I have searched a little bit, and i think that is only applies to GSM networks? What are the benefits of it? Can you do it with a nextel because thats what i have? I have seen unlocked nextels but have no idea with them
Lots of questions, thanks guys

 

most phone companies 'lock' the phones when you buy them, so they will only work on that specific carriers network. so if you buy a phone from att and they give you a rebate on it, you can't just pocket their rebate and switch to a different carrier.

:IBbetteranswerfromkensteele:

 

A GSM phone is locked when it will only operate on the network in which it was locked to.

For example, if you buy an AT&T GSM phone, it will probably be locked by AT&T so that it will only make and receive calls using an AT&T sim-card. If you attempt to use a non AT&T sim card in a locked phone, the sim-card will be rejected. All locked GSM phones can be unlocked using an unlock code. All unlock codes are known by both the service provider and the phone's manufacturer.

BTW, the sim-card contains the owner's account information and the cellular phone number (among other things).

A service provider will lock a phone to it's network so that whoever purchases the phone will be forced to use that phone on a particular network. Using the phone on that network obviously generates revenue for that service provider. So you can't use that phone unless you run up a bill on the one network. A service provider does not want you to buy a phone from them and turn around and use that phone on another network. Probably because the phone has been discounted by the service provider to a price below SRP or rebated to allow you to buy the equipment and the service provider will make that money back over time if you use their service.

If T-Mobile sold unlocked phones, why would AT&T or Cingular have to sell phones, they could just go over to T-Mobile and pickup a bunch of phones for cheap and resell them on their own service. It costs the service provider a lot of money to bring a single phone from the manufacturer on the market. Why would the customer bother buying expensive AT&T phone when they can pickup a cheap unlocked phone from T-Mobile and then just slip in their AT&T sim-card?

GSM service providers should unlock phones for their customers after a prescribed period of time. Also world phones need to be unlocked so when you take them overseas, you can use [prepaid] sim-card from a local service providers. European GSM phones are generally sold at a non-discounted price and are generally unlocked (by law).

"Locked" is not always specific to GSM. Sprint and Verizon phones are locked to their respective networks (as do many other service providers in different ways). There is no other iDEN (Nextel) competitor network so I'm not sure why Nextel would need to lock their phones.

A locked phone is not to be confused with roaming. Even if a phone is locked to a specific network, the phone is still allowed to "roam" onto another [competitor] network and roaming fees may or may not be accessed. You can make and receive calls on the other network, you just can't sign up an account with them and use the "other" phone.

 

I thought locked & unlocked is when you power up a phone & there's a code you need to put in to be able to use it. I have this on my phone.

 

welcome to the age of GSM and ebay.

 

thats just a keylock

 

actually, what is was reffering to is an actual phone lock code. Keylock just keeps you from pressing buttons on accident....

 

Well by locking a phone a company gets many advantages, first the customer knows he cant just buy any phone when he wants to upgrade, he has to go to his service provider, like if I am on T-Mobile and I see a great deal at Cingular, I cant use there phone or if My friend has a Cingular I cant use it, This way T-Mobile gets more sales, but I mean lot of people do know how to unlock.

But there are lots of other reasons to, like say the phone gets stolen or lost, Happens all the time, Now say the person who owned the phone was on a T-Mobile Plan, and the thief wants to use the phone but the original Owner Turned his service off, so a Thief goes to a store, and the store owner will tell him, You can only use this phone on T-Mobile Prepaid, this way the Store Owner gets re-activation money, and the theif can only use the phone on T-Mobile, so this way T-Mobile kinda owns the MOnoply on that phone, to put it short even if a phone gets stolen, T-Mobile makes money off whoever has that phone, But one thing I like about T-Mobile is, if you are a Monthly Customer, You can simply call in and Ask for a request for a unlock code, they are really cool about it, because they understand people want to use there phones overseas, while ATT and Cingular will say SCREW YOU, if you ask for a code

It seems dumb like Buy a V600 from AT&T and its a QUAD BAND, people buy it just for that reason so they can use the 4 bands all over the World, but AT&T Locks it, so You pay a hefty price for a WORLD PHONE, which is basically useless until you get it unlocked.

I am sure you can unlock a Nextel Somehow, but whats the Use, Nextel is the only Major iDen Provider in the U.S. so it gives you no use, and I dont think iDen is used too much Worldwide.

 

Sorry to Hijack the thread a bit but since we are on this luck unlock thing here is what I was curious about : SInce i purchased my new phone from T-Mobile along with a pay to go card how long do I keep the phone number for if I do not use the phone for awhile? For instance I am moving to Germany and will unlock the phone for service over there but since I have a T-mobile (USA) sim card if I say return next year or in two years for a vacation can I get a Pay as you go card from T-Mobile and start using my number here again? or will they after awhile kill my US phone number for lack of use?

Jens

 

It has been the Boost phones that they are unlocking to work on the nextel, iDen network. Thats what it was confused about. Thanks Ken!

 

For the most part, you are correct except one thing. A legitimate service provider will not profit from a stolen phone. If the owner calls in the phone's serial number as stolen, the service provider will flag the GSM's IMEI in the system as stolen and that IMEI (serial number) will never be able to be used anywhere in the world (according to GSM standards). Every GSM phone has a unique IMEI.

Everytime your press the Send/Talk key on a phone, the serial number is transmitted to the network for authentication. The only way to make that phone work is to change the internal IMEI serial number, which is illegal.

I thought Boost was Nextel? Just like Virgin is Sprint. No?

 

I was under the impression that boost was the pay as you go card version of nextel. You see the unlocked boost phones all over ebay. anyone correct me if i'm wrong.....

 

Ya thats the only thing I can think of, Unlocking Nextel to work on the Prepaid Boost.

I asked couple T-Mobile Reps, all they said is, there procedure is, if a phone is stolen, they will Suspend the Account, and tell the customer to get a new phone, I dont think they go through all the procedures u mentioned, I know in Europe they are more strict. Lots of people dont call in to do all that cancellation stuff, I activate phones all the time for people and even buy them, been doing it for a while, I have yet to find a phone that I couldnt use, Now Sprint is another story, usually if you try to call and activate those, the Rep will tell you, it is reported stolen or has a Bill on it which is unpaid, same with TDMA Phones. Lot of people I know get on a plan, end up not paying there bill, and they have a Useless phone in there hand, so they come and get it activated on Prepaid, kind of a way to say We got a FREE Phone for getting on a Plan, but now its on prepaid, but they screw there own credit up.

And theres always a way to Change the IMEI if you really want to

And Boost is a Prepaid version of Nextel, just like Virgin Mobile is a Prepaid Version of Sprints Networks. Boost Charges a Daily Fee (I forgot how much) for the PTT feature, but when you work at a construction site and you have bad credit, its a reasonable deal.

Make it short, I dont disagree with you, Companies can Ban IMEI's, and blacklist them, if they want, but Most people dont bother to call in and do all that, and most reps dont bother to sit there and do all that.

One thing thats really funny is, even after its blacklisted, you can Unlock it and use it on a different Network, so you can still use it, because it is only Blacklisted on the Home Network, but on that site it talks about how in UK they have a Central Database for Blacklisted Number so it would be impossible to use the phone All over UK, unless u took it out of the country.

More Info: http://www.unlockme.co.uk/blacklist.html

That is a European site

 

as long as you keep time on it, your number should stay Active.

$10 T-Mobile Cards will Expire 30 Days after, and $25, $50, $100 Last for 90 Days, and if you put another card, it will just extend the expiration date, But Even after your expiration date has expired, you get 90 Days More until you can put another card on there, until your phone will full deactivate, and you having to go and get a new number and reactivate it. So Basically you get aobut 6 Months from the Card, till your phone will fully deactivate. Wish I knew you were doing this, in August T-Mobile Prepaid was running a Promotion, each card you bought lasted a WHOLE YEAR!

More Information - http://www.t-mobile.com/prepaid/rates.asp

 

AH no worries Raheel ,I appreciate it anyway .Once I go to Europe and get setteled in I will ge ta regular phone contract and be able to use the phone here anyway so it really does not matter in the end I was just curious how long the number stays alive for .

Jens

 

No Problem, Just keep in mind it will live for 3 Months after your expiration date, and that you can always come back and get the phone re-activated for $30-40 and get back on another prepaid number if your previous one expires