Advice neede - worth debranding Vodafone handset?

r_holmes22

I'm hoping somebody can advise. I received a pay-as-you-go Sony Ericsson K510i mobile phone on the Vodafone network as a Christmas present. I'm delighted with the phone itself and it's a bonus being able to browse news, weather and sports headlines for free on Vodafone Live. However, I'm a little disappointed that I can't view non-Vodafone Live pages (such as my football club's mobile-enabled site), for which I am quite prepared to pay.

Having done a little research, it seems to me that I could enable access to non-Vodafone Live sites (amid other benefits) by having my handset debranded, but wondered whether, by doing this, I'd lose the option of free access to Vodafone Live?

Please could somebody advise if I've got the wrong end of the stick, as I've been making do with very occasional use of a prepay monochrome phone on the Orange network for the last five years and have largely lost touch with how these things work nowadays.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

chrispyphillips

If by 'debranded' you mean 'unlocked' so all sim cards can work on it, this wouldnt affect your voda sim card in the slightest bit, it would simply mean that you can stick in an orange, O2, Tmob or 3 sim into the phone and access they're features. You could still get the voda live stuff, but may need another sim for the other stuff, as when the voda sim is in the phone it will only do what is allowed by the sim, not the limitations of the phone itself.

r_holmes22

chrispyphillips wrote:

If by 'debranded' you mean 'unlocked' so all sim cards can work on it, this wouldnt affect your voda sim card in the slightest bit, it would simply mean that you can stick in an orange, O2, Tmob or 3 sim into the phone and access they're features. You could still get the voda live stuff, but may need another sim for the other stuff, as when the voda sim is in the phone it will only do what is allowed by the sim, not the limitations of the phone itself.

Many thanks. This would be an option I might consider if all else fails. I could then just swap the SIM cards over at times I want to access non Vodafone Live pages. It would be a bit of a pain, though. I'm investigating the possibility of using one of the dual SIM devices, but this seems to generally involve surgery to the SIM cards.

There does seem to be a distinctive difference between unlocking and 'debranding'. Whereas unlocking enables the handset to be used on other operators' networks, debranding seems to involve reverting the firmware back to the factory defaults, so that the 'customised' features added by the network operator (e.g. the Vodafone logo, menu restrictions) are removed and the phone reverts back to its factory settings. See http://www.fonefunshop.co.uk/Unlocking/debrand.htm for an example.

What is unclear is whether this would affect free access to Vodafone Live, even though I'd still be using my Vodafone SIM. By replacing Vodafone's customised firmware with the manufacturer's original, will I end up being charged by the minute/kilobyte or whatever to view Vodafone Live pages?

chrispyphillips

Interesting! I didnt realise there was a difference but can see how easy, and beneficial it would be!

I wouldnt havent thought even a 'de-brand' would cause the live option to fail as surely this would be recognised through the sim rather than handset, but its probably worth checking, maybe with an independent voda retailer, as opposed to voda themselves, as they may decide to take certain privelages away from you!

faza20

Hi r_holmes22

After checking the specs for the K510i on the Sony Ericsson website, your phone has a full browser. To access it on SE's , the usual way is to access your homepage (Vodafone Live), then press more, then enter URL, then just type in the site you want to view. On PAYT though, the cost for internet browsing outside Vodafone Live, is £7.50 per mb (Live itself is free).

Regarding flashing your phone, all this will do is removing any Vodafone software, and restore it to the SE original programming. This will void any warranty you hold with Vodafone.

Debranding would not affect your free browsing, as long as you were still using a Vodafone SIM, and had the correct settings installed from the SE website/ Vodafone site

r_holmes22

Thank you crispyphillips and faza20. Boy, do I feel a little silly. All those hours spent trawling the manual and the Internet to find out how I might enter my own web address into the handset and somehow getting the impression it's not possible. I swear the manual doesn't mention the way you suggest. It talks of going to 'Internet Options' in the menu, which is replaced by 'Vodafone Live' on my handset.

Anyway, I tried using the 'more' option, which I've never noticed before, and, sure enough, successfully entered the address and viewwed the page I wanted. You are right, though, it's not cheap. Cost me 19 pence to navigate the three pages required to check my team's last result. Live is obviously the moneysaving preference whenever the information I want is there. It also saves the cost of all that unlocking or debranding, which I don't think I require now.

Many thanks both of you for your time; appreciated.