Can a cell phone from one provider work with a different provider?

Planterz

Planterz

Іди на хуй Путін!
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So I finally got around to merging into this particular lane on the information super-highway by getting a cell phone. On the advice of some friends/coworkers, I went with Cricket, which, for those who don't know, is the somewhat ghetto provider of cell service. It's relatively cheap (unless you want to add features) because it only works here in Tucson (Phoenix extra, roaming even more extra), you get unlimited everything (except roaming, if you even have it), there's no contracts (month by month), and you can change your plan monthly (need Phoenix for a month? Don't need it next month? Not a problem).

Unfortunately, the service sucks. I'm lucky if I get a single bar within my own house. The most I've seen is 3 bars and that was on a cloudy day outside. I was trying to sign up for the "Cricket Clicks" service ($10 setup fee) so I could download a ringtone that wasn't totally retarded (ended up with Herbie Hancock's "Rockit"), and it took me 4 tries because it kept dropping the call while I was on hold.

It's month-by-month, so a couple extra fees aside, I'm not really out anything if I cancel the service and go with a different provider. Except, of course, the fact that I bought a $190 cell phone. Which brings me (finally) back to my original question. I bought the phone at the Cricket store, it has all the Cricket stuff loaded on it, there's a Cricket sticker on the back of the phone. But can this phone be used with a different provider? Like, for example, Verizon or Alltell? Or are the providers manufacturer specific, and/or are the phones provider specific? Basically put, if I go with a different provider, will I absolutely have to get a new phone?

If I have to get a new phone, would I be able to sell my current Cricket phone to somebody on-the-cheap and switch it to their phone number, or do they not even allow that (to prevent theft or something, I guess)?
 
Whoops, this was supposed to be in Gadgets and Gear.
 
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I switched from Cingular to Verizon (bad move on my part), back in January, and Verizon said that they couldn't use the phone I had with Cingular, even though they offer the same exact model for their "deals". The Verizon phone that I have, the bottom right hand corner LCD screen is a nice shade of red and blue, and I can't see jack sh**. My Cingular phone still works fine, but is of no use to me, I keep it for an emergency phone if I have to call 911 and my Verizon craps out on me.
 
Pretty sure they are feeding you a line-----all they need is the code off the back of the phone to start service----and yes Verizon sucks.
 
Verizon and Cingular are different type of networks. Verizon is CDMA and Cingular is GSM so the phone from Cingular would not be compatible. Also for you to use a phone on a different carrier compatible network it would need to be unlocked.

Now saying that you say they are the same make and model you might could take them apart and switch the displays as long as the radio is not part of the circuit.

Mark
 
I believe Cricket is CMDA, so you *should* be able to use your phone with Verizon and Sprint, that assumes the phone is unlocked and that they're willing to add your phone to their network (not likely from my experience).

Cingular/AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM technology where the phone number is actually tied to a SIM card that is put inside the phone. These phones are easy to move from network to network for that reason, again assuming they are 'unlocked'.

On another note - cell phone manufacturers make the same 'model' of phone for different networks - while the base model number may be the same, there are different variants for CDMA and GSM (and even for GSM US 850/1800/1900 vs GSM Everwhere Else 900/1800/1900). As Tera Tike noted - Verizon and Cingular use different types of networks.
 
So I guess that's a "maybe". At the very least then if I switch providers I should get a cell phone that uses the same battery so that not all is lost and I'll have a spare.
 
Verizon phones do not use a SIM card. Cingular does. Therefore the phones are not compatible. You can use a Cingular phone on another network that uses a SIM card (ie: T-Mobile) as long as you unlock the phone and/or the browser.
 
Planterz, as you've probably surmised by now, your ability to use your phone with a new service provider is primarily dependent on two factors which Tera Tike summed up pretty well. A) Does your new provider operate on the same type of network as the previous- this is the GSM versus CDMA issue. If not, fuggedaboutit, there's no reasonable way the phone will work.

Assuming they are the same, say both GSM networks, then you have to consider point B) which is that the phone must be "unlocked" to be compatible with your new service. When a phone is unlocked, the switchover is as simple as transferring the SIM card. Understand, however, that essentially no phones which are purchased via a wireless provider are going to be unlocked. They will all have their software coded in such a way as to work with only that particular company's network. At this point you can only hope that some third party has cracked the software code and come up with a program that can be used to unlock the phone. Then, theoretically, you'll be able to swap SIM cards and go to town. You can check out the more popular online cell phone forums to determine whether the code has been created to unlock your specific brand and model of phone. I've never done it and it doesn't appear to me that doing so is a trivial matter. I understand it's possible to do some real damage to the software if you don't know what you're doing.

The other alternative is to purchase an unlocked phone. There are several online stores which specialize in just that. The main downside to this, obviously, is that you're paying full price for the phone without any of the lucrative new contract discounts that the wireless companies routinely offer.
 
Planterz, the only experience I have is from a CDMA standpoint.

The good news is yes, you can sell your $190 phone to someone else to get Cricket service on it. It'll make it easier on the person who buys it from you if you provide a signed written receipt detailing the model number and ESN. These are usually located on the back of the phone, under the battery.

Nowadays, the phone manufacturers tailor the phones they make for specific service providers. They do this via something called a SOC code (don't ask me what that stands for.) Most companies have a programmer somewhere in their company (usually at their larger retail stores) who has what it takes to "zap" a phone and make it compatible with their network. They don't want you to know that, however, because they can make more money by insisting that the customer purchase a new handset when changing service providers. It's a dirty business, not to mention a waste of resources, but it has some people changing phones more often than underwear.

What has been posted so far is correct- CDMA phones won't work on GSM networks, and vice versa.

Lastly, if you decide to keep the old phone for 911 purposes, don't just leave it in a drawer. Charge the battery, then let it run down, then charge again. Leaving the battery in a discharged state for long will ruin it
 
I cant help you as far as switching service, but I can direct you to a way to make your own ringtones for free- assuming your phone uses .mp3 format. This beats paying $2.50+ for a crummy tone. If your phone doesn't use .mp3 format, if you can save a file that matches what your phone uses it should still work.

You can download a free program called Wavepad (try a search, I dont remember the link) . You then open the song of your choice from your pc hard drive (any song you rip from a cd or other source). You can choose the start/stop times, as well as run it through an equalizer to eliminate bass that will disort the speaker, and even amplify it to really make sure you never miss a call:D Save your file at a bitrate between 32 and 40 kbps, and it should be good to go.

If you have a USB cable and your phones software, you can put it directly onto your phone for free.

If not, you can go to www.funformobile.com and upload it to your phone via text message, although you may have to pay for download time depending on your plan, like I did before I got my phones software cd. If you have enough memory on your phone, you could store an entire song on there.
 
Bronco said:
You can check out the more popular online cell phone forums to determine whether the code has been created to unlock your specific brand and model of phone. I've never done it and it doesn't appear to me that doing so is a trivial matter. I understand it's possible to do some real damage to the software if you don't know what you're doing.

The other alternative is to purchase an unlocked phone. There are several online stores which specialize in just that. The main downside to this, obviously, is that you're paying full price for the phone without any of the lucrative new contract discounts that the wireless companies routinely offer.
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It depends on the model of phone -Nokias are generally a breeze to unlock, a simple calculator that you can download from a ton of places will output the code needed. You're correct that if you botch up putting the code in 3 times you'll lock the phone up but good and will need someone with expertise & hardware to make it usable again.
 
I use a Virgin Mobile prepaid cell phone. Minutes are 25 cents each BUT are 10cents for each minute over 10 in a single day. I get standard Sprint coverage, and have never had a problem. $20+ needs tyo be deposited every 3 months, and unused cash roles over. Sending and recieving .txt messages is a nickle. My phone, a k-9 cost $30, but you can get the current K-10 which is a color K-9 for $20 at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, et-al.
 
I have purchased used phones from my cell provider. They had been used very little. If I remember right ; I was paying about 125 for a nice LG phone with a lot of features. I was in contract and it would have been almost double what I paid for a phone. I alwats get the replacement insurance. Its prettty cheap and worth it in my book. I have U. S. cellular. Stay away from Audiovox phones. I have had 3 that didn't last no time.
 
For GSM phones it works. As after the phone is unlocked another provider's SIM can be inserted and used with that phone. We can unlock the phone using unlock codes. Either we can get it from the service provider of the phone which is to be unlocked or from unlocking sites such as http://www.theunlockspot.com/ . Unlocking can be done using unlock code generated based on the Phone model,Country, Network (service provider) & IMEI. For iPhone remote unlocking method is followed.

In the case of CDMA phones we will not be able to switch network.
 
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Well, thank you for the info, but you're about 6.5 years late. Heck, I don't even remember asking this question.
 
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