Avoiding connecting to wifi with new Kindle

[DanielSt]

Hi All,

I have been fortunate to find a never-used Kindle 7th Generation (Basic, I assume) in a sealed new box offered on ebay. I have a recollection that when you turn on a Kindle for the first time, it asks you to connect to the internet and register your Kindle. I absolutely want to avoid ever connecting the Kindle to the internet in order to avoid updates. Will it be possible to bypass the connect-to-the-internet prompt (again, if I am remembering correctly) and use the Kindle without ever connecting it to the internet?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[j.p.s]

It is usually possible to skip wifi connection during setup, but they have been making it harder.

I'm sure others will jump in with the disadvantages of not registering and the advantages of registering.

If avoiding updates is your main goal, there are some options.

It might be that you can jailbreak. The box should have the serial number, which can be used with the information in the thread
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=338766
to determine manufacture data and precice model. Then a good guess can be made whether a jailbreak can be done.

With jailbreak, updates can be blocked and it is possible to "fake register".

As a last resort, updates can be blocked on any kindle by reducing free space to less than 200 megabytes.

[Sirtel]

If it's been lying in that sealed box from the time it was released, the battery might well be dead.

[DanielSt]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

If it's been lying in that sealed box from the time it was released, the battery might well be dead.

Thank you for alerting me to this possibility. If this is the case, can it be replaced with a new battery?

[DanielSt]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

It is usually possible to skip wifi connection during setup, but they have been making it harder.

I'm sure others will jump in with the disadvantages of not registering and the advantages of registering.

If avoiding updates is your main goal, there are some options.

It might be that you can jailbreak. The box should have the serial number, which can be used with the information in the thread
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=338766
to determine manufacture data and precice model. Then a good guess can be made whether a jailbreak can be done.

With jailbreak, updates can be blocked and it is possible to "fake register".

As a last resort, updates can be blocked on any kindle by reducing free space to less than 200 megabytes.

Thank you for this helpful reply (particularly the clever solution of reducing the free space!). This is a Kindle dating to around 2013 or 2014, I believe. I hope it will be possible to skip wifi connection during setup?

I'd rather avoid trying to do jailbreaks. I attempted this once before and it took a great deal of time and energy, and ultimately did not work.

Thanks again!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DanielSt

Thank you for alerting me to this possibility. If this is the case, can it be replaced with a new battery?

I guess so. There seem to be some Youtube videos floating around on this topic - google kindle basic 7th replace battery.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by DanielSt

Thank you for this helpful reply (particularly the clever solution of reducing the free space!). This is a Kindle dating to around 2013 or 2014, I believe. I hope it will be possible to skip wifi connection during setup?

It should be pretty easy, but maybe not obvious. However that old might even have an explicit skip option.

Once you are registered you can just always leave it in airplane mode. But be forewarned that there have been numerous posts over the years along the lines of "I accidentally enabled wifi and my kindle updated".

Regarding the battery, whether it was made near the beginning or end might make a difference.

[DanielSt]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I guess so. There seem to be some Youtube videos floating around on this topic - google kindle basic 7th replace battery.

Thank you!

[DanielSt]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

It should be pretty easy, but maybe not obvious. However that old might even have an explicit skip option.

Once you are registered you can just always leave it in airplane mode. But be forewarned that there have been numerous posts over the years along the lines of "I accidentally enabled wifi and my kindle updated".

Regarding the battery, whether it was made near the beginning or end might make a difference.

Thanks for this. Yes, I will be setting it to airplane mode the moment I turn it on!

Thanks again!