# cell phone question



## Selena (Mar 10, 2001)

This is probably going to sound like a pretty stupid question, but I will ask anyway lol...

I have a cell phone plan with AT&T and some cell phones that are interesting to me and my teenage kids are through other providers, such as T-mobile, Sprint, yada yada yada...

Is is possible to purchase any phone and use it with our carrier, maybe by just putting our current sim card in the phone?

I appreciate any feedback!

Selena


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## Jason Ess (Sep 4, 2007)

Yes! It is possible, but only with cerain phones. Look around and see which ones are able too. But with the newer phones, which you seem to be inerested in, dont do that I think.

Good luck!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

While it's possible, you need to make sure the phone you get is compatible with the type of network. For instance, Verizon and Sprint are proprietary networks and their phones won't work on anything but their networks. AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM networks, and the phones are compatible, however most of them that are supplied with one plan are locked to their plan. It's possible (and legal) to unlock the phones from the service provider and use a T-Mobile phone on the AT&T network (which I've done).


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## Selena (Mar 10, 2001)

So for instace the sidekick is t mobile, so it could work on the att network? How would you unlock the phone? Thanks for your help!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

What's the exact make/model of the phone in question?

I unlocked my RAZR v3 from AT&T, and I was able to stick a T-Mobile SIM card in it and make and receive calls. In my case, I found someone selling the utility for $6 on eBay.

http://www.unlockitnow.com/TMobile/


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## getoverit (Feb 16, 2008)

Selena said:


> This is probably going to sound like a pretty stupid question, but I will ask anyway lol...
> 
> I have a cell phone plan with AT&T and some cell phones that are interesting to me and my teenage kids are through other providers, such as T-mobile, Sprint, yada yada yada...
> 
> ...


some phones you can unlock and use on other networks, i can tell you up front sprint only makes one phone this is possible with, the blackberry 8830, it is extremly hard though and a long process, if you where looking for a quick solution like popping a sim card in from one network to another, it wont happen, my advice to you is find out when your contract is up and switch to sprint, better network better service , faster internet, and way better handsets, like the ppc, the htc touch, and one im sure your kids would love especially if they like to text message is the runor by lg, sprint also has the most inexspensive rate and data plans... Good Luck!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I don't agree that Sprint has better service. I had Sprint and the coverage was pretty bad, and I'm in a major metropolitan area. I've had excellent service with AT&T and Verizon locally.


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## getoverit (Feb 16, 2008)

JohnWill said:


> I don't agree that Sprint has better service. I had Sprint and the coverage was pretty bad, and I'm in a major metropolitan area. I've had excellent service with AT&T and Verizon locally.


well i can not argue with personal experience, the only thing i can tell you is that one, sprint and verizon will always have the same exact coverage (AVAILABLE), i say that because they are both running on 1900 mhz, and where there are no sprint towers, there will be verizon for you to use, or vise versa, [email protected], not so much, im gonna say the reason you probally didnt have the best service is most likely due to the device you where using,


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You're free to believe whatever you like, but Sprint's coverage in the Phila area doesn't come close to what I get for AT&T. In addition, I can use my phone when I travel abroad, which doesn't happen with either Sprint or Verizon.


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## getoverit (Feb 16, 2008)

JohnWill said:


> You're free to believe whatever you like, but Sprint's coverage in the Phila area doesn't come close to what I get for AT&T. In addition, I can use my phone when I travel abroad, which doesn't happen with either Sprint or Verizon.


that is because you are running on the gsm network, wich is known to have better international capabilities, but cdma works way better in the good ol us of a. sprint however does have the blackberry 8830 wich you can truly use anywhere there is a cell phone tower.


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## idar (Jul 16, 2006)

HEY....at least you guys HAVE a choice. So be happy. Out here, close to the middle of nowhere, we ONLY have one carrier. No choice.....if you have a cell, you use use it, period! The service is deceant, though, but would sure be nice to have a choice for a change.


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## pedroguy (Jan 28, 2001)

We live in Southern Cal.and have used both Cingular and Verizon.For us,Verizon is far superior in covering the areas in which we travel..I think,that should really be the determining factor for selecting a cell provider.If you can get some kind of a trial period and see where the "dead spots" are for that particular service and phone,some will and some won't,(like is service spotty at your home(a not good thing) that's about all you can do.I believe,also that consumer's reports just did a report 0n cell providers and phones for most of the US metro areas. 

Choosing a phone and service always seems to be a lot harder than it ought to be but once the choice is made,they make it pretty hard to break that contract.

Good luck


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I tried Verizon here at my house (someone else's phone), and the signal was very weak. However, with AT&T (formerly Cingular), I can make clear calls from my basement. I used to have Sprint, and I couldn't use that at my house either.


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## pedroguy (Jan 28, 2001)

Hi John.Yep.In my geography,our situation was exactly the reverse of your's where you are.We have been up and down the West Coast as far as the san Juan Islands,and have experienced very few "no service" zones with Verizon.
So Selena,if you can"try before you buy",because,as you can see from all the comments,where you live and use your phone can really play an important part in how good or bad your coverage can be.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Just get a few friends with different services together, have a party.


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## pedroguy (Jan 28, 2001)

Selena:See,that is why John is "the man"
I would have never thought about that kind of a try before you buy,but that is a pretty good suggestion.


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## Rollin_Again (Sep 4, 2003)

Don't forget that the brand and type of phone can also have a big effect on your reception. My old Motorola V300 got terrible reception in my house but my wife's Nokia got a good signal. I am now using a T-Mobile dash and get even better reception than my wife.

Regards,
Rollin


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## idar (Jul 16, 2006)

Boy, I remember when a phone was just a phone, and the biggest decision you had to make was private or party line!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

idar said:


> Boy, I remember when a phone was just a phone, and the biggest decision you had to make was private or party line!


You must be as old as I am!  I remember when I was hot stuff because I had a "portable" phone in my car, it must have weighed 20 pounds, but you could carry it around and make calls for about $3/minute.


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## idar (Jul 16, 2006)

WOW! You musta been one of those RICH GUYS!!!! I saw them, but never had one.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

idar said:


> WOW! You musta been one of those RICH GUYS!!!! I saw them, but never had one.


Company was paying for it.


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## Rollin_Again (Sep 4, 2003)

John,

This isn't you is it?










Regards,
Rollin


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## Jason Ess (Sep 4, 2007)

LMAO. Haha, it could be. The phone I mean.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Yes, but I'm better looking than the guy.  Of course, the phone I had in the car was about five times that size, it was in a bag! I lusted for one of those, but by the time I upgraded, the phones were much smaller.


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## RootbeaR (Dec 9, 2006)

Rollin_Again said:


> John,
> 
> This isn't you is it?
> 
> ...


LOL. If it isn't, it must be Colonel Sanders.


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## Selena (Mar 10, 2001)

JohnWill said:


> What's the exact make/model of the phone in question?
> 
> I unlocked my RAZR v3 from AT&T, and I was able to stick a T-Mobile SIM card in it and make and receive calls. In my case, I found someone selling the utility for $6 on eBay.
> 
> http://www.unlockitnow.com/TMobile/


Hi, I'm sorry it took me awhile to get back to you. The phone is a Tmobile Sidekick ID. We have ATT and so now I have purchased a Sidekick ID on EBAY. The seller listed it as UNLOCKED. Well, guess what. Our sim card did not work in it. So I contacted ATT and they gave me some code to put in, that didn't work, she told us to get another SIM card and try that - that didn't work. 
I contacted the seller and he said it was unlcocked to TMOBILE only - which I do not understand, if it's a Tmobile phone and you are using a Tmobile sim card, why would it need to be unlocked in the first place?

I hate it because my daughter really likes the phone but what can I say? I'm not willing to pay another $100 to unlock the phone myself, when it was supposed to be unlocked in the first place.

I'm trying to return the phone - but I don't think he is very happy with me and will try to make it difficult for me. (I just have a feeling from the response I've gotten from him.)

Any advice? Thanks!!!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

That's not "unlocked", I'd return it to the seller! "Unlocked" means you can put any compatible carrier's SIM card in the unit and use it. You were cheated!


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## Selena (Mar 10, 2001)

I thought so! Thanks! I'm trying to return it now. :/


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Good luck. With eBay, you should have buyer protection, so if the phone is not as represented, you should be able to get a refund. Of course, you're out the shipping, but at least that's a cheap lesson.


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## RedHelix (Oct 31, 2005)

This might be of some help:

I am usually loath to refer people to TigerDirect, but they sell unlocked European GSM phones very cheaply, and they work here in the states without any problems. Everyone in my family is using an unlocked Motorola phone from overseas that we bought from TD and we are very happy with them. My brother and I have PEBLs and my parents have RAZRs. When our contracts get renewed, and we can get new phones, I will probably just sell the AT&T phones on ebay because they are worth a lot more than our equivalent-performance phones.

The only thing to watch out for is you might occasionally get one that's in a foreign language. (My brother got his U6 PEBL in Italian.) Fortunately, there are TONS of resources to be had on google where you can learn how to flash the American firmware onto it. I'm also always happy to help.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I picked up a program for $6.99 on eBay that unlocked my RAZR. I got the phone free from Cingular when I signed up.


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## alexon (Mar 8, 2008)

It's good to know that your mobile phone is not locked by a specific service provider. Most of the service provider will lock the phone, this is done to insure that you'll be availing only the services they provide. Since you have an open-line phone then you can use any sim card provided by any network. Phone reception may depend on the quality and unit brand. Check this link for more info. http://cellphones.about.com/od/topcellphones/tp/best_signal_str.htm

Bonus link :
http://www.latestcouponcodes.com


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## RootbeaR (Dec 9, 2006)

http://www.howardforums.com/


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