https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7710-changing-imei/8

A phone doesnt need a sim to connect to the network towers. Sim is only for billing. The network can see your imei and triangulate your location as long as your radio is on.

I have read this on https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7710-changing-imei/8, but I’m bit confused. Does this mean our IMEI is identified by cell tower as long as the airplane mode is off? What exact setting is “Radio” referring to?

thanks a lot

thanks @[email protected] and @[email protected]

Short answer: Yes The network can see your IMEI and triangulate your location even though no SIM is installed. and theoretically with airplane mode off no radio is on

  • 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.worldEnglish
    62·
    2 days ago

    Radio is referring to the proprietary piece of hardware that is in every cell phone that handles the physical portion of transmitting radio waves for wireless connectivity. This piece of hardware generally handles LTE/5G, wifi, and bluetooth.

    Your IMEI is the identifier that is burned into that hardware, which uniquely lets the carriers determine if your device can authenticate on their networks.

    You can turn off the radio by disabling your cellular network or turning on airplane mode on your phone. You will temporarily lose access to your cellular network until you turn it back on.

    Newer devices don’t require SIM cards to connect. They have eSIM cards that can be used. You still need one or the other to connect to a cellular network.