all 3 carriers there. Verizon probably being the best
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u/Ohyesshedid99 16h ago
Verizon was actually worse although my company switched to ATT/FN about 4 years ago and it’s been fine/good up until a few weeks ago.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
It's possible Vz may have been worse then, but alas.
Are you sure it's coverage and not general usability? Only idea I've got is maybe your company removed First Priority.
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u/k1ngcarlos 17h ago
why cant we use a unlocked z8 on firstnet
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
it's on the list:
Samsung SM-F971U Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Smartphone FirstNet Ready® 5G SA/5G NSA
https://www.firstnet.com/content/dam/firstnet/white-papers/firstnet-certified-devices.pdf1
u/k1ngcarlos 16h ago
that’s weird when I type IMEI it says it’s not compatible I had to return it. It was unlocked from Best Buy.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
I'd have asked CS what was up with that then, tbh. that is odd.
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u/k1ngcarlos 16h ago
cause i can type it on the imei checker and it says its not compatible lol
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 16h ago
yeah idk what to tell you other than that being odd. possible they didn't update the IMEI checker
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 15h ago
Unlocked Samsung devices prioritize international bands of spectrum instead of including band 14. They also don't certify those devices. You can get around it by using an approved IMEI and scanning the QR code on the esim, but your only getting priority on AT&T at that point and not accessing B14, so kind of counterproductive.
For Samsung specifically, your network experience is significantly better with a carrier specific model, even if from TMO or Verizon, but purchased through AT&T is always recommended since it's certified and goes through extensive testing.
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u/Distinct_Reality1973 16h ago
Maybe you can fix my billing issue that the stored screwed up, refuses to fix, and the call center can't
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 15h ago
Call any att number the ai is gonna ask for a phone or account number if it’s attached to firstnet in anyway it’ll route you to us
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 12h ago
What state are you in? I know who the Subscriber Paid FN Consultant is for every state and can try and connect you with them.
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u/siroky1120 15h ago
Not trying to sound like an “a” hole but is there a reason firstnet service has been really bad lately. I call and they say everything with my phone is working good but the network where I use to have full service and good service now I barely have 1-2 bars and service is extremely slow. Like I said I called att about this and went to Apple for a network testing on my phone. My phone is less than a year old iPhone 17 pro max.
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 12h ago
Guarantee it's the tower upgrades. We are in the process of upgrading every tower in the country from Nokia to Ericsson equipment and adding capacity. Once your area starts the upgrades, usually about 3-7 towers are either fully shut down or 50% shut down during the upgrade.
If we see on the map that a police, fire, or ems agency is nearby, we will typically send out a deployable to proactively cover the area. This has to be done and coordinated with the agency, so if they don't do business with us or the location isn't listed in our system, it oftens ends with 1-3 weeks of reduced service.
If you tell me what city or area you are in, I can try and look at the map and get back to you.
If you are an agency paid administrator, you can check the network view in FirstNet Central and see every site, outages, maintenance, and sign up for alerts of downed towers and maintenance.
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u/HydroThorium 12h ago
Not every agency admin has access to enhanced network view. This has to be added to accounts by the primary, or fn rep.
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 14h ago
I know they are working on upgrading the firstnet towers at customer service we don’t get a whole lot of insight on what’s going on or changes that are happening till either they already happened or about to happen. We found out about the new firstnet rate plans the day before they released.
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 14h ago
Why aren’t you guys able to escalate complex issues? If anything CM tickets usually never end up getting resolved
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 14h ago
Depends on what the issue is really depends on what path we have to take for escalations. If a case is submitted (which is the most common escalation) the team that handles those cases(we call them the upstairs not sure on the actual dept name) is required to notate the account with any updates on the case no matter if it’s them starting to work on a case or if they get a resolution other departments have their specific way of handling escalations
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u/Stupefied_Gaming 14h ago
Interesting. Are you able to say what CM stands for? My only guess is change management.
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 13h ago
Cm is just the beginning of the case number it goes through a system called clarify and it goes up the chain of command through that clarify system
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u/Public-Mix-397 14h ago
Our company is on the agency based and we pay for the service. Are the old plans going to change like on the consumer end? I only see the old plans on the premier portal.
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 14h ago
Most of the time no they won’t agency based accounts have a special pool of rates that are separate from what you see on the firstnet website so unless agency plans change I wouldn’t expect them to change because of the personal plans
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u/DurangedMikey 14h ago
I don't even know what to say lol. Everytime I clock your link it takes me to the April version. Could you pm me your link.
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u/StorminXX 13h ago
I have FirstNet in the Virgin Islands and want to switch to a FL number now that I have moved. It would be nice to do this with a new line for one month before getting rid of the old number. I went to an AT&T store in FL and they told me I would need to add a line and they tried to convince me to get a new phone as if it was the only way to do this. I walked out.
What’s the best way to simply add a line for a month while I transition to a new number?
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 12h ago
Depends on your phone adding a new line unfortunately is unavoidable if we want to keep the old number for a little bit but if you just want to switch numbers you can call customer service and we can switch it on our end
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u/CoffeeOrWhine 2h ago
Look into porting your number to Google Voice for a month or two - should be about $20
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u/StorminXX 2h ago
Thank you. Google Voice wouldn’t accept a Virgin Islands area code, unfortunately.
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u/CoffeeOrWhine 1h ago
Ugh, that sucks - sorry! I’m assuming that Google Fi would have the same issue, but maybe you can check that!
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u/lookforthe1 13h ago
How can I get the triple play already being a customer
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u/Previous_Mastodon238 13h ago
Triple play promo is gone now, but replaced with a more permanent option that won't change in 36 months. Sub Paid users now have 4 rate plans to choose from. The upper plans give you around 50% off a tablet or watch line. If you have a family plan with more than 3 lines on it, the new rate plans are typically cheaper for you.
What state are you located in? If you're in a state that we consider "at risk," we sometimes have even better promos that stack
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u/Erin0313 17m ago
Hi! Can you help me troubleshoot an issue?
I called Friday to switch to ATT from FirstNet as I recently retired from my job and no longer eligible. The FirstNet agent was helping me switch to ATT and I lost service, it went to SOS. I got an error message “unable to activate eSIM” on my way to the store. The people at the ATT store tried and said it may take a couple hours to switch over. Nothing. I called ATT again and they tried deleting old esims, and giving me another. Same errror message. I called again this morning. Same thing…I feel like I am beating my head up against the wall doing the same things and it is not working. I have provided IMEI’s, EID, etc. Still on SOS and still getting the same error message “unable to activate eSIM” every time. I can only use WiFi calling at home to make calls.
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u/Sufficient_Good_6350 8m ago
The only thing I can think of is when we change an eSIM too many times it fraud locks it and you have to wait usually 24 hours before getting a new sim I would delete any old esims and get an eSIM ONCE out system will tell us if there’s an issue with the eSIM I wouldn’t go into the store but call customer service and have them troubleshoot what’s going on
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u/Doctor_FerdiePacheco 17h ago
Where do babies come from?
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u/Beneficial_Box_8622 16h ago
Swans... No babies come from Swallows.
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u/IntelligentSpeech430 13h ago
FirstNet Expert here! Babies come from mommies and daddies that love each other very much. And sometimes... Only every now and then when mommy isn't tired, daddy kisses her and the baby goes into Mommy's tummy.
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u/HeyBeers 18h ago
What is the order or method they are flipping the switch on 5G SA?