Any way to use a cell phone not supported by the carrier?

Woodtroll

Woodtroll

Joined
Oct 15, 2001
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Hello, folks! I figured if anyone could answer this, somebody here could...

My wife and teen-aged kids have dragged me kicking and screaming into the cellular texting age. I have to admit, even though I still don't care for high technology in general, texting has come in handy a couple times.

My problem is that I cannot find a phone with a large, protected QWERTY keyboard. I am currently using an LG UX260 (Scoop, I think?) that was my daughter's hand-me-down, but I have very large fingers and the keyboard is pretty small. I need something pretty durable with a protected pad, as I work in the fire service and am pretty rough sometimes on anything that is in my pockets or on my belt.

One of the guys at work has an LG Env, which has a great flip-open keypad and is exactly what I am after, but my carrier (US Cellular) does not offer this model. I do not want a Blackberry, a touch screen, or anything fancy or fragile. Is there any way around the carrier-specific model requirements?

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it! Take care,
Regan
 
companies that use a sim card, which is pretty much anyone except verizon, allow the user the ability to switch phones by simply putting the sim card in the new phone.

so long as the phone you want is compatible with the sim card, you should be good to go.
 
And there lies the problem: this phone seems to be specific to Verizon.

I certainly do appreciate your reply!

Maybe someone knows of a similar phone that could be used with US Cellular?
 
Last edited:
MORIMOTOM said:
companies that use a sim card, which is pretty much anyone except verizon, allow the user the ability to switch phones by simply putting the sim card in the new phone.

so long as the phone you want is compatible with the sim card, you should be good to go.
Click to expand...

almost true. some companies "lock" their phones, meaning you can only use that companies simcards.
so, for example, when the I-phones first came out in the UK, you could only get them with O2, and could only use O2 sim cards in them.

but, even if the phone has had this done to it, you can almost all ways get it "unlocked" (if not, it's only a matter of time). there are even free resorces on the net that could allow you to do it yourself, although personally I'm not sure I would trust them.
 
Try getting more specific information over at howardsforums.com, cell phone equvilant to this website.
 
I'm a U.S.Cellular customer, and they share the network with Verizon. No SIM cards, and both are CDMA.

You can go on ebay, put in US Cellular, and see what come up. My last phone was a Blackberry, and it was great for texting, and email. Sucked for the web. I bought it on ebay for dirt cheap, and had it a little over a year.

The LG Tritan is a good phone. I carried one for awhile, and it has a touch screen, and a full slide out keyboard. easy phone to text with.

I recently upgraded to a Samsung Acclaim Android phone, and it has a touch screen, with a slide out keyboard. The keyboard is very user friendly, and I also have large fingers.

My youngest daughter has a LG slider with full keyboard, and it is similar to the UX260. seems to work ok.
 
Mobile phones which accept sim cards use the GSM technology. Carriers under GSM are ATT and TMobile. I find the nokia qwerty phones to be rugged enough for rough use. Try Amazon and look for Nokia E72, E71 or E63 models. They are unlocked and you can use them with pay as you go.
 
you're not going to get a verizon network phone to work on any other network.

us cellular has dozens of models to choose from; i don't think you have exhausted your search for the model you need within your brand yet.

but if you're hellbent on an enV3 (that's what i use; it's a txt'ng machine) you gotta switch carriers...
 
Thanks for the replies, folks! I am not sold on a touch-screen phone at all. I have looked several times at US Cellular's current offerings without finding anything that appealed to me, but thought maybe there was an older phone that would be better. I did look on Ebay, as suggested, and found the Kyocera Strobe that looked like it might have a bigger keyboard. Anyone have any experience with these?

Thanks again!
 
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