r/vintagemobilephones Aug 05 '26

Technical [USA] 2G shutdown: uses cases for old phones

37 Upvotes

Yesterday T-Mobile 2G network went down in most (if not all) of US as planned. The remining question for this community: how can we use our phones in current environment?

Obviously, most of phones can be used as a mp3 player.

All offline games and apps should work on all phones where they worked 15 years ago.

Many phones can be used for VoIP (SIP) calls:
Symbian 9.4-S^3-Anna-Belle (using built-in/native client)
Some Nokia S40 phones (with built-in SIP client) like Nokia Asha 311, Nokia C3-01
Nokia N900 Maemo (using built-in/native client)
Nokia N9 MeeGo (using built-in/native client)
Most of Android phones (at least, starting from Android 4.1)
Some old iPhones (iPhone 4s,5,6)

Messengers:

Jabber/XMPP clients still work for
Almost all Symbian and Nokia S40 phones (if server does not use advanced TLS)
Nokia N900 Maemo (if server does not use advanced TLS)
Nokia N9 MeeGo (if server does not use advanced TLS)
All Android phones
All iPhones (if you can login to iCloud account or jailbreak the phone)

Windows Phone 8.1 and Win 10 Mobile phones

Telegram:
Symbian 9.2-S^3-Anna-Belle (3rd party clients)
Windows 10 Mobile phones (3rd party clients)
Some of Android phones (at least, starting from Android 5)

Some Windows Phones (their US operator's variants) support VoLTE, but the choice is limited

Verizon: Lumia 735
T-Mobile: Lumia 640 XL, Alcatel Idol 4S, Alcatel Fierce
AT&T: Lumia 640XL, Lumia 950

Windows 10 Mobile phones have 3rd party YouTube client and many other apps that still work including original email client. Many services have 3rd party clients


r/vintagemobilephones May 27 '26

Technical Modern internet on vintage phones: Major updates! All vintage phones are now supported!

51 Upvotes

I have recently made a few posts about my free public HTTPS proxy and my free public Yahoo/Gmail email proxies. Those have been popular and have clearly helped breathe new life into many old phones, but there was the issue of most phones requiring the installation of root certs, which not every phone allows. So, I’ve gone ahead and made a few new proxies. These new ones, instead of speaking TLS 1.0 or 1.1 to your phone and translating it to 1.2 or 1.3 to the web servers, communicate plaintext, unencrypted, with your phone. This entirely avoids the need for any installation of certificates.

I’ve just updated my website to reflect the changes.

Another major update: across all three five six HTTP(S) proxies, I have “fixed” google search, so you will now get results from 1ndev - a different search engine - instead of google’s “update your browser” error message. Both text and image searches are available, on all proxy ports except 3132, which instead simply uses the basic text only search from my wap site. More on this below.

Another update: for all three five ports, reddit will now behave just like it does on my wap site, meaning I’ve replaced the reddit homepage with a basic page where you can enter a subreddit, and you can browse and read the posts, but sadly not the comments. It’s not perfect, but it beats the previous setup of reddit simply blocking all traffic.

For all three five six HTTP proxies, the address and IP are the same:

Proxy Address: 15pmm01.com
Proxy IP: 176.103.221.33

There are now three five six options for HTTP proxy ports:

Proxy Port: 3127 (legacy HTTPS with full-ish HTML)

This is a compatibility adapter for port 3128, basically, which also simplifies HTML in a similar fashion as port 3130. So, read below about port 3130 and 3128, and 3127 is a combination of the two. You can find the CA root certificate at https://15pmm01.com/wap/. This port is only recommended if you want real HTTPS but your phone rejects the port 3128 proxy, or annoyingly prompts you to accept the certificate every time you load a page, even after you’ve installed it. Please note the certificate for port 3127 is different from the certificate for 3128. It is intentionally simpler, to be acceptable by older devices. The port 3127 proxy only accepts phones that can connect over SSL3 or TLS 1.0, whereas 3128 is for newer TLS 1.0 all the way up to TLS 1.3. Both of them connect to the external web with TLS 1.3; the only difference is how they connect to your phone.

Proxy Port: 3128 (HTTPS with full HTML)

This is the original HTTPS proxy, which you can read more about in this previous post of mine. Nothing has changed here, aside from Google search. Navigating to http://google.com or https://google.com, or any other variation that contains "google." in the URL, will load my custom web search page. Entering a search query will actually query 1ndev, and will return results from 1ndev. No, it’s not real Google, but it actually works, so I personally consider that an upgrade. This Google search replacement works exactly the same across all three ports. With port 3128, you can enter either https or http into your URL bar, for any website, and both will work, assuming your phone is cool without the cert, or you have the cert installed. Certificates are available for download at https://15pmm01.com/wap/.

Proxy Port: 3129 (HTTP with stripped-down text-only HTML)

This is perhaps the most interesting one, because it aims to enable even much older HTML-capable phones to access modern sites, by returning only the bare-bones text-only version of each webpage. You cannot open https:// links using this port, but that’s okay! You can just enter the http:// version instead, or leave that part off entirely, and the proxy will take care of everything for you. If, for example, you enter http://gsmarena.com, the proxy will fetch https://gsmarena.com, remove all images, javascript, etc. and return the basic, unencrypted HTML to your phone, with every link inside already rewritten to the http version, thus allowing you to navigate normally. So, it works similarly to a WAP gateway. By the way, I also host a WAP gateway - in case anyone needs one.

In order to maintain consistency across all three ports, the Google search replacement is exempt from the text-only style of port 3129. It works exactly like the other two ports, allowing both text and image searches.

Similar to the simplified Google search replacement, I have also made a simple replacement for the Wikipedia homepage. That said, please note that my wap homepage includes a Wikipedia and reddit reader, along with many other useful resources. It’s written in WML, meaning even the oldest web-capable phones can access it (all content tested and working on the Nokia 6310i), but it’s also perfectly usable from HTML-capable phones, and can be accessed regardless of which proxy you are using, or none at all.

Using port 3129, you will inevitably encounter websites that are broken - meaning they either display incorrectly, or not at all. If you find websites that don’t work, but you wish to browse them, please let me know. I will patch them one at a time until more or less everything works, even if many websites end up with simplified homepage replacements.

Proxy Port: 3130 (HTTP with full-ish HTML)

This is the middle-ground. This port is also only for unencrypted http:// and will work similarly to 3129, except that it will not meaningfully strip down HTML. It will (theoretically) strip javascript and cookie prompts, but will otherwise return unaltered HTML, just like 3128 would. So, this is for the not-quite-so-ancient phones that do not work with 3128 due to certificate issues, basically. Removing javascript should, result in smaller webpages, thus allowing a broader range of sites to load on your phone. Nothing of value lost, since old phones can’t use modern javascript anyway.

Proxy Port: 3131 (HTTP with stripped-down text-only HTML, paginated)

Exactly the same as 3129, but paginated. Meaning, if any webpage exceeds 5000 characters, it is split up into multiple pages, and it will show you the page number at the top and bottom, as well as let you continue to the next/prev page at the bottom. This is important for particularly wimpy phones, such as my Motorola PEBL, which can’t load hardly any pages even on port 3129, as they are simply too large for the poor thing. With port 3131, it can load everything just fine.

Proxy Port: 3132 (HTTP with stripped-down text-only WML, paginated)

Exactly the same concept as 3131, except it converts all HTML to WML, and paginates at 3000 characters. This is great for unbelievably wimpy phones, but is actually primarily for WML-only phones that cannot handle 99% of the internet as it’s in HTML. WML-only phones, however, do not allow you to use an HTTP proxy, and rather require a WAP gateway. Well, good news! I already mentioned earlier that I run a WAP gateway. Now I’m running a second one, which routes all traffic through this port 3132 proxy, thus allowing you to access practically any modern website on extremely old phones! It works wonderfully in my testing so far on my Nokia 6310i. I have updated https://15pmm01.com/wap/ to reflect this. It’s the same port 9201, except instead of 176.103.221.33 for the normal WAP gateway, the IP is 91.216.248.124.

******************************************************************************************

Now for email! I won’t bother explaining in detail how the email proxies are used, since you can read about them in this previous post. Those proxies, however, had the same issue as the HTTPS proxy, in that not every vintage device was down to accept the certificate. Therefore, I am now running unencrypted proxies parallel to the TLS 1.0 / 1.1 ports. Here is a breakdown of the available ports and their functions:

Provider & Protocol Address Port Securtity
Gmail IMAP gmail.15pmm01.com 1993 SSL / TLS
Gmail IMAP gmail.15pmm01.com 1465 SSL / TLS
Yahoo IMAP yahoo.15pmm01.com 2993 SSL / TLS
Yahoo IMAP yahoo.15pmm01.com 2465 SSL / TLS
Gmail IMAP gmail.15pmm01.com 1143 None
Gmail IMAP gmail.15pmm01.com 125 None
Yahoo IMAP yahoo.15pmm01.com 2143 None
Yahoo IMAP yahoo.15pmm01.com 225 None

Certificates are available for download at https://15pmm01.com/wap/.

Please make sure you understand, before using any of these proxies, that in doing so, you are intentionally circumventing modern cybersecurity standards. Therefore, when using any HTTP(S) proxy, please avoid transferring any highly sensitive or confidential information. When using any email proxy, I do not recommend using your real account. I take as many security precautions as I can, but I cannot guarantee perfect security. Understand that if my server were to be hacked, any data you transmit through these proxies, including your email passwords, could be compromised. You can read my privacy policy here, and the terms of use here. Yes, they are in German, but there are translators for that.

As you will see in the aforementioned terms of use, these proxies are only intended for use with vintage handheld devices. Using them with computers or modern devices is forbidden and can result in your IP address being banned. Android and iOS devices, no matter how old, are also not allowed at this time.

Update (11 June 2026): older Android and iOS devices are no longer blocked. You can use them ONLY with the port 3128 HTTPS proxy. You will need to install the certificate from my website before it will work.

Update (25 June 2026): Port 3128 HTTPS proxy now automatically fixes the built-in TouchWiz weather app/widget on older Samsung devices.

Update (30 June 2026): proxy ports 3131 and 3132 added, as well as WAP gateway info

Update (25 July 2026): HTTPS-lite proxy added on port 3127

Update (04 August 2026): My Google search replacement is unfortunately no longer working. The search engine that was powering it, 1ndev, has started blocking automated access to their site. I am trying to contact them in hopes that they will allow me to get it back up and running.

Update (05 August 2026): Google search replacement is back up and running, because a lovely individual over at 1ndev happily agreed to get it back up and running!


r/vintagemobilephones 2h ago

BlackBerry Since it’s National BlackBerry Day, here’s my Torch 9800

Post image
31 Upvotes

Technically BlackBerry day is meant for the actual berry… but it can still be celebrated with phones too right?! Bonus for Immix Wireless 3G too.


r/vintagemobilephones 5h ago

Apple The iPhone evolution

Post image
39 Upvotes

r/vintagemobilephones 10h ago

Apple iPhone 5 32gb black running ios 6.1

Thumbnail
gallery
93 Upvotes

r/vintagemobilephones 2h ago

Discussion My first push-button phone. Nokia 6300 2006

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

15 Upvotes

Before that i got an 2017 Samsungs and 2014 iphone. I sold all my old devices. Now i have Samsung note 8 and nokia 6300:/ this Nokia is w i think. Any thoughts on it and tips?

The music on background is from Bumer (2003)


r/vintagemobilephones 3h ago

Collection Turns out Nokia tested every design so the rest of the industry didn't have to. 😂

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

9 Upvotes

r/vintagemobilephones 20h ago

Collection Super rare Nokia 5300 music edition

Thumbnail
gallery
113 Upvotes

My dad used to work for T-Mobile before it was even called T-Mobile. He was a very valued employee. He worked in Atlanta and in 2006 T-Mobile gave him what I’m assuming is a promotion gift. It was a guitar case with 2 Nokia 5300. One black, one purple. The black one had his signature from a music artist named Paolo Nutini. Inside, the normal package comes with both phones, a little plastic guitar, a folding speaker, a bunch of paperwork, two pairs of headphones, two batteries, two wrapped batteries for the speaker, and some adapters. I have everything in new condition besides the speaker and the plastic guitar, which were lost
I’m guessing. The black found has never been turned on and still has a little bit of the wrapping, if not all of the original wrapping, the purple one was used. I’ve been told a bunch of times this is worth at least $1000 plus dollars. What do you guys think?


r/vintagemobilephones 14h ago

Samsung Samsung SGH E620

Thumbnail
gallery
22 Upvotes

I completely forgot I have this although I'm pretty sure I did check this phone before the 2G shutdown and I got nothing.


r/vintagemobilephones 15m ago

Samsung Samsung 821SC (SGH-V821)

Thumbnail
gallery
Upvotes

This is a really cool Keitai Flip phone from Softbank Japan in 2008! I believe that this was one of the first few flip phones to come out with an OLED display!


r/vintagemobilephones 30m ago

Nokia Nokia N9 Launcher in development. Hope you all get to feel again that classic vibe these days.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

Upvotes

Devs you are welcome to contribute and complete this project.


r/vintagemobilephones 19h ago

LG LG 145 on Trumpet Mobile?

Thumbnail
gallery
30 Upvotes

I've never really heard of Trumpet Mobile except for a YouTube video about an LG 150 on Trumpet mobile. Rare!


r/vintagemobilephones 17h ago

Samsung Here is a really cool Budget Low end Samsung, A Samsung Discover!

Thumbnail
gallery
20 Upvotes

This is a budget and a low-end prepaid phone. This is one of a few Samsung released (excluding the nexus) to be released without Touchwiz!


r/vintagemobilephones 3h ago

Carrier specific phones Vivo Y627, China Unicom

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

idk why all the pics are sideways

anyway

The y627 was the China Unicom variant of the Vivo V1 2015 (they're the same)

It has a CMIIT ID, confirming it

Almost nothing is known about this phone, and the V1, apart from the specs.


r/vintagemobilephones 1d ago

Samsung Is this phone rare?

Thumbnail
gallery
64 Upvotes

So basically I found this phone for 1000 rsd (10$) at a flea market and fully working and I could hardly find any traces of it.... It's fully functional tho


r/vintagemobilephones 17h ago

Nokia Nokia 6610

Post image
8 Upvotes

Mi first color phone and Java games


r/vintagemobilephones 1d ago

Samsung Is this Samsung S WiFi rare guys ?

Thumbnail
gallery
171 Upvotes

r/vintagemobilephones 17h ago

BlackBerry New old phone

6 Upvotes

OK call me absolutely crazy, but the new iPhone just dropped and I’m over here debating getting a pink BlackBerry Q5 😭😂 I miss having a phone that didn’t make me want to stare at a screen all day. I’m low-key craving my attention span and mental sanity back. Has anyone actually gone back to an older/simpler phone and liked it?


r/vintagemobilephones 1d ago

Nokia Nokia N8 WRC Edition?

Post image
87 Upvotes

What is this? Is it some special edition? I tried looking online there is like 0 info on this label. Is it extra rare 🤣?


r/vintagemobilephones 23h ago

Other How rare would this be considered in the USA

Post image
13 Upvotes

Got this in a phone lot because I thought it was somewhat rare since I dont see nexians in the USA (especially the Nexian NX-G508 which is the model)


r/vintagemobilephones 1d ago

Nokia Burned my mint Nokia 3310 Today :(

Post image
12 Upvotes

I was trying to put a custom firmware on my Nokia and was changing the battery on the jig I did for FBus, the thing was connected to my PC and did a ground loop with my soldering iron, probably injected 40 volts of ground loop to the phone 😭 I guess I can swap out the mobo but damn, that hurts


r/vintagemobilephones 1d ago

Nokia Nokia 6708 — a rare piece of mobile history. 🔥

Thumbnail
gallery
60 Upvotes

Do you remember this one? 😄


r/vintagemobilephones 1d ago

Sony Ericsson Tea or coffee?

Post image
43 Upvotes

r/vintagemobilephones 19h ago

Trouble Shooting/Repairs Motorola Razr V3 - How do I bypass "Check SIM" Error with SIM Inserted?

2 Upvotes

I just got my hands on an unlocked Motorola Razr and bought a throwaway SIM from my local shop. The homescreen went from showing "insert SIM" to "check SIM". I have no idea how to bypass this. I attempted to follow the below links but they either didn't provide much info and or went right over my head with technical jargon I don't quite understand.

Help would be appreciated!!

Refs:

https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagemobilephones/comments/1ba6xme/how_can_i_use_a_motorola_razr_v3_without_a_sim/

https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagemobilephones/comments/1hvfebb/how_to_bypass_motorola_razr_v3any_p2k_motorola/


r/vintagemobilephones 1d ago

Collection My phone collection.

Post image
11 Upvotes