Move Sidekick 3 to AT&T?

[BlackDynamite]

So my kids have been using their Sidekick 3's on T-Mobile prepaid for a while now. How would I go about unlocking them, or whatever needs to be done to put them on my AT&T shared minute family plan?

I realize the internet probably won't work, but they should at least be able to make calls and send/receive text messages until they get new phones, right?

What do I need to do to make it happen? Do I need to get it unlocked or something and how would I go about that?

Is there any way to configure it to work with AT&T data?

[Heavy Fluid]

Well, if you can get them unlocked, they will work. Phone calls and texting will, but mms and internet will not. They also lack the 850 band, so if AT&T in your area uses 850, you might be out of luck, well, they will be out of luck.

You can try to get them unlocked through T-Mobile, but if they don't or can't do it, try one of the vendors in the Marketplace located at the top of the forums.

[ziggy3055]

They also lack the 850 band, so if AT&T in your area uses 850, you might be out of luck, well, they will be out of luck.

the t-mobile version has 850 support

[BBYM1995]

good luck unlocking them

[ÂrçHäñG3|]

Getting them unlocked will more than likely not be cheap. As stated, you will have no internet, e-mail, catalog, and MMS when using it on AT&T. You will still be able to make calls and send standard text messages at AT&T's rates though.

[iWonder]

Also when your battery dies everything goes with it. Numbers, texts, notes, calendar apts, etc.

there is no way to get it to work with att data because it goes through t-mobile to Danger (the company that made the phone) and Danger's servers. Hence why everything gets erased if you yank the battery or it dies.

So if you do get it unlocked, and t-mobile doesn't unlock them anymore, be prepared for your kids to whine when the battery dies or it drops and the battery pops out.

Not worth it imo

[gxmaddict]

Getting them unlocked will more than likely not be cheap. As stated, you will have no internet, e-mail, catalog, and MMS when using it on AT&T. You will still be able to make calls and send standard text messages at AT&T's rates though.

...as of last month, sidekicks can be unlocked fully - therefor internet, email..etc can be enable

[BlackDynamite]

...as of last month, sidekicks can be unlocked fully - therefor internet, email..etc can be enable

How do you do it?

[gxmaddict]

How do you do it?

ebay, google..etc -> i got one myself (sidekick lx/white -fully unlocked with fido/rogers)

[BBYM1995]

wrong .. not possible .. lie..

[BlackDynamite]

wrong .. not possible .. lie..

How do you know it's a lie?
In my searches, I found many threads from 2+ years ago where everyone said it was not even possible to unlock texting. We all know now that you can, and it's pretty easy to do.

Let me tell you, it is ABSOLUTELY possible to unlock data on a SK3. It's just not something that everyone (if anyone) has figured out yet. But you can bet your bottom dollar that there is some setting(s) in the SK3 that tell it to use the Danger servers or whatever, and have all the other data settings in it. Accessing those settings and changing them is certainly possible. It could be more trouble than it's worth, and maybe nobody has done it yet, but that certainly doesn't mean it's impossible.

I often wonder if T-Mobile paid a bunch of people to post "it's impossible" whenever someone asks about unlocking it.
It's downright funny to go back and read all the posts from 2 years ago that flamed everyone who even hinted it was possible to unlock texting...

[iWonder]

I can bet you every single dollar you own? Why? Because I know the sidekick. You do not know how the sidekick works do you?

Don't even try to disprove me.

And its rare to unlock the sidekick from t-mobile. They stopped unlocking it back in the sidekick II days.

You may search but you don't research. T-Mobile may unlock other phones but the sidekick is different. Its a brick that doesn't do anything on other networks because of dangers servers. There is absolutely no way to get it on another network with data. Its not a matter of playing around with settings. EVERYONE can do that.

[BlackDynamite]

I can bet you every single dollar you own? Why? Because I know the sidekick. You do not know how the sidekick works do you?

Don't even try to disprove me.

And its rare to unlock the sidekick from t-mobile. They stopped unlocking it back in the sidekick II days.

You may search but you don't research. T-Mobile may unlock other phones but the sidekick is different. Its a brick that doesn't do anything on other networks because of dangers servers. There is absolutely no way to get it on another network with data. Its not a matter of playing around with settings. EVERYONE can do that.

Well, you are wrong.

For 1 thing, I have already unlocked my 2 kids' Sidekick 3's- and I didn't even need T-Mobile to do it. It took less than a minute to do, and voice and text both work on AT&T. There are instructions all over the net on how to do it- it's not rare at all.

As for data, don't assume that just because you can't do it that nobody else can either.

I can tell you right now- whatever it is that is telling the Sidekick to use Danger's servers could just as easily be telling it to not use Danger's servers. It's a SETTING somewhere. It's not the only possible way for them to work, it's just how they are configured to work.

Why can't my home PC be a server? Why does it even need a server?

The correct answer is my home PC COULD be a server, and the Sidekick 3 doesn't NEED a server. It just hasn't been worth the effort to anyone who has the skills to change it. Most people with those kind of skills are using/hacking far better devices than a Sidekick 3. See the xda forums for more info/proof, and see some of the custom ROMs they have put on the Windows Mobile phones (that were supposedly locked). Or see the iPhone that was also supposedly locked, and required certain Apple servers to work right- and how it is already unlocked and functioning on all sorts of carriers. Not that it's worth the effort to me either, but I just take offense at someone being called a liar when they say they have it working. Just because you don't have the skills doesn't mean nobody else does.

I don't doubt that there are people out there using data on other networks. Just like 2 years ago people were getting flamed for saying it was possible to use SMS on another network and people like yourself thought they knew everything and said it wasn't possible...

[iWonder]

Well, you are wrong.

For 1 thing, I have already unlocked my 2 kids' Sidekick 3's- and I didn't even need T-Mobile to do it. It took less than a minute to do, and voice and text both work on AT&T. There are instructions all over the net on how to do it- it's not rare at all.

As for data, don't assume that just because you can't do it that nobody else can either.

I can tell you right now- whatever it is that is telling the Sidekick to use Danger's servers could just as easily be telling it to not use Danger's servers. It's a SETTING somewhere. It's not the only possible way for them to work, it's just how they are configured to work.

Why can't my home PC be a server? Why does it even need a server?

The correct answer is my home PC COULD be a server, and the Sidekick 3 doesn't NEED a server. It just hasn't been worth the effort to anyone who has the skills to change it. Most people with those kind of skills are using/hacking far better devices than a Sidekick 3. See the xda forums for more info/proof, and see some of the custom ROMs they have put on the Windows Mobile phones (that were supposedly locked). Or see the iPhone that was also supposedly locked, and required certain Apple servers to work right- and how it is already unlocked and functioning on all sorts of carriers. Not that it's worth the effort to me either, but I just take offense at someone being called a liar when they say they have it working. Just because you don't have the skills doesn't mean nobody else does.

I don't doubt that there are people out there using data on other networks. Just like 2 years ago people were getting flamed for saying it was possible to use SMS on another network and people like yourself thought they knew everything and said it wasn't possible...

I don't care if you unlocked your sidekicks. You'll never be able to get data on them on any other provider. Drop it. You don't understand how sidekicks work do you?

[BlackDynamite]

I don't care if you unlocked your sidekicks. You'll never be able to get data on them on any other provider. Drop it. You don't understand how sidekicks work do you?

Of course I understand how they work. It appears that you don't though...

Look, the only reason I can't get data on another provider is because it isn't worth the time (to me or anyone else) to make it work. But I can promise you- whatever it is in the Sidekick telling it to use the Sidekick browser and point to a Danger server, could also be made to use another browser (home made if needed) and point to my own personal server- or skip the server altogether.

The problem is it takes time to do all that and the Sidekick 3 isn't worth that time. Time is money, and that would take many, many hours to do. It's easier (and cheaper if you figure time is money) to spend a couple hundred and get a 3G Windows Mobile (or Palm, Symbian, Blackberry, iPhone, etc) device.

But don't kid yourself by saying it's not possible just because you don't know how to do it, and you haven't personally seen anyone else do it. I've personally seen people do way more difficult hacks than that. For example- the Windows Mobile 6 ROMs that were being put on AT&T Tilts that were supposedly CID locked making it impossible to flash a new ROM/SPL/Radio.

Funny how what was once thought to be impossible is now routinely done by amateurs. Just like 2 years ago when everyone said there was no way to even get SMS working on a Sidekick 3 (on another carrier) and now it's routinely done by amateurs.

I can promise you that if the Sidekick 3 was 3G and not just edge, it would be pretty common to get the data working. But as long as the data is only crappy edge anyway, and you can get comparable devices with 3G for dirt cheap (refurbished Pantech Duo- running Windows Mobile with 3G is only $69.99 on AT&T's website right now no rebate). A brand new Palm Centro from AT&T's website is only $69.99 after rebate. A brand new Blackberry 8700c is only $49.99 (no rebate) on AT&T's website.

So you tell me- why would I (or anyone) spend hours and hours and hours figuring out how to make a Sidekick 3 work, when I can get a much more powerful device for $69.99? The correct answer is- I wouldn't. The only way I would even consider it is if I was going to start unlocking Sidekick's for a fee. But for my own personal use, it's not worth the effort.

There is a big difference though, in saying "it's not worth the effort" and saying "it's not possible and the guy who said he has one is lieing."

Again, before you say nobody could ever do it, stop and think about all the people who are using the iPhone on another carrier right now, and all the people running Google's Android on their Windows Mobile phones. The iPhone uses servers similar to the way a Sidekick works, and people had that unlocked and working on other carriers- data and all, the same week (or even same day) it was released.