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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: dante on Fri, 30 August 2013, 22:39:59

Title: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: dante on Fri, 30 August 2013, 22:39:59

So it's 10:30pm on a Friday night and I'm having a stupid moment.  Cell-phones - particularly older Nokia's for whatever reason are resonating nostalgia with me.  So...

1. Can older Nokia's say a 8210 or 3310 be used on current networks?  These were circa 1999-2004.
2. Perhaps as an advantage of being old would these be more secure?

(http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/008/134/nokia-3310-troubleshooting.jpg)

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Fri, 30 August 2013, 22:45:29

(http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PJ-BG188_WORKFA_G_20120327182717.jpg)
Are you listening to me NSA?

Just use burners and stop worrying about it.

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: tp4tissue on Fri, 30 August 2013, 22:50:00

according to all my Hong Kong Gangster movies (YES)

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: dante on Fri, 30 August 2013, 22:52:11

not worried about NSA lol.

just miss simple durable phones with few features other than texting and of course .. Snake..

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: SpAmRaY on Fri, 30 August 2013, 22:57:55

I would think the problem would be the battery.

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: tp4tissue on Fri, 30 August 2013, 23:02:53

You know how they made a big push for bio-degradable rubber back then,, WELL... turns out,  the rubber degraded.. now it's a sticky mess. like greasy playdoe

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: Topre on Fri, 30 August 2013, 23:07:10

Yes they can be used, not sure about security. My first phone, a Nokia 8860, still works fine. It's still on a cheap AT&T plan.

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: dante on Fri, 30 August 2013, 23:10:30

Quote from: SpAmRaY on Fri, 30 August 2013, 22:57:55

I would think the problem would be the battery.

Plenty of spares available.  What's curious is there are not many phones for sale in the US - there are mostly importers selling unlocked phones.

Title: Re: Older cell-phones: Can they be used and are they secure?
Post by: fohat.digs on Sat, 31 August 2013, 20:00:55

I used Nokia 3390s for many years until just about a year ago. Best cell phone ever, in my opinion.

For one thing, the monochrome screen is "always on" and screen savers (found on all color screens) drive me insane.

They can be bought cheap on ebay and a battery charge lasts nearly a week if you use it lightly.

Plus they use real earplugs that work without any glitches. And they text.