• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root Activate on boost

the first thing you should know is that Sprint does not want you to do it, so to make it happen you would basically have to circumvent their controls which would be a violation of terms of service on Boost and according to many violates FCC regulations.

Most of the CDMA systems have a known list of the ESNs of the phones they've made and will allow to be activated on their system. So Sprint has its list of valid ESNs and Boost and VM have their own, and no ESN from one is generally welcome on another. Boost will not allow a phone with an ESN listed as being from VM to be activated on their accounts, even though there is no technical constraints as VM and Boost are both Sprint subsidiaries using same towers/frequencies/etc.

As for if it could be done, of course it can, not too hard. The "theoretical" process involves putting the ESN of a "donor" Boost phone onto the VM phone, replacing the "unwelcome" actual VM ESN of the phone (the one that's on the sticker) and then activating it on Boost. Then the VM phone activates/provisions normally on Boost since it now has an ESN that is welcome in the Boost system. The "donor" phone would then have to never ever be used since two phone communicating on the system with the same serial number would trigger fraud alerts.

These are the theoretical steps only, as the process of altering a phone's ESN is considered by most boards to be bordering on illegal activity in the USA and therefore not welcome for open to discussion in a USA-based public forum. Additionally you would be violating the terms of service of Boost by performing those steps. I will refrain from stirring up this type of discussion of the right/wrong of this (which always spin out of control), and assume that you do not intend on violating any laws applicable for your jurisdiction
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones