I originally bought the Best Buy insurance for $15/mo back when I originally bought the phone and I should have never done that now knowing that I can just buy the part I need, when it breaks and repair it myself.

But it was not a simple repair. My speakers went out. So my phone made no sound, including the phone ring.

etechparts.com was the only site that sold the speaker I could find. I got it overnighted to me for a total of $44. A new 3Gs would have cost me $500!

I followed their video and my speaker worked! Except now the microphone didn’t work. I eventually realized there was too much slack in the replacement part. When I pushed down on this slack it would disable the mic.

They overnighted a new part, and by 10am the next day I was back at it, removing all the tiny screws and connections probably for the 5th time. I put the new part in, and now my phone only showed a white screen …

After some more work, and my Home button going dead, coming back to life, and some modifications, I finally got it to work!

There was a loose connection so I had to put a little piece of rubber inside the phone so when the screen closed down it would smush down on this connection to make sure it would always stay connected, and now my mic worked!

So instead of paying $15/mo forever and having to wait 6-8 weeks for a repair, or paying $500 for a new one. In two days and $44 I fixed my phone. It was worth the frustrations.