Original network from IMEI?

[Guest JTHM]

Folks

Is there a way to identify a phone's original network by its IMEI?

My son bought a second hand phone off eBay over Christmas (a K750i) which was supposedly unlocked to all networks and took advantage of Orange's free Pay-As-You-Go SIM offer. Orange, after a delay, a couple of days ago finally sent through all the necessary SIM updates to set the phone up for GPRS including MMS, Picture Messaging, Orange World & internet, etc. and so my son was then able to do all his mobile internet stuff all was going fine until he turned on his phone this morning when the phone displayed the message 'Inactive SIM'.

I spoke to Orange on behalf of my son and was told that the IMEI was not barred, as far as they were concerned the SIM was still active and all would have worked fine for calls until my son accessed GPRS which caused the phone to recheck which network the SIM was registered to.:?: As they they identified, by the IMEI, that the phone was not originally a Orange phone, they summised that it had not been 'properly unlocked from the old network' and it was now refusing to accept that SIM. As the phone is not originally an Orange phone they say they can't help and we need to speak to the original network operator but as the phone had had a hard reset done and had all it's network branding removed we can't find any info in the phone about what network it was originally on.

Can anyone tell me how to find out who the original network operator was?

[Guest peekie]

if you look under the internet gprs settings you should see which network it is programmed to ;)

[Guest cold_fire]

Folks

Is there a way to identify a phone's original network by its IMEI?

My son bought a second hand phone off eBay over Christmas (a K750i) which was supposedly unlocked to all networks and took advantage of Orange's free Pay-As-You-Go SIM offer.  Orange, after a delay, a couple of days ago finally sent through all the necessary SIM updates to set the phone up for GPRS including MMS, Picture Messaging, Orange World & internet, etc. and so my son was then able to do all his mobile internet stuff all was going fine until he turned on his phone this morning when the phone displayed the message 'Inactive SIM'.

I spoke to Orange on behalf of my son and was told that the IMEI was not barred, as far as they were concerned the SIM was still active and all would have worked fine for calls until my son accessed GPRS which caused the phone to recheck which network the SIM was registered to.:?:  As they they identified, by the IMEI, that the phone was not originally a Orange phone, they summised that it had not been 'properly unlocked from the old network' and it was now refusing to accept that SIM.  As the phone is not originally an Orange phone they say they can't help and we need to speak to the original network operator but as the phone had had a hard reset done and had all it's network branding removed we can't find any info in the phone about what network it was originally on.

Can anyone tell me how to find out who the original network operator was?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quite a story ,normally if the phone was not network locked (when it was new) it's IMEI is not "assigned" to any network .Have u tried the sim card in another phone ?

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

Why not ask the seller on ebay they should be able to help you?

[Guest fluffcat1]

Is there a way to identify a phone's original network by its IMEI?

Depends where it was sourced. Try this site's IMEI analysis tool to confirm if it's a UK handset. Then it's just a matter of ringing the providor's in this country's helpdesk. They are usually quite good with IMEI queries.

http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=analysis

As they they identified, by the IMEI, that the phone was not originally a Orange phone, they summised that it had not been 'properly unlocked from the old network' and it was now refusing to accept that SIM.

A new one one me. AFAIK, the w800i isn't available on PAYG, so they may have summised it is still a phone under contract with another network? I.E due to a network subsidy it should still be on another network as it's not a year old. But I've never heard of them doing that before. They may want proof of release from the prior network, or sim-free purchase status. I've never had trouble with a handset that wasn't barred with orange, but I've never rung up and asked for settings to be sent.

  As the phone is not originally an Orange phone they say they can't help and we need to speak to the original network operator but as the phone had had a hard reset done and had all it's network branding removed we can't find any info in the phone about what network it was originally on.

Can anyone tell me how to find out who the original network operator was?

They must know 'foreign' network handsets are coming onto the orange network - where do they think all the PAYG sims are going? So it's annoying they are not being helpful.

For warranty reasons, Sony Ericsson may well have data relating to which supplier this phone went to. Does another Orange sim work in the phone? Does this sim work in other handsets? If it's not barred I can't see why it doesn't work - I'm unsure of any mechanism that can block a phone without barring it!

Richard

[Guest chucky.egg]

That's interesting.

The IMEI checking website shows my SPV M500 (which has always been on Orange) as an "O2 PocketPC"

[Guest fluffcat1]

That's interesting.

The IMEI checking website shows my SPV M500 (which has always been on Orange) as an "O2 PocketPC"

I think that's based on the IMEI allocation HTC get for that specific PABT / FCC id code relating to the design. I think whatever comes out first of the clones gives the name to that family. Try entering your seriel at www.htceurope.com - my m500 comes up as a vodafone VPA there!

Still, I find it a useful website. You can even find out who originally provisioned your sim - in the case of my old vodafone card it came up as RAILTRACK!!!!

Richard