MOTOROLA i830 on Cingular?

I am computer illiterate and cell illiterate, i switched to cingular from nextel and have a razor but want to use my i830 as a work phone so it doesn't get messed up. Is there any help? I have about 4 nextel phones and would like to use them as backups but I am !! any thing I can do?
thankyou for your time. Time is valuble, I know. thankyou again.

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Hi, welcome to the forums! I moved your thread out of newbie intros, leaving a redirect behind where you originally posted, in case you thought you were somewhere else. Your question is not uncommon, and the simple answer is no. Nextel phones will only work for Nextel service because they use a completely different technology than Cingular. Now, are you ready for a "crash course" in cellular mumbo jumbo? If not then just stop reading, the answer is 'No, the Nextels won't work for Cingular'.

The only phones that will work for Cingular are either any Cingular-branded GSM phone, or any "unlocked" GSM phone that has the 850/1900mhz GSM bands used by Cingular's network. Cingular can use an unlocked T-Mobile phone if it's 850/1900mhz. I keep emphasizing this because SOME foreign phones are missing the 850mhz or both bands and won't work here, and T-Mobile sells phones and service in a dozen countries that use the 900/1800mhz bands instead, darned rest of the world. So, if you ever get a foreign GSM phone make sure it is "quad-band" (has everything) and you'll be okay!

In the USA and Canada, there are 3 different cellular technologies being used by the big nationwide cellular companies. Nextel is the only nationwide iDEN carrier in the USA and there are a very few smaller iDEN carriers, Cingular and T-Mobile are GSM, and Sprint, Verizon, Alltel all use CDMA technology. There are a number of others in both the GSM and CDMA markets, but many of them are actually leasing airtime on the Big 5's towers (the 5 mentioned nationwide carriers excluding Nextel).

Wow, there's the cliff's notes version of a whole lotta stuff you can learn here on the site. I hope you find everything you're looking for, try using our search feature for some answers to common questions. (Plus, we can't help you unlock a Nextel phone anyway, some of the methods, well many of the methods to unlock Nextels are illegal, which is not true of unlocking other types of phones, just Nextels... another long story right there).

thankyou, i might as well get rid of them on ebay! you've been a big help, thanks for your time

to: Brad 729

Originally Posted by coolerx1

thankyou, i might as well get rid of them on ebay! you've been a big help, thanks for your time