Monthly Archives: January 2014

Tracking GSM Phone

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Since all of the previous posts are about tracking phones using GPS, for today’s post we would like to explain on the methods in tracking GSM phones. First of all, what is a GSM? GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications.

It was a standard developed by the Europeans and it became the de facto global standard for mobile communications. One of the key features of GSM is the application of the SIM card. SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It is a smart card that is attached inside your phone. The SIM acts a unique identity card for the user of the phone where it contains the user’s personal information and its subscription number to the network.

So, in terms of tracking a GSM phone, the SIM card plays a key role here. This is due to the fact that your phone will always be communicating with a nearby cell tower. And through that communication, the information inside your SIM is used as a means of communication. The data that is being transmitted to nearby cell tower will consists of your MNC or Mobile Network Code and also your phone’s manufacturer data such as the IMEI and also ICCID number. The tracking of your phone by the network tower is done through geo-location technique.

So by using the information provided by this radio network tower, you can actually determine the phone cell coordinate data from public portal such as the Google Maps. This is due to the fact that many smartphones are now using the Google Maps Mobile. Through this app, Google has been able to store billions of data from user’s smartphones across the world. Among information that was shared is the Mobile Network Code (MNC), Location Area Code (LAC) and also Cell ID. By using this data into Google Map, you will be able to track the phone to the nearest cell tower that is picking up this data. There are now many websites that offers this services that links it with Google Map.


Check Phone Quality Using IMEI

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The phone’s IMEI is not just used for verifying the originality of your phone or tracking your phone, it can also be used to check the quality of your phone. This is because each product or phone manufactured in a certain country needs prior approval of their regulatory body. Hence, this is the reason that some numbers in the IMEI represents the number in which where the phone was manufactured.

First of all, you need to press this *#06# in your keypad. It will show you your IMEI number. If your IMEI number is 23456601234421.. Then the middle number and that is 234566 01 234421, represents the origin of the country of the phone that was manufactured.

So, if the number 01 or 10, normally it is manufactured in Finland. If you have a number 02 or 20, it is normally manufactured in China or Emirates. If you got 05 or 50, it shows that your phone is either manufactured in Brazil, USA or Finland. If its 06 or 60, the phone was manufactured in Hong Kong, China or Mexico. 08 or 80 represent Germany and if you got 00, 03 or 04, then the phone originated from the actual country of Phone Company itself.

So, if you got this number as your IMEI, good for you as your phone would normally be in the highest quality. So, even though, the number itself does not show the phone is of high quality or not, but knowing from which country the phone originated might give you a glimpse on the overall quality of the phone.

However, some phone manufacturers do a stringent quality check of their product regardless where the phone is being manufactured. So, depending on the phone manufacturer quality procedures and control, you can best be assured that the phone you received is as the same quality regardless in which country they are being produced.

Can a SIM Card be Tracked?

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First of all, what is a SIM card? SIM stands for Subscriber Identification Module (SIM). It is basically a portable memory chip that is inserted inside a cell phone. In terms of security, the SIM card carries a authentication protocol and has unique information related to its owner. This unique information includes the phone number, personal data contacts and messages. Other information contained in a SIM card is the IMSI or International Mobile Subscriber Identity, Local Area Identity or LAI, ICCID and etc.

A cell phone or mobile device can only be used once it is inserted with the SIM card. The important factor to be taken account is that the SIM card is only functional once it is inserted into the mobile device. However, once activated SIM is the conduit for tracking as it will emit the IMEI number of your mobile device as well as the SIM’s serial number to a nearby cell tower. SIM card are categorized as a slave computing device. This means it is a passive device where it is only activated once it is powered by a mobile device.

So the SIM card can only be traced once it inserted into a cell phone and it is within a network coverage area. But, in the case your cellphone got stolen, some phones and also network operator has the function that is called SIM lock. This SIM lock usually link a SIM card specifically with a mobile device. Once this mobile device got stolen together with the SIM card in it, the SIM card can be automatically be block by the network operator. This means that the person who stole it cannot use the phone unless he or she removes the SIM card out.

The network operator can also detect where the last location of your SIM card was activated before it is removed. Also, please be careful of what information you put into a SIM card. Any personal information can be hacked from a SIM card once it is stolen.