Network Restriction Check.

[Island.Boy]

NTT DoCoMo

http://nw-restriction.nttdocomo.co.jp/search.php

SoftBank

http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/support/3G/restriction/

You can use this in order to check your potential handset to ensure it is not a "Hot" handset and will actually work once it is purchased.

[fireshark]

Don't forget the Softbank restriction checker.

[yangj08]

I'm still not entirely sure how Softbank gets the "triangle" category. As for as I can tell it means "not now, but possibly in the future", right? How does that work?

(why am I curious? I got a 920P on a whim- because it was less than US$50, and it turned up a triangle on the Softbank checker. It's also the first "flea-market" keitai I've bought that turns up on either checker)

[Island.Boy]

is it MM Unlocked

[yangj08]

Not yet. I plan on getting it done soon. Is it hard to do?

(then again, China seems to be the home of the Houdinis of the MM-unlock world. 91xSH can now be MM-unlocked here- so it's as functional as any other keitai provided you're on a 3G plan- great news for those with the Gundam 913SH)

(edited a few times)

[aw614]

so no more having to be sent to japan?

[yangj08]

Yep- I'm not sure how they do it seeing as how under normal circumstances the 91xSH phones won't roam at all with a SB USIM but it works according to quite a few people on Blueshow.
(well, this is a bit off-topic, isn't it)

[yamanote]

My 941SH shows up as a triangle. I think that reads 'there may be restrictions'. What restrictions?

Not yet. I plan on getting it done soon. Is it hard to do?

(then again, China seems to be the home of the Houdinis of the MM-unlock world. 91xSH can now be MM-unlocked here- so it's as functional as any other keitai provided you're on a 3G plan- great news for those with the Gundam 913SH)

(edited a few times)

HK can do this too I think. I've seen a 912SH for sale anyways.

[yangj08]

"Restrictions" = Red-ROM. Antenna bars turn red and you can no longer make voice calls. Mail and internet would still work (with a Softbank USIM). Since no one's quite sure if red-ROM persists after switching to a foreign SIM card on a foreign network, looks like the time to get an MM-unlock done is now rather than later. (Since it requires being exposed to Softbank's network)

[yamanote]

"Restrictions" = Red-ROM. Antenna bars turn red and you can no longer make voice calls. Mail and internet would still work (with a Softbank USIM). Since no one's quite sure if red-ROM persists after switching to a foreign SIM card on a foreign network, looks like the time to get an MM-unlock done is now rather than later. (Since it requires being exposed to Softbank's network)

Already got it mm unlocked of course but this means I wouldn't be able to use it as a phone on Softbanks prepaid? Shucks! That was the whole point of buying a Softbank over a docomo.

What causes a phone to become red-rom'd? Insurance fraud? Stolen? Lost? (well my phone was brand new so the last one is rather unlikely...)

[yangj08]

I'm not sure, other than "stolen". Plenty of keitai I've gotten from sketchy places haven't been restricted at all, which leads me to believe that they generally don't mark lost keitai for restriction in the database. That or people don't want to report lost keitai for some reason. Looking through the contact list on the 920P that I have a triangle on it seems that the previous owner works at a big company. None of my previous secondhand keitai have had so many major contacts. A big company would probably want a police report filed on it and thus Softbank would block it from their network too. I also remember an article saying that they're trying to put "flipped" keitai (purchase for "new contract" discount price, sell it on for a profit, keep using old phone) on the list, but the only way to tell that one is if they check every user's IMEI all the time. That's not exactly practical.

[yamanote]

Just bought a used keitai. It shows up as a X which reads 'there are restrictions'. Does this mean that it simply won't work in Japan? I just got it mm unlocked too so it does seem to be able to connect and reprovision.

[yangj08]

It'll work; it just won't be able to make voice or video calls like I said above. That's the only restriction. (MM-unlock relies on internet only, and that's why it still works) That's because (I think) this is mostly intended to apply to "flipped" keitai. There's full remote locking for stolen keitai that are reported.

Random fact- theoretically, any carrier is capable of sending the "Red-ROM" restricting signal with any SIM. I know this because if I try to force an 812SH I have onto Unicom 3G with a Unicom SIM that hasn't been upgraded (GSM only) it'll Red-ROM for a few seconds before the network drops out altogether (because it's not supposed to be on 3G at all without the 3G plan). It goes away when I put in my 3G SIM. So if Softbank wanted to restrict the phone even overseas on a SB USIM (because when the phone registers it contacts the home network via the overseas network) they can. However, that doesn't prevent you from MM-unlocking and returning to your original SIM, through which the phone wouldn't touch the SB network at all and thus, no restricting signal.

[yamanote]

Just tried switching to 3G. Obviously incoming doesn't work but outgoing calls works and the signal bars are not red.

I s'pose it'll red ROM when I go to JP though.

[errorrrr]

wow... I just checked the 940SH i got from Zerox678 on the Softbank checker, and it turned out with a "X" but i could still use the Mr.Sim + T-Mobil (mm locked of course...) so I guess the phone is no good in Japan