I have been using a htc inspire that I totally love and now I am forced to use a iphone 3gs by my company. The iphone came with it's own simcard and it was activiated using my existing number. Now my number is tied to the iphone's imei number and I guess the iphone simcard and if I try to put the iphone simcard into my inspire it doesn't work (no service). Is there a way to get around this? They both use the same activesync technology, so it's not like one is more secure over other
Is it carrier-locked? It most likely is, if you don't get any signal. I've never heard of the IMEI being tied to a simcard/number.
Yes it seems to be carrier locked. I called the carrier and they said they would need to do a imei swap i.e. associate imei of my android device with the iphone simcard. Is there a way around this? I hate this iphone
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I was a Straight Talk customer for several months until my Nokia E71 was permanently deactivated for "excessive data usage" on their unlimited plan. What I'm left with now is a $200 Blackberry-like PDA with no actual phone capabilities. It amazes me that they can legally cripple my phone this way.
My understanding of it is that the phone now has what basically amounts to the GSM eqivalent of a bad ESN. Anyone happen to know any way to turn this back into a viable phone again? This particular phone uses a SIM card and apparently runs on the AT&T network so I'm hoping there's some way to unlock it to work with AT&T or T-Mo.
Most, if not AT&T phones will use the ST sim without unlocking it...its like using a Simple Mobile sim on a T-Mobile phone. Usually you can just put it in, change your APN's and you're good to go. With ST though, I believe they tie your SIM card with your e71 since they know people just really want the sim card and plans and not their phones. If you're e71 is blocked, I don't think you can unblock it. Or maybe you can call in and say "hey, I bought this phone of craigslist" and if they mention its on a blocked list just play dumb and that you had no idea...mind you you have to pretend like you're a different customer, maybe put the account in someone elses name?
---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 AM ----------
actually see if your SIM card has been deactivated, if not then you can just put it in an AT&T phone and you should be good...if it has then yeah, I would just say I got this phone from someone on craigslist and I want to activate it. They should unblock it if its for a new customer...hopefully.
I've tried putting the ST SIM in an unlocked T-Mo phone to no avail. After ST deactivated me, I did a ****load of Google-ing and I'm pretty sure people have tried your Craigslist method with no luck. I've read hints that it "might" be possible to de-brand it, but that it'd be a pretty advanced operation. I just figured that if anyone could actually pull it off, XDA would be the most likely place to find them.
I'm pretty sure I used the craigslist method and it worked for me, but I can't remember for sure. I bought a broken e71 off of ebay and just registered that IMEI number, mind you I can't remember if the IMEI was blocked or not so maybe thats why I didn't have any problems. And even if other people tried with no avail you should try regardless, who knows, maybe it will work with you.
I have a Cobalt SP300 I bought on eBay. It has a MT6575 SoC that has a 3G radio integrated according to the manufacturer. I know other phones like the Zopo 100 with this same chip can access 3G bands of 850/1900 mhz. I looked up the IMEI number on some websites and it shows it to be a basic flip phone from early 2005. I currently have a feature phone unlimited data plan on my account, that worked fine on 3G on my old phone, but I can only get EDGE on this phone. When I go on the AT&T website and look at my account, it shows the device as unknown. Could it be since the device is unknown they restrict the data to EDGE only?
I happen to have an old 3G flip phone. I can be sure it will never be used again since the pins on the SIM slot broke. If I were to change the IMEI number to that phone's IMEI number, is it possible it would allow 3G?
You can't change your phones imie number its illegal and would get you into serious trouble
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I have one which had two legal printed imeis which worked until I pressed factory reset which wiped them. How can I put them back.
There is nothing illegal in this as I have proof they are the phones numbers
sent by reversed alien technology....
You will find no info here on editing the imei as this is illegal and not to be talked about here.
Thread.closed
Wayne Tech Nexus
I've never had a smart phone. I've always just used a little cheap "texting" phone with a regular sized SIM card from AT&T.
I want my first smartphone and I've decided that I like the Nexus 5 because I use to own a Nexus 7 Tablet, in which I assume are similar in some ways. I live in CA, USA
My question is whether I would have to get a new SIM card from AT&T. Right now I have a family plan with no Data services. Just an unlimited texting service and minutes. I'm always around Wi--Fi so I feel that I won't ever need any kind of data plan (2g,3g,4g,LTE). Because the Nexus 5 is unlocked, I was questioning whether AT&T would force me to purchase a Data Plan for this phone. Is there any way around it as of right now? Do I need to show them my phone to get a new SIM card (if needed?
Edit: I was doing some research and found this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2507422 , but it wasn't much of help since the phone wasn't out at the time.
Does this work?
You have two choices for the SIM card.
- cut it down to Micro SIM size
- Get a new Micro SIM card from AT&T
Here is the problem that you'll most likely run in to.
When you put that SIM card in your Nexus 5 the good folks at ATT will detect it's a smartphone and require you to get a data plan for the phone.
nexus 4 was detected by at&t
nexus 5 will be as well, especially since it'll be sold by t-mobile (t-mobile phones are detected on at&t, the two carriers probably share IMEI lists)
some people have luck by first adding a data block (no MMS though) on the line while using a dumbphone, then switching SIMs (but you'll need to keep that data block)
Axis' said:
You have two choices for the SIM card.
- cut it down to Micro SIM size
- Get a new Micro SIM card from AT&T
Here is the problem that you'll most likely run in to.
When you put that SIM card in your Nexus 5 the good folks at ATT will detect it's a smartphone and require you to get a data plan for the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aw man, and there is no way to change this so called IMEI (I think that's what it's called correct?).
paperWastage said:
nexus 4 was detected by at&t
nexus 5 will be as well, especially since it'll be sold by t-mobile (t-mobile phones are detected on at&t, the two carriers probably share IMEI lists)
some people have luck by first adding a data block (no MMS though) on the line while using a dumbphone, then switching SIMs (but you'll need to keep that data block)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this what changing a phone's IMEI is? There isn't some kind of rooting you can do to change the phones IMEI number into something else so that they can't detect it?
Terminatez said:
Aw man, and there is no way to change this so called IMEI (I think that's what it's called correct?).
Is this what changing a phone's IMEI is? There isn't some kind of rooting you can do to change the phones IMEI number into something else so that they can't detect it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Changing the imei is illegal. It shouldn't be discussed
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
jd1639 said:
Changing the imei is illegal. It shouldn't be discussed
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok with that being said, I will not discuss on how to change an IMEI, but I would like more information about this.
Would changing the IMEI from Phone A (Nexus 5 Legally purchased) to Phone B (Samsung Texting Phone Legally Purchased) be illegal?
Terminatez said:
Ok with that being said, I will not discuss on how to change an IMEI, but I would like more information about this.
Would changing the IMEI from Phone A (Nexus 5 Legally purchased) to Phone B (Samsung Texting Phone Legally Purchased) be illegal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe it is but some are quick to point to laws that don't exist.
Doesn't really matter at this point as it is not possible to change your imei on the n5.
lafester said:
I don't believe it is but some are quick to point to laws that don't exist.
Doesn't really matter at this point as it is not possible to change your imei on the n5.
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Click to collapse
That's true.
Is there an alternative way to use the Nexus 5 without having a data plan then? What about prepaid from AT&T?
Terminatez said:
That's true.
Is there an alternative way to use the Nexus 5 without having a data plan then? What about prepaid from AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as I said, try the "put data block on line before switching sim to nexus 5, keep data off on the nexus 5"...
if it doesn't work, then move away from att
Agree with the above comment. A friend of mine did the same thing with his Nexus 4 and he still hasn't been caught by Att and he got the phone since last March. So call Att from your dumbphone and cancel data access.
Could you let us know how it goes?
So I am looking to buy a new phone. I am looking on ebay and there are TONS of bad imei phones for at&t! I want to buy one since they are cheaper. Only issue is that I want to be sure that they will work on straight talk, since that is my current carrier. I have read lots of people's pinions about if they will work or not because of blacklists, and I don't know if there is any one steady answer. I am hoping to get someone with some real knowledge to shed some light on this because I am stumped on if I should take the risk and buy one.
I did call straight talk today and ask if I can bring a phone with a bad IMEI number over and the response I got was strange... They said that all I have to do is buy a BYOP package and give them my sim card number and it will work. I said I know that it will work because i am on a BYOP already, but I wanted to know if my sim would get kicked off for using a blacklisted phone on the at&t network even though it was through straight talk. She said, that they only need the digits from the straight talk sim and it would work. So I tried one more time and explained everything fully... I again received the same response that they needed the sim card numbers only. So I said, does that mean that the IMEI doesn't matter for your service at all and I can have a blacklisted phone on it? and again the response was, (besically) yes, you just need a straight talk sim.
So all in all I understand that to mean that AT&T has nothing to do with straight talk when it comes to blacklisting phones! That's a wonderful thing since there are so many blacklist phones out there right now, but I was hoping someone else could drop a little knowledge on me if they knew something about it, or if they knew that straight talk was lying, so I don't waste my time/money on this phone.
I haven't looked into this since last year, but the FCC was advising on a shared blacklist to be implemented in the future back then.
Also beware that the phone might be stolen, which could lead to more problems in the future.
I've never used Straight Talk, but if they use AT&T towers maybe call AT&T. Honestly, it might be hard to get a real answer from them because most of the reps (true for all companies) don't have a clue how their own blacklists even work - heck, some don't even seem to know they *exist*.
They might not be "lying", it just might not be part of their training is information base.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk
w4rped said:
So I am looking to buy a new phone. I am looking on ebay and there are TONS of bad imei phones for at&t! I want to buy one since they are cheaper. Only issue is that I want to be sure that they will work on straight talk, since that is my current carrier. I have read lots of people's pinions about if they will work or not because of blacklists, and I don't know if there is any one steady answer. I am hoping to get someone with some real knowledge to shed some light on this because I am stumped on if I should take the risk and buy one.
I did call straight talk today and ask if I can bring a phone with a bad IMEI number over and the response I got was strange... They said that all I have to do is buy a BYOP package and give them my sim card number and it will work. I said I know that it will work because i am on a BYOP already, but I wanted to know if my sim would get kicked off for using a blacklisted phone on the at&t network even though it was through straight talk. She said, that they only need the digits from the straight talk sim and it would work. So I tried one more time and explained everything fully... I again received the same response that they needed the sim card numbers only. So I said, does that mean that the IMEI doesn't matter for your service at all and I can have a blacklisted phone on it? and again the response was, (besically) yes, you just need a straight talk sim.
So all in all I understand that to mean that AT&T has nothing to do with straight talk when it comes to blacklisting phones! That's a wonderful thing since there are so many blacklist phones out there right now, but I was hoping someone else could drop a little knowledge on me if they knew something about it, or if they knew that straight talk was lying, so I don't waste my time/money on this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
StraightTalk SIM cards can either use AT&T or T-mobile (Tracfone {parent company for StraghtTalk} leases several carrier's networks). If you buy and AT&T phone with a bad ESN and put a StraghtTalk AT&T SIM into it, the likelihood of it working is low. The reason for this is the you would still be using AT&T's network, and the ESN has a high chance of being picked up by AT&T's black-list.
If I were you, I'd get a factory unlocked phone, or a newer Verizon 4G LTE phone that has a bad (or clean) ESN. The reason I say the later is that most Verizon 4G LTE phones are also world phones and work with GSM. Now, you'll have to remove the radio band block, but that's very easy, and I know XDA has several tutorials for this. I removed the block on my RAZR M and it works just fine with an AT&T SIM inserted.
Hikikomori-Otaku said:
StraightTalk SIM cards can either use AT&T or T-mobile (Tracfone {parent company for StraghtTalk} leases several carrier's networks). If you buy and AT&T phone with a bad ESN and put a StraghtTalk AT&T SIM into it, the likelihood of it working is low. The reason for this is the you would still be using AT&T's network, and the ESN has a high chance of being picked up by AT&T's black-list.
If I were you, I'd get a factory unlocked phone, or a newer Verizon 4G LTE phone that has a bad (or clean) ESN. The reason I say the later is that most Verizon 4G LTE phones are also world phones and work with GSM. Now, you'll have to remove the radio band block, but that's very easy, and I know XDA has several tutorials for this. I removed the block on my RAZR M and it works just fine with an AT&T SIM inserted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the reason i might believe them is because they dont even know my imei number for the phone i have right now! And if my number is not tied to my imei number then it would be impossible for them to find it out. Or at least i would think it is. Every other service that is tied to an esn or imei number, you have to tell them the number and let them register it. With straight talk you register the sim and can use that sim in any unlocked phone.
I am currently running a note 2 from verizon on straight talk. It is a world phone but i cant seem to get 4g on it. Is this because i have to unlock the bands? If so, how do i do that? I thought it was just because of the apn i was using. I tried a bunch but only got one to work on h+/h/3g (it flickers).
w4rped said:
I think the reason i might believe them is because they dont even know my imei number for the phone i have right now! And if my number is not tied to my imei number then it would be impossible for them to find it out. Or at least i would think it is. Every other service that is tied to an esn or imei number, you have to tell them the number and let them register it. With straight talk you register the sim and can use that sim in any unlocked phone.
I am currently running a note 2 from verizon on straight talk. It is a world phone but i cant seem to get 4g on it. Is this because i have to unlock the bands? If so, how do i do that? I thought it was just because of the apn i was using. I tried a bunch but only got one to work on h+/h/3g (it flickers).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're half-right. You don't have to give StrraightTalk you ESN (MEID/IMEI). The problem comes when you connect to the network. When you connect, your device will be identified by it's ICCID (SIM #) and it's ESN (so it knows what type of device it is and what service it needs). Because it would be an old AT&T phone, reconnecting to AT&T, there's a high chance it will be matched on the black-list.
As for your Note II, if it's already working, the radio it has may not support the higher GSM 4G/LTE bands. You may be able to unlock them, but I wouldn't know how with a Samsung device. The APN may help, but I'd first check the radio.
Ok I have a question so I have a T-Mobile contract and iPhone 7 Plus for a little over a. Year now but I haven’t paid it off in full and my bill got out of hand so I can’t afford to pay the balance so is there anyway I can use this for any prepaid plans of any company
Hello all.
About 3 years ago I did the famous Straight Talk E71 swap into an iPhone 3GS and it worked flawlessly. As you can imagine, I'm ready for something a little more modern. A friend of mine gave me an AT&T Skyrocket s2 that he had shelved for a few months after upgrading to an S4.
The phone is on official JB firmware with the correct accompanying radio and has never been modded in any way at all. It acknowledges that I have a sim in it, reads my phone number, reads IMEI, but the mobile network remains unknown and the service state says out of service.
There should be no reason the phone needs to be unlocked because I do have a Straight Talk sim that uses AT&T towers and does still work effortlessly in both my 3GS and E71. I have yet to have the opportunity to try someone else's sim in the phone, but I feel confident that a couple of months on a shelf didn't ruin the sim tray (after all, my phone number is being read). I am a bit of an Android novice, so any insight into this problem would be appreciated greatly.
Thanks!