Posts Tagged ‘Nside’
Basics of Unlocked Phones
Leonardo Mcfadden asked:
{Unlocked Cell Phones 101|What is Unlocking my cell phone | Unlocked cell phones for dummies|What is a SIM Card|
A GSM phone is not directly linked to you. Instead, it has a removable card, called a SIM (subscriber information module) and this Card has a unique number on it. This is what identifies you to your carrier
Generally cell phone service works so that the unique serial number in your mobile phone (its ESN) is used by the cell phone service provider to identify who you are. The wireless carrier ‘knows’ that a particular mobile phone’s serial number is your device and knows to send phone calls to that phone when someone dials your phone number.
The important difference about this is that you can put your SIM into any compatible phone (and pretty much all modern GSM phones are compatible with all modern SIMs) and that phone will now act as your mobile phone, because sees your sim nside the phone. They couldlnt care less that you’ve transferred phones, all they care about is if they can deliver service to your SIM
And now for the really glamorous part of this. In theory, you can transfer your SIM to any phone, the other way is also true. Any phone can communicate with any SIM card. So, if you’ve already purchased a luxurious mobile phone that you like and have leanred the features, if you change from one GSM network to a new one, you don’t have to shell out money for a new phone. You can keep the phone you’ve grown accustmed to, and all you need to do is swap the first gsm carrier’s SIM with your new service provider’s SIM.
But, some wireless providers ‘lock’ their phones, meaning that their phones have been programmed to only work with SIM cards issued by them. Repealing that programming – unlocking your phone so it can work with any compatible network – is what this is all about.
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What is GSM Technology? Is it different than normal cell phone service? How do I know if I am on a GSM network or not?
GSM is a type of mobile phone infrastructure. The more common type of cell phone service in North America is CDMA, but just about every other country in the world uses primarily or only GSM.
For you as the consumer of your phone, there is no difference at all between using a mobile phone on a CDMA system or a cell phone on a GSM network. Unfortunately, the two different networks are not compatible with each other so you cant swap between phones if your going from GSM to CDMA or vicea versa
If you have a T-Mobile or Cingular then you are using a GSM phone.
Can I just buy an unlocked phone without signing up for service?
Yes, there are several ways to purchase an unlocked phone without needing to sign up for a year or two of contracted service that you mightn’t want. You can simply buy a used GSM phone on the internet or from a friend or somewhere like that.
If you buy a used cell phone from an individual always make sure it unlocked before commiting to purchase.
You can also purchase Unlocked Cell Phones from online stores such as my favorite,J-Cellular or Best Buy
{Unlocked Cell Phones 101|What is Unlocking my cell phone | Unlocked cell phones for dummies|What is a SIM Card|
A GSM phone is not directly linked to you. Instead, it has a removable card, called a SIM (subscriber information module) and this Card has a unique number on it. This is what identifies you to your carrier
Generally cell phone service works so that the unique serial number in your mobile phone (its ESN) is used by the cell phone service provider to identify who you are. The wireless carrier ‘knows’ that a particular mobile phone’s serial number is your device and knows to send phone calls to that phone when someone dials your phone number.
The important difference about this is that you can put your SIM into any compatible phone (and pretty much all modern GSM phones are compatible with all modern SIMs) and that phone will now act as your mobile phone, because sees your sim nside the phone. They couldlnt care less that you’ve transferred phones, all they care about is if they can deliver service to your SIM
And now for the really glamorous part of this. In theory, you can transfer your SIM to any phone, the other way is also true. Any phone can communicate with any SIM card. So, if you’ve already purchased a luxurious mobile phone that you like and have leanred the features, if you change from one GSM network to a new one, you don’t have to shell out money for a new phone. You can keep the phone you’ve grown accustmed to, and all you need to do is swap the first gsm carrier’s SIM with your new service provider’s SIM.
But, some wireless providers ‘lock’ their phones, meaning that their phones have been programmed to only work with SIM cards issued by them. Repealing that programming – unlocking your phone so it can work with any compatible network – is what this is all about.
—-
What is GSM Technology? Is it different than normal cell phone service? How do I know if I am on a GSM network or not?
GSM is a type of mobile phone infrastructure. The more common type of cell phone service in North America is CDMA, but just about every other country in the world uses primarily or only GSM.
For you as the consumer of your phone, there is no difference at all between using a mobile phone on a CDMA system or a cell phone on a GSM network. Unfortunately, the two different networks are not compatible with each other so you cant swap between phones if your going from GSM to CDMA or vicea versa
If you have a T-Mobile or Cingular then you are using a GSM phone.
Can I just buy an unlocked phone without signing up for service?
Yes, there are several ways to purchase an unlocked phone without needing to sign up for a year or two of contracted service that you mightn’t want. You can simply buy a used GSM phone on the internet or from a friend or somewhere like that.
If you buy a used cell phone from an individual always make sure it unlocked before commiting to purchase.
You can also purchase Unlocked Cell Phones from online stores such as my favorite,J-Cellular or Best Buy