New and in need of help :(

[nexeroth]

Hello all, I just got a blackberry 8700g today as part of a package deal off e-bay and am having a bit of a problem getting up and running. The auction said that it was for a Cincinnati Bell locked blackberry (although people aren't always honest on e-bay)

The problem I am experiencing is that I cannot connect to my network even for standard phone service(I know that internet and email service won't work until I buy a blackberry plan but am under the impression that phone should). (like if I go to options -> Network it says *None* and is set to automatic.) I have tried looking for Cincinnati Bell under my preferred network list and cannot find it there.

I currently have standard cell phone service through Cincinnati Bell with a newer sim card, and I have swapped this sim card between several other phones successfully in the past. I also had my friend ,who currently has a working 8700, put his Cincinnati Bell sim card in my 8700 and it still did not work.

I followed some of the steps on the FAQ pages and found that my phone is locked. I guess my main concern would be that it is locked to a network other than Cincinnati Bell and I really don't know how exactly to tell which network it is locked to.

When I power my phone on without a sim card in it it does have the Cincinnati Bell logo in the middle of the screen but I could see how that wouldn't guarantee that it is set to Cincinnati Bell, although it does give me some hope .

I also started to read the FAQ about the IT Policy since it seemed like it could be what was causing it. I checked under options -> security and did not see anything about an IT policy. Could that still be the problem?

Any help would be much appreciated even if it is saying that it won't work for me at all. Also if any other information would be required to make a diagnosis just let me know and i'll be happy to get it for you.

Thanks in advance,
Nick

[Thatzmister2u]

Welcome to the forums and sorry for your trouble! Not a great start for you and I hope that it works out! You should call your carrier and ask them if the PIN and IMEI is registered to someone else. You can beg them to release it and they might but if that is the issue you will have to call the seller and ask them to release it. I may be way off base as this is not my ususal area of assistance.

It might be something else but I feel it may be this.

Good Luck and report back!

E-

[ricpac]

Welcome to BBF!

Never lose hope. My guess is, your BB is from Cincinnati Bell as that company's logo comes out on start-up, right? I'm just worried why your C-Bell SIM doesn't work including your friend's. Are you making sure the SIM card is properly set up on the SIM card tray/holder? Once you get a new BB and slide your current (or new) SIM, you should get phone and SMS service by default--the only time you wouldn't get these basic items is if your BB is locked to a different carrier.

[nexeroth]

First off thanks for the replies.

Originally Posted by ricpac

Welcome to BBF!

Never lose hope. My guess is, your BB is from Cincinnati Bell as that company's logo comes out on start-up, right? I'm just worried why your C-Bell SIM doesn't work including your friend's. Are you making sure the SIM card is properly set up on the SIM card tray/holder? Once you get a new BB and slide your current (or new) SIM, you should get phone and SMS service by default--the only time you wouldn't get these basic items is if your BB is locked to a different carrier.

My sim card seems to be going in correctly, I can import my contacts and access old messages on my sim card, so I believe it is reading it just fine. So that kind of leads me to thinking that it may be locked to a different carrier. Is the only way to find out to call Cincinnati Bell and ask them if I am locked to them? Or is there a different way I can do it?

Thanks again,
Nick

[JSanders]

Nick, let's confirm your BB is indeed unlocked: Look at Options > Advanced > Sim Card. While on that screen, type the letters M E P D.

IF your BB is unlocked for any carrier, you should see a screen like this, where the Network says "Disabled"


Does yours match?

[nexeroth]

Originally Posted by JSanders

Nick, let's confirm your BB is indeed unlocked: Look at Options > Advanced > Sim Card. While on that screen, type the letters M E P D.

IF your BB is unlocked for any carrier, you should see a screen like this, where the Network says "Disabled"
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2377/...206d7cb3_o.jpg

Does yours match?

No, my blackberry is locked. But it was advertised that it was locked to Cincinnati Bell, which is the service I am trying to use. I am unaware of how to check to see which specific service it is locked to so I am unable to verify that it truely is locked to Cincinnati Bell. It does display the Cincinnati Bell logo when i power the blackberry on without a sim card in it though.