DISCLAIMER: this has not and as far as you know will not happen.
these are hypothetical questions used to further my education about cell phones and networks and how they function.
now that the disclaimers i out of the way.
hi ive got a question about esn cloning.
my phone with bell is the htc touch its got a 5$ mobile browser plan that basically acts as unlimited on device(and tethered with modded rom) data plan.
if i wanted to get say a touch dual or another smart phone the dataplan i have would end up not working and would need to be $30 instead of $5
could i get another cdma phone bell or otherwise clone my touch's esn to it and have the same plan i have now with the cheap data
is it possible? (im not asking if it is right,wrong,legal or illegal because this is only hypothetical)
thanks
anyone have any idea?
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i know these forums are congested with newbies like me trying to flash and unlock there phones but i really cant find anything that helps me with this problem. if you all havent noticed there are great deals on phones with bad esn numbers. i plan on buying a cdma touch pro and flash it to cricket. im wondering if a bad esn number well prevent me from doing this and i want to avoid changing the esn number since there a lot of legal issues with that.
thanks in advance
i bought my Touch Pro on ebay advertised as a "bad ESN" phone. Cricket could care less where the phone comes from, or who blacklisted the ESN for whatever reason. i have flashed many for the Cricket network and never walked into a store to do it! costs $15, just tell them the ESN. and it may not over-the-air program with *228 (mine doesn't) but that isn't needed
remember that their data plan is unlimited, but limited by ports- so IM, email, and other stuff not browser related *may* be blocked on your Touch Pro!
when i got my contract from at&t i got the lg neon with the 10 or 15 dollar data plan for regular phones, not the smartphone data plan. and when i switched back to my dash i noticed all my features that required data (web browser, weather tab, email) all work fine and i dont get charged extra for it.
so i was wondering if it would work with the data sharing too without me getting charged extra?
probably a dumb question but im new to at&t
whats great about at&t is that they have no current way to detect what type of device your using unless it is branded by them, this is cause att can only decode their own imei numbers, it's just like asking them to unlock a tmobile phone.. they can't do it cause the imei numbers are more or less directly related unlocking the device and this makes it confidential or proprietary infomation of the company that licenced the device for sale. they could however just deny the use of data unless you pay for a generic data plan witch is normally about $30 or so witch is what tmobile does if they can't verify what device you have but att has yet to impliment this.
hope this was of some help
ex-tmobile employee
that was very helpful thanks
The question is the title... can T-Mobile identify that I have a T-Mobile branded Touch Pro II after I unlock it with the OliNex unlocker? Do they verify the type of phone off of the IMEI or is it something different? I'm on a grandfathered $5.99 T-Zones plan that works fantastically, but I don't want to have to pay $25 bucks a month for a data plan if I buy my wife a TP2 from T-Mobile. Anyone know how to get the TP2 to work on T-Mobile on the new $10/month plan?
thesecondsfade said:
The question is the title... can T-Mobile identify that I have a T-Mobile branded Touch Pro II after I unlock it with the OliNex unlocker? Do they verify the type of phone off of the IMEI or is it something different? I'm on a grandfathered $5.99 T-Zones plan that works fantastically, but I don't want to have to pay $25 bucks a month for a data plan if I buy my wife a TP2 from T-Mobile. Anyone know how to get the TP2 to work on T-Mobile on the new $10/month plan?
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I know the only way to avoid this on ATT is to get a non ATT version, The carriers scan for imei and if it is in their data base then they can tell, if it is not then they cant tell what device it is
No matter WHAT phone you have, whether it is from China or not, phone companies can see your IMEI and it usually tells them what phone you have.
I have the $5.99 T-zones since April 2009 and I purchased my TP2 in December. So far, I have seen my account online show that I am using a TP2 about 6 times.
What I do is just change it to show it is a Motorola V3, but it will change by itself again.
It doesn't seem like it matters at this point, so you should be safe. This is coming from a guy that uses quite a lot of data per day
wildfxp said:
No matter WHAT phone you have, whether it is from China or not, phone companies can see your IMEI and it usually tells them what phone you have.
I have the $5.99 T-zones since April 2009 and I purchased my TP2 in December. So far, I have seen my account online show that I am using a TP2 about 6 times.
What I do is just change it to show it is a Motorola V3, but it will change by itself again.
It doesn't seem like it matters at this point, so you should be safe. This is coming from a guy that uses quite a lot of data per day
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Click to collapse
I am currently using my TMO branded TP2 on an old T-zones plan and it works perfectly. When I put my wife's SIM in the TP2, it gives me the error, "This device is not compatible with your data plan." She has the $10 data plan for her AT&T branded Tilt (which their system cannot identify). So my question is, is there a way around paying $25.00/month for data with a T-Mobile branded phone?
Maybe I could modify my IMEI somehow to one of my old phones that I don't use any more, or to the IMEI of my wife's Kaisers since we won't be using it any more. Is there any way to do that?
Please don't refer to Vijay's post. It's been done 1000 times and he actually makes a point in his post that it is obviously something the developers here would consider because it was done for the Wizard already. It's not because I have a stolen phone so don't even suggest it.
Does anybody know a solution?
Hi, i have seen evo work flawlessly on other networks and many guys on ebay and craiglist have been selling them. I have a few questions, i would appreciate if you guys can answer them as honestly as possible, coz i m considering getting one, but at the same time i dont want to land up in trouble. I will happily pay 20 bucks more a month than do something which is legally not accepted.
1. I hv seen phones which have their MEID registered in d databases of the other networks. Now my question is , is there anything wrong or illegal if people get the meid of evo registered onto the network by social engineering ?
2. Can you trust the craiglist/ebay guys, coz even if they get your meid registered, they will know your phone no and your meid, what if they mess with it later ? Can they misues the meid/no and if they do, who will be held responsible ?
3. What happens if later the network figures out by some means that the registered meid is not of their supported phones ? What action can they take ?
4. What challeges will i face if i need to transfer my number to a different handset or if i wish to port my number ? Will they block my number if they find that the meid is of an unsupported phone ?
5. Lastly, if i need to sell my phone, what do i do ? How do i get my number out of the phone and what all things need to be done.(sorry for my limited knowledge, i have very limited experience with cdma)
PS : I m only talking about where the phones meid is registered and not where the phone has been programed/cl*ned etc.
All help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
techspark said:
Hi, i have seen evo work flawlessly on other networks and many guys on ebay and craiglist have been selling them. I have a few questions, i would appreciate if you guys can answer them as honestly as possible, coz i m considering getting one, but at the same time i dont want to land up in trouble. I will happily pay 20 bucks more a month than do something which is legally not accepted.
1. I hv seen phones which have their MEID registered in d databases of the other networks. Now my question is , is there anything wrong or illegal if people get the meid of evo registered onto the network by social engineering ?
2. Can you trust the craiglist/ebay guys, coz even if they get your meid registered, they will know your phone no and your meid, what if they mess with it later ? Can they misues the meid/no and if they do, who will be held responsible ?
3. What happens if later the network figures out by some means that the registered meid is not of their supported phones ? What action can they take ?
4. What challeges will i face if i need to transfer my number to a different handset or if i wish to port my number ? Will they block my number if they find that the meid is of an unsupported phone ?
5. Lastly, if i need to sell my phone, what do i do ? How do i get my number out of the phone and what all things need to be done.(sorry for my limited knowledge, i have very limited experience with cdma)
PS : I m only talking about where the phones meid is registered and not where the phone has been programed/cl*ned etc.
All help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Click to collapse
Simple answer to all questions. This would require MEID cloning which is illegal.
^^ As i mentioned, these are not cloned ones. They have the og meid of d evo registered onto the database by some means. No techie work has been done on the phone, the meid that is printed on the box, d same meid is shown under the settings.
tgruendler said:
Simple answer to all questions. This would require MEID cloning which is illegal.
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Click to collapse
It's only illegal if you are cloning a phone that you do not own. It's like downloading an ISO. If you already own the cd you can download it as much as you want.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
This is still pretty shady.
Out of curiosity, what is the advantage of doing this? At least in the United States there are really only 2 big players that support CDMA networks -- Verizon and Sprint. Personally I think Sprint has some of the most reasonable pricing for their unlimited plans. I suppose you could use it on Cricket's network as well but why would you want to do that other than price?
I think the $69.99 price/month (I guess it's actually $79.99 after you tack on the $10 for 4G) is really fair. I previously had a 25% discount through my employer which made the final bill each month $70. I have since dropped my own line and switched to my parents' family plan. Now I only pay $30/month.
It's only illegal if you are cloning a phone that you do not own. It's like downloading an ISO. If you already own the cd you can download it as much as you want.
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Click to collapse
True. I would like to know one thing, if i get the phone from ebay/craiglist and later that guy clones a different phone(which he owns) with the meid and no which is on my evo(since he would knw everything abt my phone) and if caught, who will be the one who will land up in trouble ??
Out of curiosity, what is the advantage of doing this?
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Price ! Boost - $50 unlimited. I am happy with gsm, i m just considering it at the moment, but i first need definite answers to all my questions before i take a step forward.
I don't think Boost uses GSM. I believe it's iDEN networks. But the Evo is a CDMA phone so I don't see how you could use it on a GSM or iDEN network. Maybe folks outside the US don't have this problem but certainly in the States I think you're tied to a CDMA network so your only options are Sprint, Verizon, or Cricket.
gamblor01 said:
I don't think Boost uses GSM. I believe it's iDEN networks. But the Evo is a CDMA phone so I don't see how you could use it on a GSM or iDEN network. Maybe folks outside the US don't have this problem but certainly in the States I think you're tied to a CDMA network so your only options are Sprint, Verizon, or Cricket.
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Click to collapse
No no, i m sorry i didnt explain it well. Boost uses cdma. What i meant to say was, i m currently happy using gsm, i was considering switching to cdma, only if i get proper answers to questions i listed
That makes more sense. Boost must have migrated because I swear they used iDEN. Still -- I like my family plan option (which I realize may not be an option for you). Yes it has 1500 minutes/month but you only use minutes if you call a land line -- mobile to mobile calls are free. Can't beat $30/month for an Evo.
Whatever you choose, good luck.
They use both now but, I think they are migrating to an all cdma network since sprint is really doing away with the nextel network. They started using cdma in early 2010. But if you can get it on the network it will work. I would personally do it myself *google*.... and stay away from the shady people and make sure it is done right.
So, I ordered some Epics on Amazon after I burnt the motherboard connections to the Digitizer on my Huawei Activa 4G (they were $39 a piece, great deals for phones that a crapton better then the Activa's). I followed this guide down to the "T", but I can't get the Epic to connect to MetroPCS. It keeps trying to connect to Verizon. I tried the 2xxx and 3xxx MetroPCS PRL's with no luck. Is there anything I missed, or is there anyone that can help with troubleshooting? I would like to surprise my fiancee with this phone (the other one I bought) as a Christmas present, and since we are grandfathered into the unlimited data plan on Metro, I would seriously like to stay with them.
Thanks!
First thins is first, you need to get the esn added to metropcs.
If you cant add the esn in the inventory it will not work.
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Did you do this?
Also keep in mind that MetroPCS is migrating or being decommissioned to T-Mobiles GSM network.
Apparently adding a new serial number to MetroPCS will kick me off the unlimited data plan, which is stupid. And, each time I try to add the ESN to MetroPCS, they give me a different excuse as to why it can't be added (device not supported, esn not valid, etc). It's starting to sound easier to set up this phone (and keep my data) myself. I'm going to try and see if I keep climbing the ladder of MetroPCS supervisors and hopefully get someone that'll be happy to keep me in my promotional plan AND set up my new phones. Else, I'm not sure what other ways to go about this. I don't think I should lose my data because my POS phone died, and I sure as hell don't want to pay $60/mo per phone when I already pay $135 for 3.
HACKhalo2 said:
(device not supported, esn not valid, etc)
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Click to collapse
This type of response tells me that the reason it won't activate is because they will not allow a Sprint phone on their network. Period.
If you can activate T-Mobile phones under your unlimited plan then personally I would try to sell these phones (see Ting info below) for near what you paid and get a T-Mobile compatible S II or better on your plan. CM 10.1 works well on the Epic 4G but occasionally it can be a little pokey sometimes and memory is tight. Also you still need to boot into Samsung Gingerbread FC09 to activate, etc., see link below. It may be a selling point to flash these phones to CM 10.1 (definitely enable the ability to boot into FC09 as mentioned below).
Otherwise if you insist on using these this is probably your only option:
If you're lucky find a cheap Samsung Galaxy S (same as Epic 4G) that will run on Metro PCS and either use it, or if its broken, try to migrate its ESN/MSEID to the Sprint Epic 4G. I don't know how this is done, but I have read this is the way you can get competing carrier phones onto competing networks. This should allow you to activate the phone. How well it will work considering MetroPCS is ditching CDMA is just a guess.
I was going to suggest some options involving a MetroPCS hotspot, but then I thought that might not qualify under your unlimited plan?
Regarding selling them:
If you know anyone who has decent Sprint coverage and barely uses data, but still wants to use a smartphone over WiFi then convince them to buy your phone and sign-up with Ting (http://www.ting.com). Give them $25 credit with my link: https://z25ms41o9h2.ting.com/
Dual-boot from CM 10.1 into Samsung Gingerbread FC09 for PRL, Profile, Activation, Sensor Calibration:
http://epiccm.blogspot.com/2012/01/boot-el30-stock-from-sdcard.html
Good luck!