What can I do with a NEXTEL phone now that I use Sprint?

[dex]

I switched from NEXTEL to Sprint. I had to get a new phone. I liked the NEXTEL phone and would have liked to keep it. But it didn't work with Sprint.

Any ideas what I can do with the NEXTEL phone?

[larry]

Keep it as an emergency spare as it should work with 911 service without needing a wireless plan.

[Leonidas]

If you don't need the extra phone, why don't you donate it to charity? That's what I do with mine. Gave some away to a local woman's shelter several years ago. They passed them out to their clients who had been battered so they could always have a phone handy in case the ex managed to track them down. Just a couple of months ago we traded phones again and this time I sent them to a charity called "Cell Phones for Soldiers." Fun story behind that, a couple of young kids read about a soldier in Iraq who had a massive phone bill while trying to stay in touch with his family. They wanted to donate their own money to buy him some phone cards and it grew from that to sending calling cards to a lot of soldiers. They take donated cell phones and ink cartridges, sell them to rehabers and use the proceeds for the charity.

http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

[larry]

Know of anyone who uses Nextel network? Your old phone has value if someone doesn't carry insurance and loses/toasts a phone. Buying yours would sure be cheaper than buying a new one.

[KB]

Radio Shack used to collect old cell phones and give them to an organization to reprogram for battered women. You could check and see if they still support that program.

[HFWR]

Staples (the store, not wedding) takes old phones also.

[Marshac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dex Any ideas what I can do with the NEXTEL phone?

Depending on the phone, sign up for Boost- it uses the old NEXTEL iDEN network. They have a data plan which provides you with unlimited data for $.20/day ($6/mo). The data rate is ok (about the speed of a 56k modem), and it's cheaper than any other ISP out there. The gravy train will end mind you- Sprint was planning on shutting down the iDEN network, but instead the DoD purchased it from them. Either way, it's going away.

[dex]

Thanks for the replie.
I was hoping there was a wany of converting it from NEXTEL to Sprint service.
txs

[Marshac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dex Thanks for the replie. I was hoping there was a wany of converting it from NEXTEL to Sprint service. txs

NEXTEL is iDEN while Sprint uses CDMA, so no luck there. What model phone do you have anyways?

[dex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marshac NEXTEL is iDEN while Sprint uses CDMA, so no luck there. What model phone do you have anyways?

Motorola i560 - It met some military specifications for rugardniess.

I just liked it.