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Reflash, jailbreak, or unlock your cell phone
Considering switching carriers and want to take your phone with you? Want to use all the features in your cell phone? Reflash it, Jailbreak it, or unlock it and breathe new life into your old cell phone. Ready to unlock your cell phone and need some help? Our article on how to properly unlock your cell phone is located here. If you're not sure, read on.
The words reflash, unlock, and jailbreak are tossed about quite frequently when it comes to cellular phones, and it's sometimes confusing trying to understand what you can and cannot do depending on your current cell phone provider, the type of technology platform on which your cellular phone works, as well as the actual cell phone model itself. With tons of claims as to who can unlock, unbrick, jailbreak, and reflash phones, its important to understand the difference between these catch phrases as well as what is really possible with your cell phone.
Jailbreaking: Most commonly refers to the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch (1st and 2nd Generation), and simply means that you can use applications outside the Apple App Store. The legality of jailbreaking Apple products is unclear, however, as of this moment, its not illegal.
Unlocking: GSM phones (see below) can be unlocked to work on a different carrier other than the one under which they were originally liscenced.
Reflash: CDMA phones (see below) can be reflashed to work on other carriers.
Now that you understand the terms, we need to examine the networks. Currently, there are three widely used cell phone technologies in the US, and unfortunately, they're all different and a phone built on one platform cannot work on the other two. These cell phone networks are:
GSM: Net10, T-Mobile, AT&T Mobility, TracPhone are all GSM providers, as is most of the world (over 90 countries). One of the more flexible technologies, you can take most of these phones with you when you travel abroad. T-Mobile phones and AT&T cell phones are commonly 'unlocked' so that you can use a SIM card from another country and use that country's local carrier rates.
CDMA: Virgin Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, US Cellular, Alltel (now Verizon), Cricket, MetroPCS. These phones do not use SIM cards, and this platform is scarcely used throughout the world. Sprint phones and Verizon Wireless phones can be 'reflashed' to work on Cricket and MetroPCS. In fact, the ability to get your cell phone reflashed is part of their marketing.
IDEN: Consider iDEN to be a hybrid between CDMA and GSM; it uses a SIM card, but cannot be unlocked to work on a GSM provider. This technology is used exclusively by Boost Mobile and Nextel phones, and are known for their fast Push - to - Talk (PTT) network.
Unlocking your GSM phone can be a fairly easy experience if you're working with a phone that is currently under a contract. Most carriers will give you the unlock code (specific to your IMEI) after 90 days of service, if you simply call them and let them know you're going to be travelling overseas. If you don't have service, or have purchased a phone with the sole purpose of having it unlocked, it gets a little more difficult. Beware of 'free' unlock codes; they sometimes will not work, may not unlock your phone to all providers, or may 'brick' your phone, rendering it unusable. At Your Monsters of Mobile, we recommend Unique Phones. They're reputable and guarantee their GSM unlocking codes( click here to visit - opens in new window).
Reflashing your phone is a bit more detailed, only offered on select Sprint and Verizon phones, and is done physically with Cricket and MetroPCS. Be aware that if your phone is reflashed, it will no longer be usable on Sprint or Verizon, and you may not be able to use all of the features on the phone you have reflashed. We've included the links for MetroPCS ( here) and Cricket ( here). Both links open in a new window.
If you have Nextel and Boost phones, those too, can be recycled. Most Nextel phones can be put on the Boost Network (but not the other way around) with the purchase of a starter kit, found in most Sprint stores for $20. Just remember, although these phones use SIM cards, they're not compatible with GSM phones, and cannot be unlocked for this purpose.
We hope this helps you make sense of what can be unlocked, reflashed, and jailbroke with your mobile electronics - and helps you recycle that old phone into something usable for you or someone else. If you cannot find someone to take your used phone, you might want be eligible to get cash for that old phone with Cell for Cash - click here to get started (opens up in new window).
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can you tel me what the unlock code is if i want to put my o2 sim in to the sumsung J700?
And can you also help me what do i do if my phone has frozen??
please help me
http://www.uniquephones...liate.php?id=572_0_1_53
If your phone has frozen, your first troubleshooting step is to remove the battery and turn the phone back on. If it is still frozen, it is likely the software of the cell phone at fault, and you'll need to visit your local carrier store and have the software reinstalled. Call first to make sure the center you select is able to reflash software for your cell phone.
1. If I reflash it back to Verizon will I still have text and calling?
2. How much does it cost to reflash the phone back to Verizon?
Thank you!
Reflashing a phone just tells a cell phone how to route it's calling, text, and web to the appropriate provider, and is done simply by hooking up a phone to a computer and loading the appropriate hardware. From there, it just needs to be reprogrammed to the MDN and the MSID assigned by your provider.
Your Verizon store may or may not charge for the privilege of putting your cell phone back on their network. Be prepared to pay but take heart in the fact that it could be worse and you have to pay full price for a new phone.
i'm dying for some help here!
A unlocked phone will allow a GSM phone to work on other cell phone providers network.
A jailbroken phone will allow you to access or change things within the phone to make it work differently than the manufacturer intended.
A reflashed phone will allow a CDMA phone to work on another provider's cell phone network.
Many of those phones that have the reflash done on them only covers voice and SMS, which travel through the same transciever, and utilize much of the same programming.
What it generally will not cover is packet data - that can be done manually on some phones, although not frequently on CDMA phones. You'll have to go through your Menu > Settings and see if there is one that speaks to 'Network'.
Before you purchase a phone for reflash - make sure that the web gateways can be reprogrammed if you want to use packet data services.