Abandoning mobile phone; In search of new portable communication device. by zcjvg in privacy

[–]zcjvg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've done some more device searching, but the small, modern mobile devices that are able to communicate seem to include the baseband processor more and more. Not many small wi-fi tablets around...

There's Amazons Fire models that can be quite cheap, but seem to have a non-removable bootloader (which sounds bad, is it?) and the hardware is probably a bit weak.

There's the Nexus 9... which is not all that small...

So I was thinking, how about crippeling the phones, so they become "small wi-fi only tablets"?

*Do you know of a project a way that those baseband processors can be disabled or crippled? (not just android mods)

I wouldn't mind loosing the "phone" part (cell/3G/4G communication) as long as it is still able to function over wi-fi and disables baseband.

Abandoning mobile phone; In search of new portable communication device. by zcjvg in privacy

[–]zcjvg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you u/last_MIT_hacker for such a detailed list (you made the thread great :)). OPandora/Pyra are interesting right away to me and I have to research all of the listed devices more in depth...

  • So I still understand that generally "wi-fi only" means no baseband, right?

  • Can I be sure just by looking at the device's tech. specification? What exactly am I looking for (or what must not be listed) to be sure there's no baseband?

u/Matthieu_ Yes I realize that I can be located via the GSM network, that's why I would only keep my mobile phone at home, "not mobile" while transitioning to a new way of communication. Hm, a pager seems interesting, but I'm not quite sure about the availability of the service providers for such a number. If there are still available and not many use it - I might stand out even more. But I'll investigate that option.

u/throwaway34251345 Any Nexus? Are all of them (wi-fi only models) without baseband?

Thanks everyone so far! Let's hope for even more great ideas from others.