Galaxy S2 CDMA on Straight Talk. Possible?

oceanpoet79 · January 21st, 2013, 09:46 AM

Good morning ladies and gents. I just got started here. My girlfriend is paying $110/month for her U.S. Cellular bill. That's a rounded number with taxes/fees and all.

I use Straight Talk but have a different phone (AT&T).

So, I would love to slice her phone bill in 1/2. I went to the Straight Talk website to grab her a SIM and was saddened by this message when selecting a CDMA Sim:

This program is not available with CDMA (i.e. Verizon, Sprint, Metro PCS), TracFone, SafeLink, NET10, Straight Talk or BlackBerry phones.

I'm just now begining my research into whether it's still an option to move her phone onto Straight Talk. I figured I'd start here first.

Is Straight Talk is not an option; do you know of another pre-paid with unlimited everything for $45/month? Anything close?

Any good leads/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

jhawkkw · January 21st, 2013, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oceanpoet79

Good morning ladies and gents. I just got started here. My girlfriend is paying $110/month for her U.S. Cellular bill. That's a rounded number with taxes/fees and all.

I use Straight Talk but have a different phone (AT&T).

So, I would love to slice her phone bill in 1/2. I went to the Straight Talk website to grab her a SIM and was saddened by this message when selecting a CDMA Sim:

This program is not available with CDMA (i.e. Verizon, Sprint, Metro PCS), TracFone, SafeLink, NET10, Straight Talk or BlackBerry phones.

I'm just now begining my research into whether it's still an option to move her phone onto Straight Talk. I figured I'd start here first.

Is Straight Talk is not an option; do you know of another pre-paid with unlimited everything for $45/month? Anything close?

Any good leads/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Unfortunately, their bring your own device program only officially supports GSM phones (phones that can run on AT&T or T-Mobile). CDMA is different because it is proprietary hardware/software that the individual carrier owns the right to keep private or lease. There is an unofficial way that starts to get into the legal gray area, and we are unfortunately not allowed to give you advice on how to do this because of that. Even if you find this method, a lot might depend on what radio frequencies your phone supports and if it is compatible with Verizon or Sprint.

oceanpoet79 · January 21st, 2013, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhawkkw

Unfortunately, their bring your own device program only officially supports GSM phones (phones that can run on AT&T or T-Mobile). CDMA is different because it is proprietary hardware/software that the individual carrier owns the right to keep private or lease. There is an unofficial way that starts to get into the legal gray area, and we are unfortunately not allowed to give you advice on how to do this because of that. Even if you find this method, a lot might depend on what radio frequencies your phone supports and if it is compatible with Verizon or Sprint.

Ah okay. Now I'm understanding. My phone is GSM (AT&T) and I was easily able to swap up the SIMS and put my phone onto Straight Talk.

CDMA locks the phone to the carrier. That is most unfortunate. I won't ask any more questions about pulling the phone and carrier apart. This practice does a real disservice to the consumer. Thank you for the information though!!

oceanpoet79 · January 21st, 2013, 10:02 AM

Oh, one more thing.

I'm new to these forums. Is it against policy to discuss "legal gray areas" in private messages? If that is OK, please feel free to provide information regarding the above suggestion through private messaging.

Thanks!

jhawkkw · January 21st, 2013, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oceanpoet79

Ah okay. Now I'm understanding. My phone is GSM (AT&T) and I was easily able to swap up the SIMS and put my phone onto Straight Talk.

CDMA locks the phone to the carrier. That is most unfortunate. I won't ask any more questions about pulling the phone and carrier apart. This practice does a real disservice to the consumer. Thank you for the information though!!

It really does, and I just wised up to that fact within the last 8 months myself. Once my Verizon contract is over, I'm leaving that closed system and moving to GSM myself. I just hope T-Mobile has some decent LTE rollout by that point.