Getting 2g Cellphones to Work

submitted by tiny-brown-mug from self.technology

Hey, guys. I think there are a few folks on here who have an interest in older cellphones and dumbphones. If your phone is 2g or 3g it can be an ordeal trying to get them to work. Here is the US, something finally did work for me.

I got a Tello SIM, and activated it inside of a 4g LTE GSM phone. Left it in there for two whole months, paid my bill, made and received plenty of calls, etc. On a whim, I stuck it in my old, 2g phone and voila! It worked!

Several days now, and I still have service! I'm hoping the signal stays strong, and stays on.

https://tello.com/

Again, I had to activate it in and with a modern 4g LTE GSM phone (a TCL Flip 2, actually), and leave it in there, but I'm thrilled that it's working. Cool! This might work for other people, too. Tello is also pretty cheap, and comes with those cool, old-fashioned minutes+talk+data plans that are customizable.

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[–]Anman 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

Impossible in australia as all 2g networks were disabled. I had a 2g phone that only needed to be charged every 3-4 weeks. It was great.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 2 fun0 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 2 fun -  (10 children)

Is there a way you could experiment and try sneaking a GSM SIM into an older phone? I keep hearing about folks in Canada where 2g has supposedly been shut down, but they're still able to get a signal.

[–]Anman 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (9 children)

The system isn't the same here as it is in the US. All providers essentially use the same network. 2g signals are most likely still around, I mean, my router is sending one out right now. But provider gateways will not be linked to any 2g connection. Also all of our sim cards are identicle and are not linked to network infrastructure. IE, the sim car I was using in my 2g phone is the same one for a 3g or 4g connection.

Our data infrastructure here is really messed up. Don't even bring up the internet.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (8 children)

That kind of stinks, man. So, is it kind of like China where it's basically one network, pretending to be multiple, separate networks? Would importing a SIM from a foreign country help at all?

[–]Anman 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (7 children)

mmmm. Kinda like china. Sim cards are linked to their retail providers. But using an overseas one would just kick in roaming networks which is expensive as shit.

There is one network with wholesale gateway providers that resell to retailers. It is the same for our ISPs. Majority of phone traffic now routes through the internet now anyway, due to a special retarded internet system refereed to as the NBN. Regardless of where my data routes through though, it's all the same. It is also lets the government block anything they want on the internet and tap into any call they want. Which they have allowed themselves to do so.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (6 children)

Sounds creepy as heck. So... what do folks from abroad with 2g phones do? Just get all new phones in Australia?

[–]Anman 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

Creepy? Nah, just communism in the making. Totally expected and understandable.

And yep. I use my old 2g phone as a music player now.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 1 fun0 insightful - 0 fun1 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

If you absolutely had to make an emergency call on an old phone with no SIM could you? Over here, they still let you call 911, even with no SIM or regular service.

[–]Anman 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Nope.

Out of curiosity I looked into it just to be sure though, and yeah, no. All 2g networks were shut down to increase 4g traffic. Emergency networks also have to be upgraded because of this. So there you go.

Low power, long range and reliable connections are not allowed in this country. I used to be on ADSL 1 (im country), but they forced us onto the "super better than everything you had before NBN" and now its usually slower than before, due to all network going through the same nodes.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 1 fun0 insightful - 0 fun1 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

That's the case here too, to an extent. They're forcing a lot of people onto 5g and it's incredibly slow, unreliable, and keeps having to slip back into 4g. They also eradicated 3g, and one network (I think) even shuttered 4g, at least in one area.

Out of curiosity, do people use amateur or citizens' band radio in Australia much?

[–]Musky 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Neat!

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks! The technology is so old that I can send but not receive text messages, and people even a couple of counties away from me get an error message when they try to call; "We are sorry, you are not authorized to make long-distance calls!" because the system thinks they're calling some country that still has 2g.

It's really interesting, though, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

[–]SoCo 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

As others mentioned, 2g service is almost removed from cell towers. Even normal 3g is being phased out, although there's some complexities to that.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 2 fun0 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yep, there are ways to sneak around the system. I suspect the signals are, in fact, possibly still on. They just don't allow phones to latch onto them.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 2 fun0 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 2 fun -  (12 children)

Also, guys, I don't know if anyone also has an interest in amateur radio, cb, or police scanners, but I stumbled across this forum the other day :

https://forums.radioreference.com/

It's pretty darn interesting. I don't have the money to get into a hobby like this right now, but just seeing what other people out there are doing and listening to is kind of cool.

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

In Japan 3G begain phasing out earlier this year, but it depends. Here is a confusing blurb from a site selling old phones:

Some traditional flip phones will become unusable in Japan soon due to the termination of 3G telecommunications services. | KYODO Traditional flip mobile phones, known as garakei, a staple of the days before the arrival of the iPhone in Japan, will become unusable within a few years due to the termination of 3G telecommunications services.

KDDI Corp. will stop 3G radio wave transmission for flip phones at the end of March [2022], followed by SoftBank Corp. in late January 2024 and NTT Docomo Inc. at the end of March 2026.

If you want to see what's for sale here: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=3g%20phones%20in%20Japan

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

Thanks! A lot of those older Japanese phones are pretty cute. Very colorful, too.

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I'll be going to a third world country soon and will pick up one of those flip 3Gs for $30 before I go. It will have to have a SIM change but you can buy them for a month or two months for a few bucks. Plus—any dollars you spend now in Japan are about 30% stronger than they were in the recent past against the yen.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (4 children)

Also, Ecosia looks cool. Do they really plant trees for every web search you do?

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

I do not know about that. I used to use Duck Duck but now they use Gooooogle's database so same difference. I am not convinced that Ecosia is the best.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Also, the best info out there, in my opinion, is still on old-fashioned discussion forums. Real humans. Real opinions. Lots of cool tips and tricks for practical things, hobbies, and complex issues.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 2 fun0 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

"Teclis" is really fascinating to me. It's like 1998 internet.

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've never heard of it but will checkitout.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Huh, so it looks like it's being shut down in waves. That's interesting. Same thing in the States. However, I sometimes hear reports of people still able to latch onto a signal that was supposedly sunset a year ago, in rare cases. I wonder if the signals are, in fact, still running in some capacity, the companies have just blocked users from latching on. Maybe?

[–]chottohen 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Did you notice that some of those phones were around $30?

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Yes! They're incredibly cheap. I think they mostly sell to markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A lot of them are very affordable, and some of them also have radios in them, which is cool.

It's great when the old stuff works, though. It feels like a win. :)

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yes. Here's a related story I like: My wife accompanied me to Cambodia many times (even though she doesn't really like it) and made friends with some of the people. She was hooked up by cell to a young lady who sent out a selfie almost everyday. Well, soon my wife learned that the girl lived in a small stilt-house out in the back of beyond with her farmer father, siblings, and many water buffalo. Nothing wrong with that of course. She also had a late model iPhone that brought the world to her doorstep. It was an eye-opener for my wife. There are phone shops all over third world countries. You can drop off your phone and have a local SIM installed in minutes or just buy a used phone for cheap and get your basic functions. Those phones have been a cultural bomb that has led, in part, to such things as Iranian women taking off their burkas and multiple other cultural changes—a game changer like the wheel and the printing press.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 2 fun0 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

So, help me understand this. They say that these lower generations have been shut down. But then, when the signal is poor, it can sometimes still dip down to 2g or even 1x to allow for some limited communication. How is this possible if the signal is completely nonexistent? Or am I missing something?

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 1 fun0 insightful - 0 fun1 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Ok, one more thing. (Colombo voice) I have noticed on Reddit, that any time anyone asks an innocent question about 2g being usable in 2022, they are immediately piled on as though the just suggested something monstrous. Very few just take their question at face value and answer it. There's razzing, shaming, irritated-sounding demands to just go out and buy a 4g LTE phone, etc. Ok, but that's not what he's asking.

He's asking about 2g. All of the Google search results about this immediately pull up info about how 2g is bad, dangerous, stupid, and how everyone needs a new phone. Ok, but that's not what I'm asking, either.

This should not be a sensitive, political, or emotionally fraught issue. There's absolutely no need to pile mercilessly on someone asking an objective, simple question about technology as though they're suggesting giving bleach tablets to children under the guise of it being candy. Kind of makes you wonder, why in the world do they not want people thinking or talking about something like this.

[–]Myocarditis-Man 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Reddit is moderated by, and full of corporate drones. It's an inevitability when any platform goes mainstream.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 1 fun0 insightful - 0 fun1 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Some cool resources / stores :

https://retrocellphone.com/

https://www.ebay.com/str/koulis1975store?_trksid=p2047675.m145687.l149267