edgukashun pleas: unlocked phones

[slowSSer]

so, back story:

my wife lost blackberry pearl a while ago and has been using my old Motorola flip phone as her phone. she now needs email access and would like a new blackberry. however, in-contract through AT&T would be $$$$ to get a new one....that and getting out of our contract would also be $$$$.

research commences. we find a cr@pload of "unlocked" phones on the interweb. and we find out that unlocked phones online from fairly reputable sources are 1/2 the price. woohoo!

questions:

1- can we just throw in an backup/old AT&T sim card, turn on and go?

2- if no, do we have to take it to AT&T and have them "network" it?

what else do we need to know? halp pleas!

[DownHillPhil]

What's to say the Mrs. won't lose her new blackberry too?

[Schecky]

Originally Posted by slowSSer

.....
1- can we just throw in an backup/old AT&T sim card, turn on and go?
.....

That's what I did - no problems.
'Course mine wasn't a crackberry and I don't use it for much but calls - There could be more involved.
You need to make sure that it is unlocked for 'AT&T' and not another carrier.

[strobelite]

sim card switch works with unlocked hones- at&t phone w-t-mobile service to prove it!!!

[mazer75]

If you buy an unlocked phone, it's best to get a quad-band one (850, 900, 1800, and 1900MHz). I believe that AT&T is 850 and 1900, while T-Mobile is 900 and 1900. So if you are on AT&T you better make sure the phone you get does 850 MHz as well.

The ultimate resource for this is www.howardforums.com

[Burner]

mazer is right on... i've used unlocked phones on At&t for years, no issues, when I go overseas, I buy a local prepaid sim card, slap it in, and I'm good to go. Quad band is a great idea so you never worry about which band you might need when traveling, but as he said At&t uses 850 & 1900 in the US (although that may have changed with the cingular thing, I haven't checked)

Blackberry should work fine as well, but you have to sign up for all the blackberry stuff for email, etc.

All that being said, I bought a phone from At&t recently, and they had to change my SIM out because it was old and wouldn't work with the new system (I was one of the first At&t customers), I'm sure the SIM would have worked, but I think it wouldn't have been setup right in their provisioning or billing system.

You need to make sure that it is unlocked for 'AT&T' and not another carrier.

you don't unlock a phone "for a carrier", once it's unlocked it works with any SIM.

[autoduel]

If it's an AT&T phone, you don't need it unlocked.
If you try to put say a T-mobile sim into an AT&T phone, that's when you need to have it unlocked. You can also buy a locked phone and pay a service $20-40 to provide an unlock code. Unlocked phones fetch a higher price than ones that are still locked to a carrier.

[foofighter]

pretty much was covered man. most of the sellers on ebay sell crackberries for ATT so you dont have to get something unlocked. I'm sorry you're on the ATT network... i'll still be your friend

just remember every Telephia drive test that is done on all the carriers...our network comes through with high ranking even better than the "bars all over" people.

[slowSSer]

Originally Posted by foofighter

pretty much was covered man. most of the sellers on ebay sell crackberries for ATT so you dont have to get something unlocked. I'm sorry you're on the ATT network... i'll still be your friend

just remember every Telephia drive test that is done on all the carriers...our network comes through with high ranking even better than the "bars all over" people.

aw, quit hyping the company you work for.

i hate to say it, but if we were to switch providers, we might go with verizon. why? it's the only carrier with service at our house.

[foofighter]

c'mon ethan...we have Hotspot at home brotha!!!! Unlimited calling via the wifi mode on your phone...cant beat that!

[Abstrakt77]

Depending on how long your wife has been with ATT or how long shes had her phone, she may be elgible for an upgrade or a new refurbed phone. Upgrading however would lock her into another 2 year contract.

Oh and as far as unlocking, I think everybody was spot on. The carriers will try to scare you by saying that some functions may not work when a phone is unlocked but its all bologna.

[TrailJesus]

Just do what I did. Go down to Bolsa Ave. in Garden Grove, walk into one of the MANY cell phone shops and walk out within minutes with your newly unlocked phone. They are masters at doing this kind of stuff.

[slowSSer]

Originally Posted by foofighter

c'mon ethan...we have Hotspot at home brotha!!!! Unlimited calling via the wifi mode on your phone...cant beat that!

well, if you'd get me employment there, i might think about it

c'mon- hook a friend up!

Originally Posted by integradriv3r

Just do what I did. Go down to Bolsa Ave. in Garden Grove, walk into one of the MANY cell phone shops and walk out within minutes with your newly unlocked phone. They are masters at doing this kind of stuff.

hmm. are these places that just have "cell phones" in large letters on the front of the shops?

just curious.

[TrailJesus]

Originally Posted by slowSSer

hmm. are these places that just have "cell phones" in large letters on the front of the shops?

just curious.

Yeah they'll usually say CellPhones or something Wireless. Just walk in and ask if they can unlock your particular cell phone. I think when they unlocked mine they used a laptop with a sync cable and took no longer than 5 minutes. In between maybe Magnolia and Brookhurst on Bolsa Ave I think is your best bet to find one of these shops. There's also a kick ass store on Bolsa right past Magnolia going towards Beach Blvd. Its right next to the Bank of America. They hook it up big time on new phones when starting a new contract. I go there and renew my contract every year and I get a new phone every year. Hope you find a shop that'll help ya out.

[duke777]

if it's unlock all you need to do is pop in the SIM card and turn on the phone.

That's it!

If you find a GSM phone that's locked for much cheaper then you can buy it and buy unlocking code from either ebay or interweb.

I'm thinking of selling my Blackberry curve....anyone interested?

[slowSSer]

Originally Posted by duke777

I'm thinking of selling my Blackberry curve....anyone interested?

how much?

[Rascal]

and I have a 7100g in like new condition that I'd let go for cheap. It was used with Cingular.

[Abstrakt77]

Originally Posted by integradriv3r

There's also a kick ass store on Bolsa right past Magnolia going towards Beach Blvd. Its right next to the Bank of America. They hook it up big time on new phones when starting a new contract.

I can attest to that. My buddy's family owns the place and they are probably the best shop in Bolsa if you want free stuff.

Originally Posted by duke777

I'm thinking of selling my Blackberry curve....anyone interested?

why in the world would you get rid of your Berry??? Hopefully to get the 8820.

[foofighter]

im on the corporate side of T-mobile (engineering) but from what i hear about the spiffs our retail partners get for 2 year contracts it's amazing. that's why the asian phone stores will rebate you $$$ when you sign up and stay with the carrier it's a lot of jing.