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DWFII

Well-Known Member
If I buy a used, unlocked phone from Amazon or Swappa, how do I go about setting it up to access a service...such as Virgin Mobile (which I have now)?

Do I need to buy a chip? And if so, how much do they cost?

Or is it simply a matter of "flashing" an existing chip or the phone...some how?
 
I think I understand that.

But it is my understanding that if I buy a phone that is cdma, for instance, and unlocked, I can get it to work with any cdma carrier.

What I am asking is if it is unlocked what do I do next? Just contact the carrier I want to be with?

Or do I need more hardware or what?

I am not absolutely locked into any protocol or service but I want to know how to go about it from the point of purchase.
 
A Carrier unlocked device gives you the freedom to choose whichever carrier you like. As for the steps, maybe one of our members from abroad can give you better information. I've always used a carrier branded device. I bet @Hadron might know.
 
All depends on who your carrier is, you're currently on Virgin Mobile.
https://www.virginmobileusa.com/resources/CTIAFAQ.pdf

Can I bring my own compatible phone?
No. Presently, Virgin Mobile will not activate non
Virgin Mobile devices and will only activate device
s intended for Virgin Mobile.

For other US carriers, you'll have to check their BYOD policies, as to what you actually use. For some of them, it seems to be iPhones, and select Samsungs, HTCs and Motos.
 
So really, if I'm currently with Virgin Mobile and like the service plan I have (unlimited text and data for $40 /mo. using the Sprint network), I'd be better off looking for a phone that was already set up for Virgin Mobile and forget about buying an unlocked phone.

Is that right?
 
Bg260 said:
A Carrier unlocked device gives you the freedom to choose whichever carrier you like. As for the steps, maybe one of our members from abroad can give you better information. I've always used a carrier branded device. I bet @Hadron might know.
Click to expand...
The problem with that theory is that CDMA is a US-only thing, so members from outside the States are unlikely to know the subtleties of such networks. I know it's more restrictive than GSM, since we don't need to register a handset with the carrier at all, but a consequence of that is that I don't know anything about CMDA carriers' policies on handset registration.
 
DWFII said:
So really, if I'm currently with Virgin Mobile and like the service plan I have (unlimited text and data for $40 /mo. using the Sprint network), I'd be better off looking for a phone that was already set up for Virgin Mobile and forget about buying an unlocked phone.

Is that right?
Click to expand...

Think that's it, yeh. Basically you're looking for a phone that Virgin Mobile supplied in the first place. And that's all you can use, unless you want to change carrier. I believe with something like AT&T you can use any phone, provided it's unlocked and has US bands and modes. Phones must be clean of course, not blacklisted.
 
Props and sincere thanks to all of you. I learned a lot.

I would switch to another carrier (GSM) in a heartbeat if I could get the same kind of deal that I got with Virgin Mobile--pay as you go, unlimited text and data all for $40.00 a month.

Out of curiousity what are the "restrictions" / advantages and disadvantages of CDMA vs. GSM?

PS...looking at Swappa, I think I'm seeing more Virgin Mobile Apple phones than Samsung or other Android devices.
 
The restriction I referred to is that with CDMA you need to register the handset with the carrier in order to get a telephone service. Hence if the carrier decided that for whatever reason they don't want to register that handset, they can - whether they do will therefore be a matter of the carrier's policy. With GSM you just stick your SIM in a new handset and that's it, you've changed phones.

CDMA phones do have SIMs these days, but only for LTE (as that's based on GSM technology), so you do still need to register the handset.
 
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