I have been recently looking into swapping cell phone service. While I like the price/services I get with one company, I want the phone from the other company. Wich brings me to my questions.

I have looked on Ebay at "jail broke" and "unlocked" phones. First, what is the difference between the 2 terms. Does anyone have a thing like this? (running 1 phone on another network) Or do you know somebody doing this? Whats the cons to it? Will a service provider give a **** about it? I know I have more questions too but Ill be damned if I can think of em right now (football is comming on TV LOL). ANyway, thanks for the input, Im gonna go watch my Chefs. . . oops I mean CHIEFS get their asses handed to em again this week

 

I had a phone that was unlocked from ebay and used it for about a year. A year is about all I ever get out of a phone anyways. I got at&t and they never said **** to me about it if I took it in and asked them to help with something. I'm not sure what the difference is in unlocked and jail broke but hope something I said is of use to you.

 

Depends all on the carrier.

CDMA unlocked phones only work on CDMA networks (Verizon and Sprint.)

GSM Unlocked phones work on GSM Networks only (AT&T and T-Mo). Unlocked phones mean that they are NOT locked to one network. In otherwords, if you buy a phone from AT&T, you can only use a phone on the ATT network. If you buy a phone from T-Mo, you can only use it on the T-Mo network. However, if you unlock or jailbreak those phones, you can run them on either network, provided you have the right SIM card.

Verizon and Sprint phones tend not to be unlocked, because their **** is done through ESN numbers, which are attached to the phone.