Before you start

An unlocked handset, or an eSIM-capable one
A US address for postpaid, but not for prepaid
A payment method — prepaid accepts foreign cards, postpaid usually does not
Wireless Emergency Alerts enabled in your phone's settings

Step-by-step

1
Activate a US eSIM before you fly, or buy prepaid on landing
An eSIM bought before departure means you land with a working US number, which matters because banks, Driver Services and rental applications all send SMS codes. No identity registration is required at any point in the US.
Mobile appWho: YouDay 1
2
Check your handset is unlocked and band-compatible
Phones bought on contract abroad are frequently carrier-locked, and some regional models miss US band combinations. With 3G shut down there is no fallback network. Run your exact model through the carrier's compatibility tool.
OnlineWho: You
3
Start prepaid rather than fighting a credit check
Postpaid runs a credit check and a newcomer with no file is declined or asked for a deposit of several hundred dollars. Prepaid has no check, no contract and is usually cheaper for the same data on the same network.
OnlineWho: You
4
Turn on Wireless Emergency Alerts and add a weather app with warning push
WEA messages for tornado warnings are pushed to every compatible handset in the affected polygon and they are on by default — but people disable them after the first false alarm and then miss the real one. Keep them on. Add the National Weather Service Nashville office's alerts and a radar app you trust.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1
5
Buy a battery-powered NOAA weather radio
It is a cheap, unglamorous device and it is the reason people wake up. A night-time tornado warning arriving when the power is out and the mobile network is congested is exactly the case a weather radio is designed for. Longtime Middle Tennessee residents have one; newcomers do not.
OnlineWho: You
6
Get home internet by exact address
AT&T Fiber, Google Fiber and Comcast all serve parts of Nashville and coverage is uneven — Google Fiber's footprint in particular stops abruptly at certain streets. Check the specific address rather than the neighbourhood before signing a lease if your work depends on the connection.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport for postpaid; nothing at all for prepaid
US address for postpaid and for home internet
A payment card — prepaid usually accepts foreign cards, postpaid rarely does

Things most newcomers don’t know

Wireless Emergency Alerts are the single most important setting on your phone here.

Middle Tennessee gets a disproportionate share of tornadoes that arrive at night and are wrapped in rain, so you will not see or hear one coming. WEA pushes a warning to every compatible handset inside the warning polygon, and it is what wakes people. People switch the alerts off after a few false alarms; that decision is the one that kills, and the March 2020 storm made the point at 12:30am.

Source: National Weather Service Nashville

The US has no SIM registration of any kind.

Most countries in this app require passport registration to activate a SIM and several require biometrics. The US requires nothing at all for prepaid — you can buy one with cash and never give a name. Arriving from the Gulf, South Asia or East Africa, the total absence of paperwork reads like an oversight. It is deliberate, and it makes this the fastest task of your first month.

Source: community-reported

The credit check is the barrier to postpaid, not the paperwork.

Carriers screen credit before offering postpaid and a newcomer with no file is declined or charged a deposit of a few hundred dollars. Nobody at the counter explains that prepaid avoids the check entirely, uses the same towers, costs less, and converts to postpaid later once you have history.

Source: community-reported

Fibre availability in Nashville stops at surprising boundaries.

Google Fiber, AT&T Fiber and Comcast built out block by block over a decade, and Google Fiber's Nashville deployment in particular was slowed by long disputes over pole access. The practical result is that two streets in the same neighbourhood can have gigabit symmetric fibre and slow cable respectively. Check the exact address before you commit to a lease.

Source: FCC — National Broadband Map

Common mistakes to avoid

Disabling Wireless Emergency Alerts after a false alarm and missing a night-time tornado warning.
Bringing a carrier-locked handset and discovering it after landing.
Applying for postpaid with no credit file and facing a large deposit.
Relying on a foreign number for bank and government SMS verification.
Signing a lease without checking internet availability at that exact address.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.