[02mx-5]

I have read all over the net about how bad theft of blackberries is. Some sites say that all the carriers can do is shut off the sim card and not the phone. I have also read that thy turn off both the phone and sim. Can you tell me what is actually correct. I am in the US so give me info about the US. Everything i read seems to relate to the UK. I can get a phone cheap but i dont want to get stuck with a deactivated phone.(im buying on ebay)

[MidnightDraven]

It depends.
As a CDMA phone doesnt use a sim card, (or so ive read) then they would shut off the phone.
GSM, they would shut off the SIM as to not have call charges by the thieve show up on your bill which you would have to pay.
And I believe block the PIN/IMEI number so that BB cant be used again.

Just make sure the person you are buying off is reputable.
That they state the PIN is released.
If buying off ebay, you can dispute through paypal if the phone turns out to not work.

[02mx-5]

thanks for the response. Could you tell me what cdma is and also what gsm is. To make it 100% is it like nextel where the sim is shut down but if you have you own sim, you may still use the phone? Or like you said they block the pin and the phone doesn work at all? I will try and get the pin before i buy but how will i use that to tell if its stolen or not?

[fonejunkie]

CDMA, GSM and iDEN are cellular technologies... each carrier uses a specific technology and they are incompatible with each other... so a phone built for one technology (GSM) cannot work with another (CDMA or iDEN). Some "world phones" utilize multiple technologies, but are limited to using those technologies with the respective frequency bands for a country or region... so a Verizon "world phone" would use CDMA frequencies in the US and European GSM frequencies, for example.

Of the major US service providers, Sprint and Verizon use CDMA; AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM; NexTel uses iDEN. GSM is the prevalent technology used in Europe, Canada and most of Asia... but Japan uses something completely different, and Korea and a few other places use CDMA as well...

CDMA phones are locked to a specific service provider (Verizon, Sprint, AllTel, etc)... and when those phones are reported lost or stolen, the providers can only block their use/suspend the account by sending a code to the phone that disables it.

GSM and iDEN technologies use Subscriber Identity Modules ("SIMs")... and the Verizon/Sprint "world phones" also use "SIMs" for the international GSM service. Since the account information is stored on the SIM card, all the provider needs to do is send the command the to "kill" the SIM.

Also, GSM phones are typically "SIM locked", meaning that they will only work with the SIM from the service provider who also sold the phone... so an AT&T GSM phone would not work with T-Mobile or any other GSM service provider's SIM without having the phone "unlocked".

Typically US GSM providers do not block, kill or blacklist phones even if they're reported lost or stolen... they simply kill the SIM to protect the subscribers's account.

[TXLady]

Originally Posted by Midnightdraven

And I believe block the PIN/IMEI number so that BB cant be used again.

In the US, the GSM carriers at least don't block the IMEIs of phones.

Originally Posted by 02mx-5

Could you tell me what cdma is and also what gsm is.

In the US, GSM carriers are AT&T and TMO. Other major carriers are CDMA.

[MidnightDraven]

Originally Posted by TXLady

In the US, the GSM carriers at least don't block the IMEIs of phones.

Ah, in the UK they do.

But i presume if its a GSM carrier in the US and a BB is stolen they block the PIN?

[fonejunkie]

Originally Posted by Midnightdraven

Ah, in the UK they do.

But i presume if its a GSM carrier in the US and a BB is stolen they block the PIN?

Nope. They block the SIM, which disables the subscriber's account but the phone can still be used with an active SIM (which may require that the phone is unlocked, if applicable).

[MidnightDraven]

Wow. That surprises me.

[02mx-5]

thanks for all the help so far. I ahve one more question just to egt everything straight. I will amke sure the seller has good feedback, get the pin number first. lets just say i get a phone that was not the sellers(stolen) can i at least use the phone with my card? Or will i have to wait a month while paypal disputes the problem. I dont want to bout out of a phone for any amount of time.