So I have a brand new Blackberry 8330 from Sprint sitting here. It's not stolen,..but let's just say I found it and as far as I know, I have no way of finding out who's it is/was..It was brand new in a sealed box. (I opened it, to see what it was). So what's the deal? It's a Sprint phone, but can I get service on it through anyone? Or must it be Sprint Service? Should I call Sprint and tell them the Serial Number and see if they can trace the owner. Will it show up in the system as missing?
You could just take the SIM card out of your current phone and put it in the new phone. I'm like 85% sure that would work...
I don't think Sprint phones work like that. At least mine didn't. I have to get them to change the service either in the store or on the internet
It has to be a Sprint service with a sprint phone. If you do call sprint and give them the number they will know whos phone it is. They probably won't tell you the name, but I'm sure they will want you to waste your time and gas to drop it off at the store.
? Jailbreaking is street jive for taking the lock code of the phone to unlock it for other carriers, common with GSM phones. Did the device get shipped from Sprint? If so was there paperwork in the box? The device will only work on Sprint, even if someone could flash the software VZW and US Cellular would likely not allow the ESN into their billing systems. You could call Sprint's Customer Service and tell them someone gave you a phone and you wanted to make sure it could be used on their network.
BTW, I was told (by Sprint when I switched plans) that you cannot use a BB unless you have the internet. It has something to do with it frequently updating itself. Again, this is what SPRINT told me. We (the wife and I) dropped our old plan (all data plan) to go to the text and talk only type plan (it saved us $80 a month!). Thats when they told me I couldn't have my BB anymore because we didn't have the internet on our plan
I'd give you my BB if I could... hate it. My company forced us all to go to them and away from our personal phones... I had a Palm Treo, and it was WAY, WAY better... My analogy is it's sort of like Mac vs. PC... if you've ever used a Mac, you'll know how much better they are... but the business world bought into the idea of the PC. Same thing with Palm vs. BB.
So just a quicky on this one. Any phone can be unlocked. CDMA or GSM. Even LTE, WiMax, and now UMTS phones have a software that alows them to be unlocked. What make a phone exclusive to a carrier is that carriers wireless network. VZ, US Cell, and SOME AT&T customers run on a CDMA network. I do believe, do not quote me on this but US Cell actually might still have TDMA customers but I cannot remember when that FCC Licence runs out. These CDMA type phones use a few really nerdy, trust me I know they are nerdy because this is what I do for a living, ways of telling the network who they are and what type of phone it is. The primary identification for a CDMA phone is it's ESN, or Electronic Serial Number. This number is a Hexadecimal number, the box will also have a pain numeral text, representaion of a finger print. It tells the network where to start billing and USD/HLR/RHLR, tables to find it's abilities so it can operate on the network. I'm telling you now, if the person who lost this phone is smart they would call Sprint and give them the lost ESN of the phone and the network will NOT allow it to connect and it will actually be flagged in the system. Now some phones on Sprints network are dual technology meaning iDEN and CDMA, I cannot remember if the iDEN network has been shut down and they are using their CDMA network for PTT but if it's Dual you are forced to use the phone for it's PTT function, if it has it, only. For the other phones they use what is called a SIM. Think of a SIM as a flash card that hold your identity on a GSM/UMTS network. SIM's allow an almost seemless trasition from phone to phone where the only thing you need to do is update the plan to include whatever services that phone can handle. Downside is the SIM can be fragile and sudden shock can cause it to not locate the right network or not work at all. I know it's long winded but, what I'm getting at is CMDA phone tend to be more secure and if it owner was smart, that phone won't work on any network until it's back it the right hands. my 2 cents. <>< Sean
I know what you are talking about. It happened 2 years ago and the issue had to do with A5/1. And with A5/3 the code complex was changed with code connectivity changes every call connection meaning it won't ever be able to be hacked again.
Here is an update. By the way, 80% of GSM uses are still on A5/1 http://www.dailytech.com/Researcher...+Encryption+in+Under+2+Hours/article17417.htm
If your wanting a Blackberry and happen to have Verizon, I would ship mine to you in a heartbeat if I didnt have to trade it in. I hate my Blackberry, the ball always gets hung up, it wont text when it has been in my pocket, etc etc.
