[cnywrestling]

Just out of curiosity, can I go buy any unlocked phone I want at full price and then get the "no-contract" plan from any carrier? For example, can I get an unlocked Galaxy2 on ebay and then sign up for the $35 unlimited plan on Virgin Mobile? Or the $50 unlimited plans on Boost or T-Mobile? Or do they frown on such a thing?

[janas19]

Good question. From what I understand, carriers are not so concerned about the device manufacturer as they are with that device's hardware being compatible with that carrier's network. For example, although I can't cite the exact one, I was reading a thread on XDA where it said some Sprint phone versions of the Samsung Intercept are programmed to a different bandwith than Virgin Mobile's intercepts. That is why you want to be relatively certain any device you buy is compatible with the prepaid network, and perhaps the best way to do that is to search the web and verify it can be done. To save yourself the headache, I would highly recommend simply buying one of VM's supported devices, it makes things much easier.

Sent from my SPH-M910 using Tapatalk

[saraera]

Why are you considering that? Would it cut down prices?
I'm wondering because I like keeping things simple for myself so I would much rather just pick and choose a plan that they already have laid out for me but it can be pricey sometimes..