i'm new in the forum and i have two questions as i know here the people know a lot about these topics.
i got my smartphone stolen 2 weeks ago, i live in mexico and i use TELCEL (GSM carrier)
in my country the smartphones are really overpriced like $913 US dollars for one samsung galaxy S4
browsing on ebay i saw a lot of BAD IMEI and BAD ESN(i know they are maybe stolen,blacklisted...) smartphones very cheap compared to the retail stores in my country
obviously i would only buy one smartphone that could be use on one GSM carrier.
1.if i buy one smartphone unlocked with bad imei or bad esn could i use it?
2.if i buy one smartphone locked with bad imei or bad esn ,could i do something to unlock it(like to pay for one unlock code,flash it) and use it?
thanx .
Related
I'm in a bit of a situation. I live in Canada. I leave to the US and Poland in about 17 hours on a two month trip. I have spent the better part of two weeks trying to unlock my iPhone to no avail. I now need a phone. I have turned to my city's classified adds where there are several android phones for sale. My issue is this: I am fast approaching the point at which I will no longer be able to meet someone to buy a phone today, but I don't know what I need.
I am aware that the answer to my question is out there on the intersphere and forunets, but I'm not confident that I'll be confident enough to buy a $250 phone at the end of my research. Therefore, I'm turning to to forums to see if someone knowledgeable can quickly answer my questions so that I'll be able to run out and buy a phone right now.
The phones on the classifieds that I'm looking at are:
A Galaxy S2 on contract with Bell Mobility (Canada) - $350
A Galaxy S 4G factory unlocked - $280
An unlocked and rooted Nexus S - $300
HTC Desire broken proximity detector - $100
Nokia Lumia 710 - $200
HTC Wildfire S unlocked - $220
My questions:
Is the phone unlockable?
Will it work with a pre-paid SIM in the US? (which carriers, if known)
Will it work in Poland, France and Italy?
I'm computer savvy but sadly my knowledge is deficient in this area. If anyone can answer these questions, it would be much appreciated.
Get an unlocked phone
You said you need an unlocked one, You also said "A Galaxy S 4G factory unlocked - $280" why don't you just buy that then it will work with any sim, then just get an pay as you go sim with 3g for your trip?
Or if you want to unlock your iPhone, Jailbreak it then do this (youtube.com/watch?v=mB_L5gi94Cc) it might work.
hcaz301 said:
You said you need an unlocked one, You also said "A Galaxy S 4G factory unlocked - $280" why don't you just buy that then it will work with any sim, then just get an pay as you go sim with 3g for your trip?
Or if you want to unlock your iPhone, Jailbreak it then do this (youtube.com/watch?v=mB_L5gi94Cc) it might work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question is whether an 'unlocked' Galaxy S will work in both the US and Europe with a pay as you go SIM that I buy?
I would say yes it would, if it is unlocked, it should be unlocked to any network anywhere, i may be wrong, but i would think it should work for you
The S2 and the S should work, but I'll let others confirm that. I believe that both have Sim card slots.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
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Moving to Q&A
Hi guys
So, I got a friend that is going to Japan next month and I thought that she can buy me a new cell phone (galaxy s4 or xperia ZR) there.
I've been reading on the net that it is really difficult to buy a cell phone or even a sim card if you are no resident. It depends on the store that you are buying.
My question is: Is this cell phone going to work in my country, this case Brazil.
I asked this because in the past Japanese cell phones didn't use sim cards and networks where different, and I don't know how is it now.
Also, it can be network locked so it would't work with my carrier here.
any of you have some experience buying a cell phone in japan?
Thank you very much in advanced
crisosma said:
Hi guys
So, I got a friend that is going to Japan next month and I thought that she can buy me a new cell phone (galaxy s4 or xperia ZR) there.
I've been reading on the net that it is really difficult to buy a cell phone or even a sim card if you are no resident. It depends on the store that you are buying.
My question is: Is this cell phone going to work in my country, this case Brazil.
I asked this because in the past Japanese cell phones didn't use sim cards and networks where different, and I don't know how is it now.
Also, it can be network locked so it would't work with my carrier here.
any of you have some experience buying a cell phone in japan?
Thank you very much in advanced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would advise buying against phones from Japan because most of them are tailored to their weird networks (general statement). I'd check what frequencies are used by your carrier and what frequencies the phone you're friend is going to buy supports. Japanese phones in general are usually made to operate in Japan with minimal support for extended use in other countries (e.g. you may get EDGE but that's it).
Thank you very much.
Looking on the web, I saw that there is a Sony store that sells international versions of their products. (And also a tax reduction )
Maybe I can find something there, looking at the webpage didn't find any cell phones.
Will be traveling to US in a month time. Looking to get an unlocked GSM phone at low price. Will be using it only in India.
In some forum people had suggested to get the esn blocked phones, please let me know whether it would work in India? If i get it unlocked ! hope esn blocked are not stolen phones !
Please suggest ! i had just lost my brand new S3, hence looking for a decent phone at a low price (Refurbished \ Used is ok)
Look like a Nexus device is what you need, check this out https://play.google.com/store/devices
The device is sold by Google so it is safe, and it comes with unlocked so I think it might work in India. Good luck and welcome to America :laugh:
Hello everyone, im looking forward to buy a Galaxy s4 sprint phone, with a bad ESN. After hours of research i wasnt able to find an answer to my question. I can carrier unlock this phone with software, thats not a problem it doesnt need a unlock code. But a phone with a bad esn will work with a GSM carrier? Its a Samsung Galaxy S4 SPH-L720T
It has a sim card slot, already had one in my hands and unlocked it, but it had a good ESN and worked perfectly on Costa Rica with a sim card. But, will a bad esn one work too?
Thanks for your answers
worms45 said:
Hello everyone, im looking forward to buy a Galaxy s4 sprint phone, with a bad ESN. After hours of research i wasnt able to find an answer to my question. I can carrier unlock this phone with software, thats not a problem it doesnt need a unlock code. But a phone with a bad esn will work with a GSM carrier? Its a Samsung Galaxy S4 SPH-L720T
It has a sim card slot, already had one in my hands and unlocked it, but it had a good ESN and worked perfectly on Costa Rica with a sim card. But, will a bad esn one work too?
Thanks for your answers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By bad ESN number you mean that it has been blacklisted? This usually means that the device has been lost or worse stolen and most carriers will block access from any blacklisted devices. The blacklisting has worked remarkably well in curtailing the trafficking of stolen devices, and changing the ESNs to by pass this blacklisting is against the law in most places and should not even be discussed on xda...:good:
Looking to buy used unlocked att or factory unlocked g3 on swappa to activate on straight talk ( I've also heard Verizon might work too?). I do not want to buy a fake! (A good camera and IR blaster are a must for me) I feel if I had the phone in hand I could tell but what can I ask from the seller to confirm its real? What if I ask for pic of page with sn,software version ,kernel etc What would I even be looking for ? Or can that page be spoofed as well?
Please help this newbie
wildmansgirl said:
Looking to buy used unlocked att or factory unlocked g3 on swappa to activate on straight talk ( I've also heard Verizon might work too?). I do not want to buy a fake! (A good camera and IR blaster are a must for me) I feel if I had the phone in hand I could tell but what can I ask from the seller to confirm its real? What if I ask for pic of page with sn,software version ,kernel etc What would I even be looking for ? Or can that page be spoofed as well?
Please help this newbie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot buy them for use on Verizon. Straight talk is several different resellers. But verizon no. Verizon is a cdma carrier. AT&T and factory unlocked phones are GSM. For Verizon you'd need a Verizon phone or sprint phone.
People DONT sell fakes on Swappa as its not allowed.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
hyelton said:
You cannot buy them for use on Verizon. Straight talk is several different resellers. But verizon no. Verizon is a cdma carrier. AT&T and factory unlocked phones are GSM. For Verizon you'd need a Verizon phone or sprint phone.
People DONT sell fakes on Swappa as its not allowed.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes ill stick with att I know they work with st. As far as fakes not allowed we know people lie and cheat and not follow rules so is there some type of guarantee swappa makes that every phone is genuine? They wouldnt even answer my question about what happens when some one sells me thier in contract phone (wich at that point would have a clean imei) and then stops paying thier bill 3 months later and they block the phone? Wich is why I'm only looking at phones saying unlocked there again Noway to prove I guess. there's gotta be one thing to check or get pic of that proves its real
wildmansgirl said:
Yes ill stick with att I know they work with st. As far as fakes not allowed we know people lie and cheat and not follow rules so is there some type of guarantee swappa makes that every phone is genuine? They wouldnt even answer my question about what happens when some one sells me thier in contract phone (wich at that point would have a clean imei) and then stops paying thier bill 3 months later and they block the phone? Wich is why I'm only looking at phones saying unlocked there again Noway to prove I guess. there's gotta be one thing to check or get pic of that proves its real
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off as I said above AT&T phones WONT work on Verizon, which is what you asked. Yes they will work on ST AT&T, ST T-Mobile, but will not work on ST Verizon. If you buy it expecting to be on Verizon's network you'll be disappointed. Straight talk is sold across several different networks.
Well if you'd read about Swappa when someone sells there phones they HAVE to enter an IMEI for one and in which will tell Swappa if it's on a paid account EDGE, NEXT, etc. and which is not allowed there.
The only thing that could possibly happen is if someone reports it stolen after selling and In which there's no way to find that out.
I have sold a ton of things on Swappa as well as buying on Swappa.
Also if you would look at a phone listing you would see they have Feedback, which I'm sure someone that has sold a few + phones with no issues I'm sure Your not going to buy a fake or junk phone.
There's no real thing or pic to prove anything. I could sell you a note 1 and make it say it's a note 4 in the software but just a screenshot you might not ever know lol.
Also a bit of a hint unlocked phones cannot save you from that unless your in another country. If you have a dead IMEI on say a T-Mobile phone even if it's unlocked you still cannot use it on AT&T
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks
Thanks for the info! I may not be explaining well I'm not going to verizon I'm wanting to use straight talk who advertises you can bring any GSM phone when I called was told att brand works best. I thought the other was verizon but like u said that's CDMA maybe t-mobile was the other compatible? Idk anyway I'm happy to hear about the contract phone not being issue I had read that could happen maybe it wasn't a payment issue after all. Maybe it had been reported stolen after he bought.
hyelton said:
.. Well if you'd read about Swappa when someone sells there phones they HAVE to enter an IMEI for one and in which will tell Swappa if it's on a paid account EDGE, NEXT, etc. and which is not allowed there. ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure IMEI checks for ATT phones tell you nothing about the contract status of a phone, only if it's been blacklisted (lost or stolen)--
TMO phones OTOH will receive the additional information on EIP status, in-contract status, etc.
ATT should be forced to provide the same AFAIC.
You can use CDMA phones on Straight Talk. The kit you buy gives you the network info for CDMA phones and the SIM card for GSM.