Unlocking Sprint Apache?!

[PapaDocta]

can this be done.. i live in a country that doesn't have that phone and i was thinking of buying it from the US through Sprint.. but will i be able to unlock it and use it on my country?? does it support SIM or not?

[cosmic665]

You would be better off getting a HTC-HERMES based phone. most of the US phones that are EVDO-based can't be unlocked to my knowledge. The HTC TyTN 3G Phone is better every which way than the PPC6700. I've demo'ed both units and I really like the new Hermes over the 6700. Not to mention that sprint is the one of the *worse* US celluar companies out there :P

Thx
-cosmic

[bigbawlayesyawla]

In a conversation with a verizon rep a few months ago, I learned that, while not advertised, it is technically possible to activate sprint phones on the verizon network. they would need the MSL (master subsidy lock) code and a second unlock code. The MSL is needed to program the phone with the phone number itself. The second code is used for deeper device programming so that it would work on other networks. keep in mind that the rep said that it is technically possible and could not point to actual instances where it had been done.

on a side note...I think that sprint uses only one frequency mode, while say...verizon uses two frequency modes (but the one sprint uses is the same one verizon uses for voice and data on evdo phones).

my understanding is that another carrier will have to add the ESN of the sprint phone to the ESN block of their phones, which is something that may be difficult to do...you would probably have to find some kind, knowledgeable rep to do this for you.

[cosmic665]

I'm using verizon wireless now. Before using verizon, Please read the following:

* Not only does Verizon limit the type of "unlimited" use, it imposes a quota on "unlimited" use, and terminates customers who exceed it. According to the Washington Post.[6], Broadband Reports[7], tech columnist Robert X. Cringely, many wireless industry "insider" news sites[8],[9], and countless blogs[10]; Verizon advertises "unlimited" broadand service but automatically terminates anyone using more than 5G/month (166M/day), no matter what they use the service for. This is a quota of about 15 minutes of actual data transmission time... for an "unlimited" use account. A PBS investigator monitored his bandwidth during normal use and discovered it to be 184M/day[11]. .

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless

This is very tue of verizon. Does anyone know if this is gonna change anytime soon?

[Yung]

You can get the MSL (unlock) code from the Apache by using Bitpim. Check this post:

http://ppc6700users.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1640&start=15

It worked for me on a Qwest phone. Sprint still wouldn't activate it for me though.

[Lvballer06]

no SIM but you can now change ur ESN see here (http://ppcgeeks.com/i-changed-my-esn-t1428.html).
~Mike

[bigbawlayesyawla]

after my post above, I tried a few things...

here's what you would need to do :
change your esn (you will need your msl) to an esn that is in the block of the target carrier (hint, buy a cheap or give-a-way) change your esn, make sure that you calculate a checksum (there are instructions and programs all over the internet on how to change your esn). program your phone with your number: ##<your msl here># and type in your 10-digit phone number. don't worry about the dec or hex, just change the esn and program your number.

[SciFer]

I think its going to get a little bit easier, check this out:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPBoupMPJ6Tl4jgQ5aG0f8-R9KEgD8SH61A80

I'll start a new thread to make sure it gets seen

[jabu]

You CAN NOT use a CDMA phone on a GSM network. They are completely different signals. You can unlock a Sprint phone and force it onto Verizon. You can't force a Verizon phone onto Sprint, unless you know someone inside that doesn't mind losing their job.

Again, CDMA phones ONLY work on CDMA networks such as Verizon or Sprint.