Is anyone aware of something like this, or what would be involved?
Before I am assaulted for asking this question, the reason it is of interest of me is not because I have a stolen phone, but T-Mobile US is now blocking certain data plans by identifying handsets by IMEI number.
I recently bought a unlocked HTC Magic and inserted my SIM card which worked just fine on a T-Mobile Shadow (HTC Juno). The data plan worked for a few hours, and then was blocked because the T-Mobile network recognizes these phones IMEI as a G1. The data plan I actually had (per the recommendation of a T-Mobile rep), was a Blackberry plan with an International E-Mail Roaming package (as I travel frequently internationally). After many hours on the phone with them trying to find a solution, T-Mobile determined there was not a solution and I could not use the HTC Magic with my plans.
Given these changes on the T-Mobile US network are relatively new, and the imminent growth of Android handsets, I believe there could be a market for such an application.
Lastly, according to my research, in the United States, there are no laws that exist which bar changing of an IMEI number. So, to all of you vigilantes out there, please leave law enforcement up to the police.
Anyone have insight into this?
from what i understand, every time the phone is booted up, it connects to the carrier to let it know what your IMEI is, then associates your account(your number, sms, email, etc) to that imei. if you change it, you could run the risk of picking someone else's imei and start receiving some of their things(from what i understand, although i could be a bit off.) but from the bit of info i have read online about it, its similar to MAC address Spoofing on a pc, in respects to what need to be done and how and what it works for.
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Hi all,
I have a SPV3000 from my work and I lost it for a while so I mentionned it to my manager who is going to state it to Orange to get it blacklisted.
The thing is, after a couple of weeks, I have just found my phone again!
I am not feeling I should mention it again to my boss as it sounds really ridiculous and he was kind enough not to argue on the loss. But well, now I have a phone fully working which IMEI code will soon be blacklisted by the 3 main operators in France running a common database on the subject (in case of phones stolen). I may send my phone to a friend abroad who will certainly be able to use it there but is there any tricky solution to be able to use it in France?
What is this IMEI code exactly and how does it work?
BE SURE I AGREE WITH THE IDEA OF BLACK LISTS TO AVOID SO COMMON AGGRESSIONS JUST FOR PHONES...
You may send me private posts in case you are reluctant to have this kind of information largely communicated.
Hi marcel06!
IMEI is kind of like a serial number which your cell company sees.
If you haven't noticed, there is a wiki link under the word for details.
There are no tricks when it comes to IMEI. There are ways of changing it, but that is illegal in most countries.
Because IMEI identifies your phone, thieves could change their phone IMEI to match yours so you would pay for calls made from other phone.
If you really want to use the phone again, you should report that it was found so they won't blacklist you.
levenum said:
Because IMEI identifies your phone, thieves could change their phone IMEI to match yours so you would pay for calls made from other phone.
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Oh.. no. I'm not sure about those pre-SIM period phone. But I'm definately sure that now, for phones that are using SIM cards, you are not able to charge to others account using IMEI. The controlling mech is the SIM card, the billing information is in the card, not the phone. But the operator will have the power (as I've heard) to disable/track phone by IMEI.
I talk to us cellular a few weeks ago and they said I could activate a HTC touch Pro without the data package. Well, I bought one on ebay and went to activate the phone and then they said I had to have a data package. Is there anyway to activate the htc touch pro as a phone only? I would still like to use the wifi, gps and and sync my calendar to my computer. I tried to find info on the web but have found nothing that really helped me.
I think US Cellular is a CDMA network, which means, unlike GSM where you just swap the SIM card from an existing phone, US Cellular actually has to activate your phone for you for your account to be active. So this isn't really a phone issue, its really a matter of whether US Cellular will permit you to use a smartphone w/o a data plan.
Call back a few times asking the same thing, sometimes different customer service reps will give you different answers/service.
Yes, us cellular reps seems to give different answers and it is a CDMA. Is it possible to activate the phone without them knowing it is a smart phone and just activate the phone option. I would need to know how to activate the phone before hand and know what option I need to fill out. I would give them the dec number and than ask for the number I need to make the phone work.
Not sure if this rings true for CDMA, but the IMEI number for GSM phones identify each phone uniquely (manufacturer, model, plus unique code for each phone). So if you need to give them a similiar number for a CDMA phone (its called the ESN number I think), they'll know right away if its a smartphone (if they cared to look it up).
Best bet is probably keep calling until you get a nice rep that won't ask too many questions.
Not sure if this rings true for CDMA, but the IMEI number for GSM phones identify each phone uniquely (manufacturer, model, plus unique code for each phone). So if you need to give them a similiar number for a CDMA phone (its called the ESN number I think), they'll know right away if its a smartphone (if they cared to look it up).
Best bet is probably keep calling until you get a nice rep that won't ask too many questions.
Hello,
I have a Samsung Galaxy S without a data-connection, I really need a data-connection becouse I think the phone really needs a data-connection.
So here's my question:
Is it possible to get a subscription of a data-only SIM (the subscriptions they use for tablets etc.)
It is possible to use that kind of SIM/subscription in a phone?
Since I don't really make calls or send text's I really need that but I still want to be able to call and send text's.
Does anyone got a answer?
I think it would be helpful if you told us where you're from. I'm pretty sure the conditions for data-only plans differ from country to country.
I'm from The Netherlands.
Data only sim should work fine. Curious to know, why you need data only sim on a phone. It kills the purpose of having a phone.
I tried some time ago in HTC Desire and it didn't work, still don't know why. (it works with PC + USB Huawei modem on both Windows and Linux, i have E1752 model)
And as an answer for qustion "why do you need it?" for example in Poland there is company which for the government licence for some frequences is obligated to offer free internet for 3 years. Don't think its lika a fairytale - internet disconnects after one hour and the speed is limited, but still can be very usefull when you are tight on budget or just need to check something quickly.
PS. maybe i should add that in this case voice service is disabled on the sim card level (tele service (ts11)) what seems to be a reason for some devices not to work.
edit: finally it appears to work. Dosen't display signal strength but websites (slowly) load.
I might be abit paranoid about this, but i personally don't like it to supply information to about me to my carrier when ever possible especially after the whole carrierIQ fiasco. So is thinking is there anyway to prevent carrier (tmobile) from identifying my phone?
I heard from a friend that they send the phone's imei number to the tmobile server which is how they identify my phone. Does anyone know which file on the android OS that is responsible for this?
qpqpqp said:
I might be abit paranoid about this, but i personally don't like it to supply information to about me to my carrier when ever possible especially after the whole carrierIQ fiasco. So is thinking is there anyway to prevent carrier (tmobile) from identifying my phone?
I heard from a friend that they send the phone's imei number to the tmobile server which is how they identify my phone. Does anyone know which file on the android OS that is responsible for this?
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I believe that the IMEI is used to register the phone onto the carrier's network each time you switch on. Thus they can also check if it's a blacklisted phone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity
do you know which file in the android system is responsible for communicating with tmobile?
qpqpqp said:
do you know which file in the android system is responsible for communicating with tmobile?
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What exactly are you asking.
IMEI will always be sent to the carrier, it's the way the mobile network works. After all your carrier has to register/authenticate you onto their network, if they didn't you couldn't make calls or use data...............
If it's Carrier IQ then get a CIQ free ROM.
If it's something else please state.
EDIT: The more I think about this the more absurd the question is. The carrier will retain logs about SMSs, Voice usage, Data usage. Look and read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_switching_subsystem especially the HLR bit.
EDIT2: The Police etc. also have to have regulatory access to records, no way around that.
qpqpqp said:
do you know which file in the android system is responsible for communicating with tmobile?
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any file involved in making and receiving calls, sms, mms, data connection....
there is a concept, Carrier IQ that @gol_n_dal mentions that can allow carriers to access other identification from your device for problem rectification purposes. in the stock rom, htc can also collect some data about what you do as well.
if this is what concerns you, look for a custom ROM which is CIQ free.
There are app in the market to identify if your phone has carrier IQ and also to dissable it, look there to resolve this
As its carrier based (not used by Virgin UK currently after checking with them and using on of the apps on my phone) I suspect that the devs will not do anything about it, but the only way to find out is contact your favorite and ask
The IMEI is part of the radio chip and it cannot be altered or hidden, unless you have a lot of specialized knowledge and equipment. The only phone I've heard of with an easily altered IMEI is some Nokia junk phone they sell in developing markets.
I'm hoping to get a smartphone (either a Moto-G or Nexus 5) without having to pay for a data plan. Yes, I know there are dozens of topics asking whether or not this can be done; I've read everyone--that's why I'm making this new thread.
There are a lot of different things I see stated on ways to get around AT&T automatic application of expensive data-plans when they detect that you're using a smartphone. Some people have said that all you have to do is turn off 3G Data Use from the menu of the new phone BEFORE inserting a new SIM card, and then insert the old dumphone sim card and everything will work. Some people make vague allusions to changing the IMIE--to which some people claim that's illegal, and others claim AT&T or random clerks at Radio Shack will do this for you upon request. Still others claim that all you need to do is install a "data blocker" program onto the smartphone before switching SIM cards, and it will do the trick.
The basic goal seems to be "hiding" the IMEI number from AT&T.
So, my question: how does AT&T recognize the IMEI number? Will they see it only if the phone is active on their 3G/4G/LTE networks? Or do they see it "through" the normal dumbphone calling networks?
My apologies if this is a stupid question. I really don't know anything about phones are anything about non-PC electronics or software in general. Basically, I'd like a smartphone but refuse to pay an exhorbitant monthly fee for a feature I'd never use (wifi is everywhere I go), and am not in a position where I can switch carriers, and it's like I'm part of a(n evidently sizable) demographic that no one wants to market to.
If times haven't changed too much from when I tried the same thing 2 years ago, you should just be able to request that all data on your line be blocked. I would try calling them before you switch the SIM to the smartphone and ask for all data to be disabled to your line, then swap the SIM. I would also leave the data turned off on the smartphone for good measure. This is basically how I got around your same issue with AT&T, and it doesn't have to necessarily come down to illegally changing the IMEI or "hiding" the IMEI from the carrier. Eventually they'll cross-check your device and figure out it's a smartphone and add your data. But to my knowledge, the adding of the data is all automatically done by computers; so if the system sees that all data is disabled for you, it shouldn't attempt to add anything.
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