What exactly does bad ESN mean?

[melikesports]

hey guys my brother heard about using an old droid 2 for just apps/wifi web browsing and we found one on ebay with a bad ESN. does that mean i will just not be able to use it with the verizon network and it will still work for the android market and wifi or will it simply not work at all? thanks in advance

 

[bryanlee1981]

A bad ESN (Electronic Serial Number) could be due to a few things.
1. A stolen phone report
2. Failure to make payments/close an account associated with the phone.

There are other ways, but im guessing these are the most common. I would call the carrier that you plan to use the phone on and make sure that you will be able to activate it. My recommendation would be to buy a phone locally and actually go into a store with the previous owner. This may save you some wasted money.

 

[thatperson]

If all he wanted to do was use it on wifi and have access to the market, then yes that phone will work just fine. Bad ESN means that he will not be able to get it activated on a mobile contract and use it outside of a wifi connection.