New to the scene...Few questions

[XenioTX]

As of now I have service with Sprint PCS Wireless in the US and I lost my phone. I'm not satisfied with Sprint and am thinking about changing services. But Sprint has the best deals, unless I can get some free service with a Nokia phone :) . To flash, and unlock a nokia phone, do I have to have a plan with a wireless provider or can I go to the cell phone store, buy on off the sheves, unlock and flash it, and get free service? Another question, how exactly do you get free service? Do you just unlock and flash it then cancel your service? Won't you just keep getting bills in the mail if you don't? I'm probably going to switch to T-Mobile. But I'm not fully educated on these topics yet. I'm good with computers so I'm not that much of a n00b ;) . So if you could help me that would be great. Thanks. - Cody

[cjard]

As of now I have service with Sprint PCS Wireless in the US and I lost my phone. I'm not satisfied with Sprint and am thinking about changing services. But Sprint has the best deals, unless I can get some free service with a Nokia phone :) . To flash, and unlock a nokia phone, do I have to have a plan with a wireless provider or can I go to the cell phone store, buy on off the sheves, unlock and flash it, and get free service? Another question, how exactly do you get free service? Do you just unlock and flash it then cancel your service? Won't you just keep getting bills in the mail if you don't? I'm probably going to switch to T-Mobile. But I'm not fully educated on these topics yet. I'm good with computers so I'm not that much of a n00b ;) . So if you could help me that would be great. Thanks. - Cody

lol.. if only it were that simple, to get free calls. I listened to a lecturer give a talk about the mobile phone industry and how it works. He has worked as a cellular network consultant for many years, and he dropped info tha there are still in excess of a hundred ways of ripping off a phone company. they know all about them however, so no matter how easy it is to do, it is not so easy to get away with. One of the greatest rip-offs of all time was in the UK, when BT released their U phones, that stored the credit on the phone, instead of the BT servers.. People found out how to hack that pretty quick, i can tell you.. THose days are long gone though, and its getting seriously difficult to perform rip-offs like they used to.

ill correct a few misconceptions for you:

Unlocking = alter phone software so it will accept a SIM card from any provider in the world. You still need a sim card to make calls. In the usa, i saw that often the sim card is soldered into the phone, and you cant even see it. So if youre sitting there wondering what a sim card is, it may be this way for you. A Phone needs a SIM to make any calls; it is your passport to log onto Sprint (or Verizon, or RogersAT&T or whoever), without it, you cannot use a network

Flashing = the process of writing new operation system software onto the phone. New software fixes bugs, add features etc.. just like WIndows on your PC. You need some software to use the phone. You cannot make free calls by changing software alone (too easy - phone companies already dealt with that one)

any phone you buy off the shelf, with no calling plan, will probably be unlocked anywya, ready for you to pout any sim card in it. it carries a higher price than a phone that is locked to a network because the network subsiidises the purchase price of the phone, then rapes it back off you in call charges. The more the subsidy the more youre likely to buy the phone cause its cheaper, but the more you will get raped for calls.

if you cancel your service, your sim card wont be able to log onto the network, and your phone becomes useless. the bills stop at that point. to use the network agin you must use a new sim card.
you can make your life cheaper, maybe, by buying a subsidised phone, reporting it stolen (thereby cancelling the contract early), have it unlocked and the ID changed (stolen phones are often blocked based on their serial number) then buy a sim card from a calling plan you want. you wont get away with this forever though, and in uk its already very hard to get mobile companies to cancel a contract even if you were dumb enough to get a handset stolen; after all, the phone companies are aware of this little wangle and dont want to subsidise your getting a brand new phone for dirt cheap

[XenioTX]

Thanks for the reply. I was reading something on "Chipping" a phone which consists of you soldering a chip into the phone...this allowing you to get free service. Do you know anything about this topic?

[cjard]

I used to.. It was a popular thing in the UK, like i say, with the BT-U phones. To my knowledge, it doesnt happen so much any more as the mobile companies programmed their computers to watch for more phone calls than had been paid for, which is a relatively straight forward thing to do. I dont know if it is still possible to do in the USA, but to be honest, it's probably not worth the hassle. There are other scams possible that are much easier to pull off, such as call re-selling; you set up an office with a switchboard, and sell calling cards to people. THey use your service, you pocket the money from them, then at the ewnd of the month, pack up and leave without paying the bill to the telco. Note, that that is theft ona serious scale, and you get royally screwed if youre caught, though with the justice system the way it is, you could probably end up nearly as badly screwed if you stole a few dolalrs worth of free phone calls...

I wasnt aware that usa plans were so expensive, tbh.. when i was in canada, im sure i saw insane deals like 3000 minutes for 25 dollars a month, which is a pittance, really...