Another Cell Phone Q&A for you techies

[ragtop69gs]

I was given a T-Mobile Motorola MB200 Cliq touchscreen, android phone. This thing has lots of apps on it, wifi, bluetooth, web. It does not have a sim card, nor do I want to activate the phone portion of it, but I would like to be able to use it for internet at spots with public wifi. Can this be done? I have tried and although it finds the wifi signal it will not let me connect and browse. What's this jailbreaking and will that let me do what I want to do?

[Freebird]

To the best of my knowledge, you will not be able to use it without activating the phone. Jailbreaking allows you to use a phone on a different carrier than the one that the phone was purchased from and sometimes to install software that could normally not be installed but I don't think there is any solution to allow it to be used unactivated. I haven't researched this so maybe there is something that I am unaware of.

[Sideoftheroad]

In other words you want to use it like a mini-tablet. Keep in mind just because you see it doesn't mean you can't use it. Often times wifi spots are password protected. Since I am new to wifi myself on my 4s I haven't done it at a restaurant, but I believe when you go some places have instructions on how to connect to their wifi. When you see the wifi icon does it display a lock icon?

[ragtop69gs]

In other words you want to use it like a mini-tablet. Keep in mind just because you see it doesn't mean you can't use it. Often times wifi spots are password protected. Since I am new to wifi myself on my 4s I haven't done it at a restaurant, but I believe when you go some places have instructions on how to connect to their wifi. When you see the wifi icon does it display a lock icon?

 

Both spots were public access, Burger King and another restaurant. Neither is password protected. When I try it comes up with a page saying the web page m.web2go.com might be temporarily down or moved to a new address, it won't let me do anything else. Are there other browsers that could be loaded onto the phone ?

[Midrsv]

Both spots were public access, Burger King and another restaurant. Neither is password protected. When I try it comes up with a page saying the web page m.web2go.com might be temporarily down or moved to a new address, it won't let me do anything else. Are there other browsers that could be loaded onto the phone ?

 

There are other android browsers but you would need a google account to access the app marketplace.

 

Dennis

[Sideoftheroad]

Out of curiosity did you try typing in another web address like yahoo or google? Just wondering if that address is proprietary to t-mobile.

[pegscraper]

I'm pretty sure you should be able to use it over wifi without being activated, and probably the phone too. I've heard of others doing it. I wonder if it will need a SIM card in it though. I knew someone with an ipod touch (or something like that, I'm not sure exactly what it was) that was not really a phone and could not connect to cell towers but could be used as a phone over wifi. Find a forum for your phone and you can find out all you want to know about it and much more. BTW, jailbreaking is for iphones. Android phones get rooted.

[ragtop69gs]

There are other android browsers but you would need a google account to access the app marketplace.

 

Dennis

 

Is that the same a gmail account?

 

Out of curiosity did you try typing in another web address like yahoo or google? Just wondering if that address is proprietary to t-mobile.

 

I think it is. Typing in another address didn't work either.

 

I'm pretty sure you should be able to use it over wifi without being activated, and probably the phone too. I've heard of others doing it. I wonder if it will need a SIM card in it though. I knew someone with an ipod touch (or something like that, I'm not sure exactly what it was) that was not really a phone and could not connect to cell towers but could be used as a phone over wifi. Find a forum for your phone and you can find out all you want to know about it and much more. BTW, jailbreaking is for iphones. Android phones get rooted.

 

I thought a sim card was used only to activate a phone on a carriers network.

[star4772]

Is that the same a gmail account?

 

 

 

I think it is. Typing in another address didn't work either.

 

 

 

I thought a sim card was used only to activate a phone on a carriers network.

 

U will not be able to use the phone unless it is activated with a carrier. Been there and tried before they must be activated or will not work.

 

Joe

[pegscraper]

I thought a sim card was used only to activate a phone on a carriers network.

 

I'm not certain, which is why I said I wonder. I have an HTC Thunderbolt which I rooted and my wife has a rooted Droid X. I know just enough about these things to be dangerous. Here is a Motorola Cliq forum where you can find out all you want to know.

 

http://androidforums.com/motorola-cliq/

[ragtop69gs]

I'm not certain, which is why I said I wonder. I have an HTC Thunderbolt which I rooted and my wife has a rooted Droid X. I know just enough about these things to be dangerous. Here is a Motorola Cliq forum where you can find out all you want to know.

 

http://androidforums.com/motorola-cliq/

 

Thanks for the link, but , I already have this question posted there with no replies yet.

 

What is the reason for rooting you phones?

[67mini67]

We have 2 HTC android phones that I bought used. I have them activated as phones only, no data plan. (actually just placed my existing sim card in and worked immediately) So I have a phone and can access WIFI at hotspots as well as home but not on the fly. Work fine for us and we are not paying for the expensive data plans.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

 

I am not sure if the phones you have are limited with no carrier activation, but I'm pretty certain that one way or another, there is probably a way to make them work on open wifi without current carrier access. It could be a setting that needs to be changed. You should also try a known good wifi source, such as your home wifi or another reliable access point.

 

It's not unusual for the wifi at fastfood restaurants and even upscale restaurants to go offline for a variety of reasons...and the employees there will give you a 'deer in the headlights' blank stare if you ask them about it. They have no clue. And you may get the wifi router signal, but 'nobody's home'. You could take along a laptop with wifi and see if it will connect. Or visit a coffee house or library. They tend to be more reliable.

 

BTW, the GSM iPhones work great on wifi with no sim card.....not sure about the CDMA iPhones but I assume they will also, although there is no sim card on those iPhones.

 

The real question is, why would you want to? Other than the rare situation where u just HAVE to check a webpage, or maybe look at a weather map, websurfing and email on a phone screen is pretty clumsy. It CAN be done, but it's not very enjoyable. If you want to be able to carry something with you for websurfing, get an iPad or one of the other inexpensive tablet computers. Even an inexpensive kindle will do some basic websurfing on wifi.

[ragtop69gs]

The real question is, why would you want to? Other than the rare situation where u just HAVE to check a webpage, or maybe look at a weather map, websurfing and email on a phone screen is pretty clumsy. It CAN be done, but it's not very enjoyable. If you want to be able to carry something with you for websurfing, get an iPad or one of the other inexpensive tablet computers. Even an inexpensive kindle will do some basic websurfing on wifi.

 

Mostly, I want to do this for checking email, weather reports and PGR mission updates. For all of this, it would be easier to carry this phone on the bike than my 17" laptop and I really don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a new device when this free device is at hand. I have used other peoples phones for all this and more so I am aware of their shortcomings.

[revinger]

Not sure about the other guy, but I rooted my phone for several reasons. To get the plethora of carrier bloatware off of it, to be able to install what i want. My main reason though was to put the version of android on of my choosing not the carriers. I am also a developer and had plans to write a few apps for myself, though I have yet to find the time with everything else going on in life.

 

I have not regretted rooting mine.

 

Bob e

[pegscraper]

What is the reason for rooting you phones?

 

I wasn't interested in rooting my phone and doing that kind of technical stuff until I learned that I could block ads with a root app. That was it right there. I rooted the thing. My phone is not advertising space. Since then, I've done a few other things. My phone had a particularly horrible tink sound when I would adjust the ring volume. I found the sound file where that is and renamed it so the phone system can't find it. Now I can adjust the ring volume silently. I did the same thing with the start up sound. I don't like such things. Being rooted you can make backups of apps and operating systems. I'm to the point now where I don't take any app updates until I make a backup first. Sometimes the developers screw things up - they don't work right, they take away features, they add ads for no reason whatsoever. It happens. If I don't like an app update, I can revert back to the one I like. I have several now that I will never update again. If you're rooted, you can break off app permissions you don't think are necessary, which is a lot of them, things like phone location, SIM card number, phone serial number. Even some games want phone permissions that they have no legitimate reason to need, to know who you call and when. I don't think so. I break that garbage off. You can block the forced updating of operating systems from your carrier, which I find do little more than take away more and more features and do nothing to make the phone more useful. Two or three operating system updates came out for my phone over the past six months and they all ended up getting retracted because they had so many problems and the people who got them had nothing but headaches. Major things like phone doesn't work, data doesn't work, e-mail or voice mail doesn't work. (I really fail to understand why people get so excited about operating system updates.) But I didn't have to deal with any of those problems because I blocked that garbage to begin with. You can choose the operating system you want that has the features and look that you want, and there are several of them out there. There is no end to the customization you can do with a rooted phone. And like revinger mentioned, you can get rid of carrier installed apps which are generally garbage and which you normally can't uninstall. I don't do much more with mine than what I've mentioned, but it's enough. Some people do a lot more with them than I do. But I wouldn't have one of these phones without rooting it and doing these things.

 

I hope you can get an answer to your other questions. I'm fairly certain you can use your phone over wifi. I've read such things on the phone forums before and people get it to work. But I don't know how to do it.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

 

Mostly, I want to do this for checking email, weather reports and PGR mission updates. For all of this, it would be easier to carry this phone on the bike than my 17" laptop and I really don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a new device when this free device is at hand. I have used other peoples phones for all this and more so I am aware of their shortcomings.

 

 

Ok...but...

 

I ordered a 7" refurb nook color (wifi) and an android card (to make it a full android tablet) all for around $185. (not really hundreds!) But the little 6" wifi kindle is $79 and although I have not used one, I understand it does have a simple b&w web browser.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2011 by tx2sturgis

[ragtop69gs]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

 

I took the phone over to the cellular shop I always deal with and told him what I wanted to do, he took the phone, spent about 5 minutes pushing buttons and now it works on any wifi connection. I asked him what he did, but all he would say is "I changed a few things" . I went to a few different wifi spots and all is good now

 

Rooting will be on my must do list if I ever buy an Android phone. For now I'm just happy it does what I want it to do.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

 

I took the phone over to the cellular shop I always deal with and told him what I wanted to do, he took the phone, spent about 5 minutes pushing buttons and now it works on any wifi connection. I asked him what he did, but all he would say is "I changed a few things" . I went to a few different wifi spots and all is good now

 

Rooting will be on my must do list if I ever buy an Android phone. For now I'm just happy it does what I want it to do.

 

 

Cool!