Bad esn sprint or verizon phone on Tmobile?

[slackerinabox]

I want to get my kid a super cheap phone that only allows her to call us and use select apps (spotify camera, etc.) - could I just get one of the many bad esn iphones on ebay, buy an unlock code and then pop a tmobile sim in? If this is illegal I apologize, I assure you my intentions are cheap not criminal and I'm kinda hazy on unlock rules.

 

[Chocu1a]

From what I understand, all blacklisted esn's are shared among the Big 4. I really don't think it will work.

 

[Raduque]

Depends on what the "bad esn" is for. If it's reported stolen or lost or is an insurance replacement, it won't be usable anywhere. Unpaid accounts on Verizon aren't blacklisted, as far as I can tell.

Sprint phones, even if good, I don't believe will work at all. I might be wrong on that.

All Verizon 4GLTE phones are unlocked already and will support T-Mobile, but will complain that the SIM card is not a Verizon sim.

 

[shortylickens]

Verizons 4g is the same as Tmobiles 4g?

Thats news to me.

 

[Raduque]

the bands are differnet between the carriers, but the phones generally support all the bands.

 

[XavierMace]

the bands are differnet between the carriers, but the phones generally support all the bands.

Ummm, I've seen no shortage of phones that don't support all the bands, including higher end phones.