Identifying the Proper Unlocked Phone For Your Network
The advantages to purchasing an unlocked cell phone are many - they're usually cheaper, they work on a number of networks, and so on. These benefits generally interest a lot of potential buyers. However, when shopping for unlocked phones, many people don't realize that one unlocked phone is the same as all the others - they assume all unlocked phones work on all networks. This is not the case, and shoppers need to be aware which of the two types of technology (GSM & CDMA) their home cellular network uses before shopping for an unlocked phone or else they may end up with a phone that they can't activate.
The two cellular network technologies (CDMA and GSM) are "mutually exclusive," meaning that phones designed to work on one cannot work on the other. This is key to know and consider when shopping for an unlocked phone.
However, phones that are designed for CDMA networks, for example, can be activated on any prover's network that uses CDMA technology if it is unlocked. The various cellular providers that are popular (and even the smaller operations) all use one of the two technologies. You've probably noticed that different providers offer different phones to their customers. Buying an unlocked phone allows you to get a phone that may only appear to be available through one provider and activate it on your current contract with a different provider. For those of you that are wondering what "unlocked" means - it's simply altering the phone's data to enable it to work on any network with the same technology. One of the ways that service providers keep customers is by selling them phones that are "locked" to their network.
To do this, you need to know the technology that your service provider operates their network on. You may be able to find a great deal on an unlocked Blackberry that was originally deigned for AT&T's network, but if you have your service through Verizon you need to know if that phone will work. (unfortunately, it will not).
To help, I've made a brief list of the major cellular carriers and the technology that their network uses. A more thorough list can be found online from a number of sources - I think Wikipedia even has a page dedicated to this information.
AT&T: GSM
Cricket: CDMA
Sprint: CDMA
T-Mobile: GSM
U.S. Cellular: CDMA
Verizon: CDMA
From the list above, you should be able to conclude that you can buy an unlocked phone that was originally designed for Sprint's network and activate it on Verizon's network. On the other hand, you can't buy the same phone and activate it on AT&T's network or any of the other GSM networks.
This is the kind of information that you need to have if/when you decide to shop for an unlocked cell phone. As stated above, unlocked phones have numerous advantages, but those advantages are meaningless if you can't capitalize on them. If you're a Verizon customer, you need to know that phones originally designed for AT&T won't work on your network and vice versa.
Questions and Answers
Buying unlocking GSM cell phones bring up some frequently asked questions. Important considerations must be made prior to buying an unlocked cell phone online.
Concludes some certain solutions about unlocked cell phones, if you have any problems with your cell phones, you any refer to this article.
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