Phone Unlocking and MagicJack

Hey there!

 

I'm back on both jobs which means that I'm doing two or three things at once. So I know I still have to continue describing the money stuff of my trip to Phoenix which has turned to my trip to Springfield,MO.

 

However, from what I recently wrote I had someone post a comment that I thought it was best to be shared with all of you and responded that way so all could benefit from my personal experience.

 

Thank you ALL for all your comments. Here it is :

Question? How do u unlock the phone? If you want to share that is. I enjoy your adventures. Also, previously you mentioned the magicjack, are they safe? After i read your entry I went to look for them. There were articles that claimed how unsecure they are. Can u please go over. Thanks in advance

Ok, so how do I unlock the phone. First of all to make things clear, unlocking a cellphone means touching deep configuration in a cellphone that is used on one cellular company so that it can be used on any other cellular company. That is given that the other company uses the same technology. For example Verizon phones can be unlocked but since they use CDMA tecnology they can't be used with other operators that don't use that tecnology (like all the operators in Honduras).

 

When I purchased my ATT phone I knew I had to buy a GSM phone if my future plan was to unlock it for use with a Honduran carrier (haven't unlocked it yet). So I had a phone that uses the same technology, but then there's also the matter of what frequency they use.

 

I don't remember the exact frequencies but I know that there are four frequencies that are commonly used for cellphone service. Most phones now can operate on all four frequencies or bands as they are also called. That's why those phones have the labeling "quad-band" somewhere in their documentation. A quad-band phone eliminates the guesswork of wondering if the phone will operate on this or that operator's frequency.

 

I am not sure but I think the phone I bought is quad-band. If it's not and I can't make it work, well too bad for me but it already served it's purpose. Unlocking it here is an option i'm considering only because it will be disconnected from ATT before I get to go back to Phoenix.  Actually even after unlocking I could still using it on ATT but I know that next year if I take it, the sim will have been disconnected and buying just a sim card is not an option with ATT as far as as I know.

 

SO, the main question "How do you unlock the phone?". Well in Honduras you take the locked phone to one on many many cellphone repair shops and for usually $5 to $10 they do their voodo magic and unlock it for you. Once unlocked you buy a sim card from the cellular operator you want to use and put on the phone and off you go to talk. Now this can be done in Honduras because cellular companies here do sell just the sim card for just a couple of dollars, in other countries they don't do that so you have to buy a whole phone to get a sim so it doesn't make sense to go thru the whole unlocking thing if you have to BUY another phone anyway.

 

When I came home I tried putting a Honduran sim card on the ATT phone and when it powered on it had a message on the screen that read "incorrect or invalid sim". I put the ATT sim back into the phone and it works well. Actually it just powers up without errors because obviously there is no ATT signal here.

 

Since that phone was only $15, with the unlocking here and a new sim it's almost reaching a point that it would be better to get a new phone here. I actually don't need more phones, but it might be nice to have a spare phone device in case any phone in the house goes dead and the sim is still working.

 

One more thing, there's a couple of US cellular operators that use very specially branded software on the phones they use , like Net10 and Tracphone. Those phones are totally useless in Honduras, well except for spare parts. Their original factory software is not there and so they can't be unlocked because there is no lock, there is no door..etc. it's a totally different beast.

 

On to the next question. "Previously you mentioned the MagicJack, are they safe?". Safe means a lot of things. I won't go on to mention the tons of ways that safe can be interpreted. I will just say that the operation of the MagicJack was safe in that I was able to make calls all the time I had a proper internet connection. I even changed my number to a Phoenix area code number to help my relationship with the company I work for there.

 

So far no weird software has been downloaded on the computers (plural) in which i've used the MagicJack. It hasn't stopped working. I haven't had to use techie powers to get it to work. At the most i've had to reboot my computer one time to get it to work. TO ME it's been worth the purchase. I know people that bought it and don't have the appropiate bandwith and can't use it , but that's not the MJ's fault.

 

Could someone have been listening to my calls, theoretically yes because MJ probably doesn't encrypt the voice, but what would they do with me saying "Hi, how are you?, where are you? i'm here at such and such. How are the kids? ,etc etc" ? I wouldn't like for someone to listen in on my calls, but I feel that it's such a far fetched posibility that is as equally far fetched as someone tapping in on a regular phone line, that I don't worry about that.

 

HOWEVER, when I was doing research to buy the MagicJack I did read that some not technical issues with the Company itself are not as good. Their 30 day free trial offer is kind of strange if you use a debit card because they take the money out on day one. Same deal when I used the credit card. I didn't return the thing so I don't know personally how hard it would be to get a refund, but honestly I guess it's the Honduran in me or my time would just not be worth it to go on hours and hours with them to get back my $50 or so. Probably less if they don't refund shipping and handling. I guess if I had bought it at Best Buy the refund might be easier but there would be no 30 day free trial there.

 

Also i've read that customer support is crappy. That they take a long time to answer. They go thru scripts, making you do things over and over again, and they give you the run around, until you complain enough days or weeks that they pass you on to guys that apparently do know how to fix stuff. Personally I haven't had to use their customer support because the thing has been working very well. I've read their FAQ and that was all I needed. I think after getting the Magicjack they upgraded my software once and had better features on it, included a "fix" option that I haven't had to use.

 

So on the operational side of things the MJ is safe, on the purchase side it's kinda safe unless you want to return it, and on the customer support is about as bad as some other companies out there but worst than most of the more famous ones. Then again as low priced as it is, it's kinda hard to complain if they take more time to take your call than say, your local phone service provider.

 

That was a long non money post. The advice on it is free, as so is this blog.