Unlocking my palm treo 700p

[kimmydecroix]

Hi!
Does anyone know how to unlock my treo?

[benjie]

Call your service provider? The Sprint/Verizon releases do not lock in the same manner as the GSM models. Ben

[azcampingdude]

This might sound really stupid, but what does unlocking mean.

[stevetaz]

Hi:

Not a stupid question at all. This is usually associated with GSM phones. Essentially, branded phones are usually "locked" to that carrier meaning they can't be used with any other provider/network. Often this is necessary because phones are sold at a steep discount (aka subsidized) and the buyer is required to sign up for two or more years of service and the carrier sells at the discounted price because they will get their investment back over the term of the contract.

Unlocking is accomplished through an unlock code.

An "unlocked" phone is one that a user can insert a SIM card from any provider and begin making and receiving calls. When an unlocked phone is purchased it is usually at a premium price, with no discount, if purchased from a service provider. Note that this is usually associated with cellular services, not data, which is sold as a separate service at additional cost.

Keep in mind the term locked is also used when talking about keyboards and screens, but that is a function of the phone to prevent against accidentally dialing a number or unauthorized use of a cell phone by someone other than the owner.

I am not sure if there is an unlock procedure for CDMA phones as they are usually only permitted to be used on one network. However, I believe many CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint have agreed to permit unbranded phones on their networks, but they have to be approved by them....whatever that means. I'm not sure where that process is at and if it really is implemented.

I hope this helps,
SteveTaz

Originally Posted by azcampingdude

This might sound really stupid, but what does unlocking mean.

[azcampingdude]

thanks Stevetaz

[benjie]

A good answer. In order to switch the phone to another carrier that is CDMA, a phone call will get it done in the US. Ben

[stevetaz]

Ahhhh...Validation!!!

Thanks Ben,
SteveTaz

Originally Posted by benjie

A good answer. In order to switch the phone to another carrier that is CDMA, a phone call will get it done in the US. Ben

[carjockey71]

I have 2 700P treo's from Sprint (Bas***rds) one that was NEVER activated, one that was my everyday phone. I am now a verizon customer, and while I am not a cell genius and know nothing of unlocking phones, Verizon has the ability for their customers to activate phones on their website, so I tried to activate the 2 phones. The one that had been used wouldn't get accepted, the one that didn't DID pass through the network and I got a activation confirmation, it instructed to wait 5-10 min and dial the verizon upgrade/program code *228k, which a hour later still didnt work. I went back to the website (verizon) and noticed that my phone was listed as a Palm Treo 700w - not a P, but should active. Tried calling my cell and went straight to voice mail. So essentially I gather there must be something beyond step one after plugging in the ESN (my phone had two, I used the dec, not the hex) and got the system to accept it, but there must be a block from the phone embedding againest the programming updates or something. These are observations that I made while trying to get this to work. I tried soft reset, hard reset, everything. Looked into troubleshooting and sought direction, nothing. Anyone have any ideas? If a IPHONE - the 'holy grail' of phones cqan be hacked into any network, there must be a way to hack a 700P, these phones are about 2 years old. HELP HELP HELP Even 'try this or that' would be appreciated, dont have the dough to buy new phones!