Flashing a Phone

[samoyedpuppy]

Hi all,

I'm helping a friend out. She currently has Boost Mobile and wants to buy a new phone, but doesn't want to shell out too much money. I'm helping her find a phone off of Craigslist.

I know Boost Mobile is CDMA, and Verizon is well. Here are some questions I have:
- If I get an unlocked from Verizon, is it possible to flash it to Boost Mobile?
- If so, how does one go about doing that?
- Is it possible to bring an unlocked phone to Boost Mobile or Radio Shack and ask them to make it work with Boost Mobile?

Thanks!

 

[Rukbat]

- If I get an unlocked from Verizon, is it possible to flash it to Boost Mobile?

No, because Boost won't activate any phones but theirs.

- Is it possible to bring an unlocked phone to Boost Mobile or Radio Shack and ask them to make it work with Boost Mobile?

Since "locked" means that you can't use any other carrier's SIM in the phone, and a CDMA phone doesn't use a phone for the 2G service (voice and text), it can't be locked, so it can't be unlocked.

If she wants Boost, she has to get a Boost phone. If she wants Verizon, she has to get a Verizon phone. The only other option is a virtual network, like Straight Talk. They use all 4 of the majors (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) so she can choose the towers that work best for her, pick a phone for those towers and still get unlimited talk and text and 2.5GB of data/month for $45.

But pick the carrier first. The best plan that doesn't cover where you need coverage is worthless to you.

 

[tube517]

Flashing phones to Boost is a royal PITA now. It's not even worth it anymore since 4G is available and 3G on Sprint/Boost is super slow.

I'd recommend getting a used Boost phone (with 4G) and skipping the whole flashing process.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

If i was her i change to st or this tmobile 30.00 plan its cheaper and you know any phone new or some old one will work with tmobile and if she wants to unlock to st she can without a problem . She needs to figure out what carrier and then next what phone she wants . Then if its a tri-band she can move however she likes .but boost is full of s**t

 

[kolosus]

Flashing phones to Boost is a royal PITA now. It's not even worth it anymore since 4G is available and 3G on Sprint/Boost is super slow.

I'd recommend getting a used Boost phone (with 4G) and skipping the whole flashing process.

I second that.

Flashing phones is the way of the past. Why flash one and deal with the growing pains when you can buy one outright and if you can buy a new one it even comes with a warranty.

Flashed phones have issues. Voicemail might not work as advertised. MMS (picture messaging) might be spotty and might quit working completely. Can they be surmounted? Sure. Will you want to deal with it from time to time? Plus throw in the fact that sometimes you'll have error 16 and cant make calls... whoa! Do you really want to go through that? She will beat you for it.

Sure, it sounds like you're doing some secret agent work in the beginning but it quickly gets old.

 

[MLSS]

I would suggest not flashing at all.