Okay so about a week ago my cousin gave me his AT&T iPhone4 because he was gonna get the iPhone5. I then went to www.straighttalk.com and ordered a simcard and got the 45$ month plan, the phone worked, then I decided to trade my iPhone4 for a HTC One X (AT&T) and so logically I assumed I could just pop in the simcard I had in the iPhone4 and it would work,...well its not working and I need help. When I try to make a call on the new phone it will say that my "The device has been blocked from network use", I don't have the iPhone4 anymore, the phone has bars as if it were connected as well as displaying "HOME" on the top (HOME=Straight Talk) so yea, I want to port my number to my new phone and I want to know if I will need to get a new simcard, or if I should just call them? I tried calling once and those indian outsourcing people (no offense) have no idea what my problem is, and they digress/backtrack all the time its annoying lol. Someone please help me!
Straight Talk need help
- Thread starter ceeswag24
- Start date
Is it an ATT model or the unlocked international model?
If the ATT model, if you bought it from a stranger, sounds like it may be stolen and banned from being using on ATT network and its prepaid providers.
May want to get your money back if possible. Otherwise, unlock it and resell it overseas/to Canada where it can be used.
See here
http://www.howardforum.com/showthre...this-device-has-been-blocked-from-network-use
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I agree with the others - that error wording sounds like an IMEI block for a stolen phone. As ImDonly1 wrote, if so you need to try to get your money back, or else unlock it and Ebay it internationally.
I got the old phone off of someone on craiglist. It may have been stolen, I'm not sure nor did I care, but I guess it does matter now. It was working fine for like a week with my old phone, and then suddenly it stopped. I got NET10 for my HTC ONE X and it seems to be working just fine. Straight Talk and NET10 are both companies of trackfone, go figure. Anyways I will be pissed off if I get the same error again.
How common are IMEI blocks? Like say, if someone reports their phone to be lost, will the network automatically but an IMEI block on it?
- Aug 23, 2003
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The IMEI block currently only affects the phone's original network, so NET10 (and other carriers like T-Mobile) may work if the phone was originally locked to AT&T. NET10 is owned by the same company that runs Straight Talk, but that company operates on multiple carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon).
It's a relatively new thing for GSM networks - Verizon and Sprint have been doing it for years. AT&T started it on July 10th at the request of the FCC.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-11/chief-s-shame-on-you-prompts-agreement-on-stolen-phones
But while they theoretically started in July, I personally didn't hear anything about it (and I'm a mobile device news junkie) until early Sept. So it seemed like it took a while to really start working. I have heard that when you put in the SIM it can take days before the do a lookup in the stolen phone database from other networks before it is disabled. Ceeswag24, I would be really surprised if you don't find your Net10 account locked as well - if we are right that the error is caused by a blacklisted IMEI.
As far as what to do about it in the future, well, I think I'm personally going to stop buying phones on Craigslist and I'll switch to Ebay where I feel like I have a better chance of getting my money back in the event that a phone gets blacklisted.
The IMEI affects the network provider and its prepaid providers. So the phone runs on ATT, it will be blocked from ATT and all of its prepaid providers too (goPhone, ST, net10, Jolt, etc). This is in effect right now.
In the future, att and T-mobile will combine lists and any phone blocked on ATT will be blocked on t-mobile too. But right now, they are just starting and making lists.
I agree with the above post, I don't think the IMEI is blocked right away on a new SIM. I think it takes a few hours or days before it gets blocked again. Not sure though.
1. Stolen phone reported by owner.
2. Unpaid bill and cancelled service.
Usually #1.
Either way, the network operator will not unblacklist the phone unless you are the original person who requested it blocked.
There is www.CheckESNFree.com it works for lots of providers. Unfortunately, it does not support T-mobile or ATT yet. The owner of the website also stated he was having difficulty from ATT/t-mobile obtaining access to the blocked IMEI list. Hopefully, in the future that is resolved or ATT/t-mobile themselves provide a way to check.
I just ran the IMEI of my phone on this site https://prod.eie.net.au/portal/template/MYMIMEIInquiry.vm
it says its unblocked, but it still doesn't make me feel better.
it says its unblocked, but it still doesn't make me feel better.
That's a query on whether it's locked by the GSM networks in Australia... not the US.
https://prod.eie.net.au/portal
To the best of my knowledge, there's no way (yet) to search the US blacklist list.
The reason that several people suggested unlocking it and selling it internationally is that blacklists aren't shared across international boundaries (except the EU). So if it's blacklisted in the USA, you could still use it in Australia.
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This just happened to my Mom's phone. She got it on craigslist. And when she got the SIM from straighttalk and tried to make a call it said the same thing about being blocked.
She took it down to At&t today and they said that it isn't blocked by them because once the at&t sim card is taken out they no longer have any control over the phone.
So did that person just have no idea what they were talking about?
She took it down to At&t today and they said that it isn't blocked by them because once the at&t sim card is taken out they no longer have any control over the phone.
So did that person just have no idea what they were talking about?
If it is blocked, then ATT/T-mobile blocked it from their networks and all of their prepaid providers (ST, etc). I am not sure if prepaid providers that use ATTs network can submit stolen phones to the IMEI blacklist or ATT/T-mobile can only do it themselves?
Either way, only the person who reported it stolen can unblock it. You calling them won't fix a thing.
It could also be disabled for not paying bills.
Having the SIM card in it or not does not matter. If ATT wants to block a phone, they can. They don't need "control" of the phone. They just need the IMEI of it and add it to their list. The IMEI is easily looked up by them.
Did you buy the phone only, or with original accessories/box and all?
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Probably stolen. Not much reason to only have a bare phone without charger or anything unless it was stolen. Pretty common on Craigslist.
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