Carrier Question about IMEI

[arichy2008]

So here is what is up. I had a phone. The phone worked on my carrier. I then put the sim card into an iphone. It doesnt work anymore, even though the sim card is activated and the phone is unlocked.
I called the carrier and they told me that the device wasnt supported on my plan.
So now I have a plan. If I jailbreak the iphone, then use an IMEI changer from Cydia to change my iphone IMEI to match my old phone IMEI, would I be able to use my old sim card? Based on my research the IMEI is how the carrier tells what phone you have, so if I were to change it to match the other broken phone, it should connect to the cell towers.

This should be a fairly simple process, but I dont currently have internet so I can't finish the jailbreak that I started. I will try to get it going in the mean time, but if anyone has any helpful suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thank you!

 

[eyoungren]

1. What you want to do is called IMEI cloning.
2. IMEI cloning is illegal in the United States and in Canada. Assuming you are in the US see this: S.3186 - Mobile Device Theft Deterrence Act of 2012
3. Changing the IMEI requires hardware tools.
4. The hardware tools to change IMEI are restricted to device manufacturers and certified refurbishment companies.
5. Jailbreaking your phone is not going to enable some magical flipswitch that lets you change a hardware feature with software.
6. Since there is no such thing as a software IMEI changer you won't find any in Cydia.

Now, if you have found some method that allows you to change your IMEI without hardware tools and is perfectly legal, please share with us.

 

[arichy2008]

1. What you want to do is called IMEI cloning.
2. IMEI cloning is illegal in the United States and in Canada. Assuming you are in the US see this: S.3186 - Mobile Device Theft Deterrence Act of 2012
3. Changing the IMEI requires hardware tools.
4. The hardware tools to change IMEI are restricted to device manufacturers and certified refurbishment companies.
5. Jailbreaking your phone is not going to enable some magical flipswitch that lets you change a hardware feature with software.
6. Since there is no such thing as a software IMEI changer you won't find any in Cydia.

Now, if you have found some method that allows you to change your IMEI without hardware tools and is perfectly legal, please share with us.

I take this as a challenge. I agree, I dont think that it is possible if the IMEI is hardware based, but as far as the IMEI that the phone shows, I have changed one in the past.

 

[anthdci]

I called the carrier and they told me that the device wasnt supported on my plan.

i don't know if this an american thing, but how can a phone not be supported on your plan? Did you not get the phone with the plan? Over here in the UK you can put any phone on any plan on any network as long as the phone is unlocked.

 

[evangw]

It's been a while, but I remember having to do something like that to unlock my iPhone 4 when I took it out of the US, back when devices were still forever carrier locked to AT&T, back in the days of yore when carriers held your devices hostage even after they were no longer under contract.

IIRC it's been a long time since there were hacks for the baseband and IMEI, and while the 4S might be supported, I doubt iOS 9.3.5 will be.

(Also cool, I didn't realize 9.3.5 had been jailbroken for 32-bit devices)

 

[Applejuiced]

I got a better idea.
Since this iPhone is not supported with your plan. Why dont you just change your phone plan or switch to a carrier that supports your iPhone?
What you're asking is not possible currently even if you wanted to try it.

 

[NoBoMac]

i don't know if this an american thing, but how can a phone not be supported on your plan?

The whole GSM vs CDMA thing in the US (assuming OP is in the States).

And could be the discount carriers being a little more stingent re: supported phones. For example, Boost Mobile piggy backs with Sprint (CDMA), and lists compatible iPhones as the Verizon (yeah, same as Sprint phone, just odd that call out Verizon specifically) ones. And Google Fi only supports 3-4 Andoid phones where they lease from Sprint, T-Mobile (GSM), and US Cellular (CDMA). US Cellular will not allow you to bring your own CDMA phone, need to buy from them.