What can an iPhone with a bad ESN do ?

[King_O_Hill]

See this post above:

http://modmyi.com/forums/general-verizon-sprint-cdma-iphone-chat/760034-what-can-iphone-bad-esn-do-3.html#post6507419

[chris6816]

I bought a used iPhone 4s but can't connect it to Verizon, because it was reported lost/stolen. GameStop buys iPhones. Will they care if it's been reported lost/stolen if I sell it to them?

[2k1]

I doubt It never sold them anything they may wanna try it and see if It works dunno. Give it a try

[reek13]

I have a sprint iPhone 4 with a bad esn. How do i flash it to work for virgin mobile network?

[King_O_Hill]

I have a sprint iPhone 4 with a bad esn. How do i flash it to work for virgin mobile network?

Check with you local virgin dealers and ask if they can flash it.

[astan]

From what I understand, the Verizon iPhone 4s has GSM radios as well as CDMA. The Verizon iPhone 4 only has CDMA activated and cannot use GSM signals.

The 4s has a Verizon sim card which can pickup GSM in the four bands. The Verizon 4s is locked a Verizon GSM sim card. When you take your iPhone to France and other foreign counties, Verizon has arrangements with the foreign carriers to use their system and bill you through Verizon for the service. If your iPhone 4s is on a Verizon account and your account has been in good standing for 60 days, Verizon will, if you request, unlock the GSM feature so foreign (non-US based) sim cards can be used instead of the Verizon sim.

A bad ESN mean that Verizon has blacklisted the ESN and will not allow the phone to be used on a account on their network.

A locked phone is prevented by software from being used on certain networks. Verizon will only unlock the iPhone 4s so it can use non-US (not AT&T and T-Mobile) sim cards. I have tested a ekit sim (UK Telestial) on my unlocked 4s in California and it picks up and uses AT&T or T- Mobile networks depending which is stronger. I have read, but not tested, that the unlocked 4s will not work with a AT&T or T-Mobile sim. So the phone has the ability to use the AT&T and T-Mobile networks but is prevented by software from using sims by AT&T and T-Mobile.

Software hacks on the phone can unlock the 4s to use all GSM and CDMA networks. Software hacks on the phone cannot stop any carrier from blocking(bad ESN) a phone ESN on its system.

An unhacked Verizon 4s with a bad ESN can only be used with foreign sims if sometime in the past someone got Verizon to unlock it.

[reek13]

Check with you local virgin dealers and ask if they can flash it.

I called virgin mobile and they said they don't flash phones. Is that true? Should I try a small local Virgin mobile dealer?

[King_O_Hill]

I called virgin mobile and they said they don't flash phones. Is that true? Should I try a small local Virgin mobile dealer?

Yes, you need to find a dealer that does it.

[iGamers]

idk about all carriers but Verizon removes the bad ESN for non payed bills after some time, my brother bought an iPhone 4 for Verizon with a bad ESN from a friend who just didnt pay the bill, he held on to it and after about 2 months verizon lifted the bad ESN and he was able to sell it, met up with someone at verizon and they activated it together, they dont lift them on lost and stolen phones though

[eddietah]

Interesting lol

[sternboy]

ive posted this question on two other threads...but i realized that they were really old threads...sigh

should a bad esn verizon iphone4s still get signal bars? cuz they show up...

[iGamers]

ive posted this question on two other threads...but i realized that they were really old threads...sigh

should a bad esn verizon iphone4s still get signal bars? cuz they show up...

I want to say no but I really can't be sure, sorry I cant really answer that one

[sternboy]

i feel like bad esn should cancel service, but signal bars show up. maybe restore is an option? (to wipe the phone)

[King_O_Hill]

ive posted this question on two other threads...but i realized that they were really old threads...sigh

should a bad esn verizon iphone4s still get signal bars? cuz they show up...

Yes, this is normal.

[Stevaroo01]

ive posted this question on two other threads...but i realized that they were really old threads...sigh

should a bad esn verizon iphone4s still get signal bars? cuz they show up...

Two things to consider here...

1) Just because a phone cannot be activated doesn't mean that it's mechanical parts (I.e. the radios) can't recognize a signal. That's all it's doing is telling you how much signal strength it detects. This is no different from a phone that has a good ESN but hasn't been activated.

2) I believe by law all phones, whether cellular or landline, are required to be able to make an emergency call (911). So, even if the phone can't be activated to make regular calls, it would still be able to make an emergency call as long as it has a signal. Hence, signal bars still working would have an actual benefit/purpose.

Someone feel free to correct me if you have different info. This is how I understand it.

[DaFatMack]

that happened to me on craigslist, dude thaught he scammed me out of $300 with the bad ESN iphone he gave me, he wouldnt answer the phone even his tag i got was no good. But anyways i just took it to the apple store and told them the phone had call dropping issues and that the phone kept rebooting its self also had a proximity issue as well and WALLA! I got a new 1... oh yea he asked me why wasnt the phone active and i said "I switched back to my blackberry cause i couldnt take it anymore thats why im here" I will admit that I was nervous but I didnt care, I wasnt going to lose $300 because I was too lazy to call and verify the ESN before I handed the money over.

[bibi555lc]

things on ebay are not trustworthy

[Lakerlover2]

i just bought a verizon iphone 4 version 5.1.1 I just found out that it was blacklisted. can this phone be used if someone has a verizon plan? also, is it possible to jailbreak it? i have already restored it and i have been using it as an ipod for now but will i ever be able to call people again.

[DaFatMack]

i just bought a verizon iphone 4 version 5.1.1 I just found out that it was blacklisted. can this phone be used if someone has a verizon plan? also, is it possible to jailbreak it? i have already restored it and i have been using it as an ipod for now but will i ever be able to call people again.

No you will not at least not with Verizon. Go back 2 post and read what i posted, i too had a black listed iPhone for Verizon i just took it to the apple store and came up with a good excuse to get them to switch mines out with a new one

[iGamers]

i just bought a verizon iphone 4 version 5.1.1 I just found out that it was blacklisted. can this phone be used if someone has a verizon plan? also, is it possible to jailbreak it? i have already restored it and i have been using it as an ipod for now but will i ever be able to call people again.

Why does it have a bad ESN, is it a stolen phone or does it have an unpaid bill on it? Also you will still be able to jailbreak, jailbreaking won't allow you to unblock your phone or anything, idk if that's what your asking but yea, it will just be an iPod