What can an iPhone with a bad ESN do ?

**rdfisch** · 04-16-2011, 06:38 AM

So eBay is full of Verizon iPhones with bad ESN's. While these might be iPhones reported stolen, I am assuming they could also be iPhones whose owners just didn't complete their 2 year contract. So please consider the following question without the morality issues:

What can you do with a Verizon iPhone with a bad ESN ? For example:

Can it be used to browse with WiFi ?

Will the camera work ?

Can it be hooked to iTunes to download apps ?

Will the GPS report coordinates to map apps that can store the maps locally on the iPhone ?

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How does "activation" fit in to this scenario (in other words, if the phone is activated already will that give me a yes to the above questions, or if it hasn't been activated, can it be with a bad ESN ?

Should these eBay "bad ESN" phones really be considered as parts donors only ?

**z3r01** · 04-16-2011, 06:53 AM

It can do everything except be used as a phone...(unless u use it on another network which I hear people are doing, but not too sure)

**rdfisch** · 04-16-2011, 07:43 AM

Just to clarify, if the phone has the screen showing the USB cable plugging into iTunes, I will be able to connect to iTunes and get rid of that screen even with the bad ESN ? BTW, what is that process called ... is it Activation or something else ?

**Shavon** · 04-16-2011, 08:47 PM

You would have to restore through iTunes and it should let you activate once the process is done but cannot be used for phone as stated above.

**JonnyBoy123** · 04-17-2011, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by rdfisch

Just to clarify, if the phone has the screen showing the USB cable plugging into iTunes...

That screen is called DFU mode.

**spike2915** · 04-26-2011, 04:41 PM

thats recovery mode not dfu

**Joelaceved0** · 04-26-2011, 09:38 PM

All those things should work properly unless its in recovery mode, or DFU mode. If it's in recovery mode, or DFU it can be solved. You can simply use iTunes to restore the phone. Once that's done, you basically use it as an iPod until you activate the plan. OR you can create a custom ipsw (iOS 4.3 or any firmware) using redsn0w or sn0breze. once that's finished you can jailbreak and unlock(using ultrasn0w). This will let you use it on any CDMA carrier.
Follow me on twitter= joelaceved0

**Stray** · 04-26-2011, 09:40 PM

No you cant lol

**i.Annie** · 04-26-2011, 10:12 PM

Verizon iPhones are activated through iTunes like any other iPhone, what I'm wondering about is if it has a bad esn if 1) it will fail to activate in iTunes and 2) if it acts like a gsm iPhone that's reported lost/stolen and just doesn't work at all.

The verification for gsm phones to activate in iTunes obviously requires the official sim, for Verizon phones I am curious if it verifies a valid Verizon account.

Of course with a custom fw that could hacktivate, assuming a bad esn doesn't block the device wholly.

**brandoncarr** · 04-28-2011, 02:10 PM

Bad ESN normally means lost/stolen phone, right?

**i.Annie** · 04-28-2011, 02:14 PM

Not necessarily. It can mean lost or stolen but it can also mean the owner failed to pay the phone bill or ETF if any.

**andino93** · 04-28-2011, 06:12 PM

ESN is what's used to activate your phone on a Verizon line. If its been blacklisted (ala bad ESN), then it can't be activated on a verizon line at all since the system won't allow it unless the previous owner (if stolen or lost) verifies that it should be removed.

As for itunes activation, I have no idea since this is my first iphone. haha

**newaji** · 05-03-2011, 07:42 AM

so if an i phone has a bad esn then could it be unlocked and used in another network??

**i.Annie** · 05-03-2011, 08:05 AM

No. Everyone has said the opposite of that.

**andino93** · 05-03-2011, 09:32 AM

CDMA phones can't be unlocked. For the most part, they are tied to their issuing carriers. You can flash them but there not guarantee that the network you flash the phone to will even activate a foreign ESN on their network.

**King_O_Hill** · 05-03-2011, 10:49 AM

Phones can be flashed for use with other cdma carriers like cricket etc

**Denpad2010** · 05-05-2011, 09:53 PM

You can use a bad esn iPhone or any other android phone with carriers like pageplus

**lalaace** · 07-24-2011, 11:14 AM

I'm from Slovakia...if i'll buy iPhone from ebay which has bad ESN..is it possible to use it in my country if my operator is for example t-mobile?
Would i be able to send and recieve text messages and make phone-calls as usually?
Because i'm not sure if i understand...when i buy phone with bad esn (verizon f.e.) it means, that i will not be able to use it in verizon network...or if my operator is verizon, is that right?

**Stray** · 07-24-2011, 04:51 PM

You cannot buy a verizon iphone as it does not use the standard GSM sim card. It runs on a CDMA network

**dcgore** · 07-26-2011, 01:00 PM

Ebay is plagued with phones having bad ESNs. Who buys all these?

Your favorite Apple, iPhone, iPad, iOS, Jailbreak, and Cydia site.

Thread: What can an iPhone with a bad ESN do ?

General Verizon / Sprint / CDMA iPhone Chat

iPhone on Verizon / Sprint / CDMA

So eBay is full of Verizon iPhones with bad ESN's. While these might be iPhones reported stolen, I am assuming they could also be iPhones whose owners just didn't complete

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