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Hi guys I have one question that maybe was already asked here,so I am sorry if I am asking stupid questions.. Anyway, I want to give my galaxy s to my brother but we are not using the same network, and my phone is locked to my network. So how safe is phone unlocking ? what is the procedure for unlocking the phone and is it shortening phones' life? Also,my brother will be using it in another country...Thanks in advance!
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I've never had a problem unlocking a phone.
Just buy an unlock code online. Check eBay first.
After you have the unlock code, give the phone to your brother and when. He inserts his SIM card, he will be asked for an unlock code. Once he enters it, he can use the phone...
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Interesting, I thought it was much more complicated than that.. I am in Serbia now using Vip mobile, my brother will use it on Vodaphone Malta, you think that there would be no problems if I buy code from uk ebay? Is it than unlocked for every other network in the Europe? Thanks
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defenderko said:
Interesting, I thought it was much more complicated than that.. I am in Serbia now using Vip mobile, my brother will use it on Vodaphone Malta, you think that there would be no problems if I buy code from uk ebay? Is it than unlocked for every other network in the Europe? Thanks
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Just make sure that your brother's network is compatible. (AKA he uses a SIM card and that the network specs are compatible) and you should be fine...
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Ok,but how should I know if they are compatible? What should I check first?
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anyone know of any good stickies on flashing a Samsung s3, note, or any other new Samsung, or iphone. im curious which prepaid carrier is the best to flash to. and should I try to get a phone with a sim card? just looking for some ideas. thanks
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Are you implying that you currently have a phone on a postpaid plan, and you want to use it on a prepaid plan? What are you thinking of flashing?
well ill put it this way. my friend wants a nice phone on prepaid. doesn't care about cost. he has 2 phones now. one is on straight talk other is on T-Mobile..he wants a nice phone I was curious if anyone has done it and if anyone had any suggestions on what phone to use with what prepaid. like Sprint Verizon or AT&T iphone 4/5 on tmobile or straight talk. or a Sprint galaxy s3...he'll use just about any new-ish phone.
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I guess the 1st decision is what service he wants to go with. Phones are either CDMA or GSM, and not both, with few exceptions (like the new iPhones). So, if he gets a Verizon phone, he can't use it on T-Mobile or AT&T prepaid, and vice versa.
Since cost of the device is no issue, he just has to buy one that's factory unlocked (a.k.a., SIM unlocked).
apologies, I personally have an s3 through Sprint which Ive rooted along with numerous other phones just never did anything of this nature. so I should have him buy a phone that takes a SIM card we'll say and use either straight talk SIM card or tmobile? as an example.
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where would be the best place to buy factory unlocked phones? ebay? and obviously the easiest would be to go the SIM card route
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If the phone he has/gets is unlocked, he should have no problem swapping the SIM cards, and using the phone on either provider. If you want help mulling over specifics of what particular phone to buy, post it here. You'll get shut down if you start a thread asking what phone to buy.
pharmacist101 said:
where would be the best place to buy factory unlocked phones? ebay? and obviously the easiest would be to go the SIM card route
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"Best" is subjective. Some would say to buy it from the manufacturer, as then you would have warranty, return policy, & everything.
well I talked to him and he says he'd prefer to go the galaxy s2 or 3 route. would it be cheaper to buy a unlocked GSM s2? im just confused about the SIM ordeal and what carrier to go with, with what phone. I've tried changing MEID before on a epic to use it on straight talk, which it was CDMA but I couldn't get the MEID to write properly so that was a fail.
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Yeah, you don't have to deal with that stuff with GSM phones. That whole "flashing to another provider" thing is a CDMA issue. Basically, any unlocked GSM phone will work, with any GSM provider.
Another thing to consider, though, is 4G data speeds. AT&T (and their MVNOs) and T-Mobile (and their MVNOs) use different frequencies for the highest speed cellular data connections. For example, if you buy an AT&T phone and then unlock it, you won't get 4G data speed on Simple Mobile, since Simple Mobile is a T-Mobile reseller. Therefore, even when you've finally decided which phone to buy, you still need to decide which bands you want it to have, based primarily on which service provider you plaln to go with. One exception to this is the Galaxy Nexus HSPA+, which is pentaband, and can be used just about anywhere, at full speed.
nice. any suggestions for iphone? My apologies. just seems those appear to be the cheapest route via ebay for a gsm unlocked one.
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pharmacist101 said:
nice. any suggestions for iphone? My apologies. just seems those appear to be the cheapest route via ebay for a gsm unlocked one.
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I assume you live in Richmond VA. You probably have a choice between T-Mobile or AT&T 3G/4G. T-Mobile is far better than AT&T and the Monthly Prepaid stuff from T-Mobile isn't bad. I like the $30 plan personally.
MrObvious said:
I assume you live in Richmond VA. You probably have a choice between T-Mobile or AT&T 3G/4G. T-Mobile is far better than AT&T and the Monthly Prepaid stuff from T-Mobile isn't bad. I like the $30 plan personally.
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There's two 30$ plans (the one with 100min, unl texts and 5GB data and a 1500 min/texts and a small amount of data (30MB?? I forget))
You should be specific. The 5GB data one is only available online or at Wal-Mart.
The other one is available in T-Mobile stores.
Sent from somewhere....if I could only remember where....
Richmond Indiana, my apologies. I appreciate all of the suggestions. I can root phones and such no problem, very new to this prepaid & gsm(sim card) stuff, as I have had Sprint for 6 years lol
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so I can order a iphone 3g gsm unlocked for like $120 on eBay (or is there a better place to order them?) and it will work with a straight talk sim card? it's for a friend, im not a fan of either xD
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Yes it will.
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http://www.change.org/petitions/t-mobile-enact-common-sense-sim-unlock-policy#share
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Doesn't tmobile already sim unlock, and for free?
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Zzzzzzzz
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Once your phone is paid off they will unlock it if you're using EIP...if you purchased full price and have had your account over 40 days they will unlock it...don't see the need for a petition lol
Do these things really help?
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coupetastic-droid said:
Doesn't tmobile already sim unlock, and for free?
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They change their policy in April 2013. They are giving people that purchased at full price a headache to unlock their phones...
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ahernandez4110 said:
They change their policy in April 2013. They are giving people that purchased at full price a headache to unlock their phones...
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So is AT&T.
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droidiac13 said:
Do these things really help?
Sent from my HTC One running on Team Nocturnal Limited Edition. Have you been Nocturnal'd?
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Nope. But it makes people feel better and that seems to be what matters most...
MG
As long as you bought the phone outright you can unlock it. I just sim unlocked my at&t varient.
Online sim unlocking services...
I don't get it. I unlocked my SIM by paying some guy (I forgot his sellers is name) on EBay $3.50
Why is there a need for a petition?
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At the moment, in the USA, sim unlocking by anyone except the carrier is technically illegal. The exemption was removed. I think they are working on taking care of that though. On that same note T-Mobile should let you sim unlock if you ask. Remember you can always ask for a supervisor.
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shinji257 said:
At the moment, in the USA, sim unlocking by anyone except the carrier is technically illegal. The exemption was removed. I think they are working on taking care of that though. On that same note T-Mobile should let you sim unlock if you ask. Remember you can always ask for a supervisor.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
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It isn't technically illegal, it is just plain illegal.
stevedebi said:
It isn't technically illegal, it is just plain illegal.
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There already was a petition on the whitehouse site to remove that bit and they responded to it.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/its-time-legalize-cell-phone-unlocking
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Try typing your question in the thread, not as the thread topic...
If I was to order s att lte sim card and when they ask for a imei no. If I was to give them one from a regular att prepaid non smartphone could they tell that the phone wasnt a smartphone and if I could get by that if I got the prepaid $50 unlimited everything monthly you think that I could take that prepaid sim card and put it in a smartphone and get unlimited Lte data.Does anyone think this could possibly work. Thanks
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http://www.amazon.com/AT-T-Micro-SIM-Card/dp/B003YTSXYO
LostInMyHead said:
http://www.amazon.com/AT-T-Micro-SIM-Card/dp/B003YTSXYO
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Im actually wondering if my idea eould possibly work if it would I was going to put the att sim card in my unlocked tmobile Gs4.I kind of want to see if att's lte speeds are faster than tmobiles. Thanks
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Greg1964 said:
Im actually wondering if my idea eould possibly work if it would I was going to put the att sim card in my unlocked tmobile Gs4.I kind of want to see if att's lte speeds are faster than tmobiles. Thanks
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Well it's area dependent but my best is about 52 down, 21 up on AT&T
I heard if I go to att store that they will give me s free lte dim card. Is that correct I dont have to be an att customer? Thanks
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I went to att store to get a sim card for I can unlock my tmobile Gs4 and they wouldnt give me one or sell me one. I basically need a att sim card for I can unlock my tmobile Gs4.I can order one but thats kind of a pain.anybody have any suggestions. Thanks
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rp56 said:
I went to att store to get a sim card for I can unlock my tmobile Gs4 and they wouldnt give me one or sell me one. I basically need a att sim card for I can unlock my tmobile Gs4.I can order one but thats kind of a pain.anybody have any suggestions. Thanks
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I have a dead TMO & ATT SIM you can have, PM me...
I bought two At&t Note 3s yesterday. One for me and one for a friend. I'm on At&t and my friend is on MetroPCS. I called At&t for an unlock and they couldnt get me a code, even though one was paid in full price and "qualified" to get unlocked according to them. So this is how I got the phones unlocked.
Reminder: I'm not responsible for any damage you may do to your phone. Proceed at your own risk!
Root is Required!
1. To root your At&t Note 3 follow this guide (Thank You designgears!)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2474422
2. You will need to allow unknown sources to be installed.
Settings>General>Security>Unknown Sources (Make sure its checked)
3. Install Chainfire's RegionLock Away App from Google Play Store (and buy him a beer :highfive or download it from here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2470551
4. Tap "Region Unlock" in the app
5. Let it do its thing
6. Choose Reboot Later (Thats what I did at least)
7. Turn off the phone and try a non-At&t sim card.
I tried my old T-mobile sim in mine and it pulled up, and we just got back from the MetroPCS store and have his running on that.
tyiphius said:
I bought two At&t Note 3s yesterday. One for me and one for a friend. I'm on At&t and my friend is on MetroPCS. I called At&t for an unlock and they couldnt get me a code, even though one was paid in full price and "qualified" to get unlocked according to them. So this is how I got the phones unlocked.
Reminder: I'm not responsible for any damage you may do to your phone. Proceed at your own risk!
Root is Required!
1. To root your At&t Note 3 follow this guide (Thank You designgears!)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2474422
2. You will need to allow unknown sources to be installed.
Settings>General>Security>Unknown Sources (Make sure its checked)
3. Install Chainfire's RegionLock Away App from Google Play Store (and buy him a beer :highfive or download it from here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2470551
4. Tap "Region Unlock" in the app
5. Let it do its thing
6. Choose Reboot Later (Thats what I did at least)
7. Turn off the phone and try a non-At&t sim card.
I tried my old T-mobile sim in mine and it pulled up, and we just got back from the MetroPCS store and have his running on that.
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Wow thanks it work never thought it would work like magic
I can confirm that this worked to unlock mine. I tried a T-Mobile SIM and was able to make a call. Thanks.
munnarg said:
I can confirm that this worked to unlock mine. I tried a T-Mobile SIM and was able to make a call. Thanks.
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Thanks for sharing.. Is this permanent unlock?
coskevin said:
Thanks for sharing.. Is this permanent unlock?
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Yes. I've soft bricked my phone, reflashed, stuck in my T mobile sim card without running the app and it pulled up the network.
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tyiphius said:
Yes. I've soft bricked my phone, reflashed, stuck in my T mobile sim card without running the app and it pulled up the network.
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This works! I wonder if this affect the LTE because I think it modifies the modem. Have you notice a difference?
tyiphius said:
Yes. I've soft bricked my phone, reflashed, stuck in my T mobile sim card without running the app and it pulled up the network.
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Same question.
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I have an unlocked note 3 simply I went into the AT&T store where I live and said unlock it or I won't buy it and bam they did it. I have a simple pay as you go T-Mobile card popped it in, input the code and unlocked I was. I had to buy the phone outright so was costly but not at all risky. LTE showed up just fine on the T-Mobile network.
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coskevin said:
This works! I wonder if this affect the LTE because I think it modifies the modem. Have you notice a difference?
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slidesear said:
Same question.
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I havent noticed a difference. Everything is still fast for me.
Whoflungdu said:
I have an unlocked note 3 simply I went into the AT&T store where I live and said unlock it or I won't buy it and bam they did it. I have a simple pay as you go T-Mobile card popped it in, input the code and unlocked I was. I had to buy the phone outright so was costly but not at all risky. LTE showed up just fine on the T-Mobile network.
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You lucky mother fu
I asked at&t here about that since i bought one full price and they said, to call customer service. So did the next day and they "couldnt" give me the network code. I honestly dont care about an unlock as I'm on At&t.
The only difference is that you're phone wont be region unlocked. Sim unlock and region unlock are different.
Did you buy your phone full price/off contract?
tyiphius said:
You lucky mother fu
I asked at&t here about that since i bought one full price and they said, to call customer service. So did the next day and they "couldnt" give me the network code. I honestly dont care about an unlock as I'm on At&t.
The only difference is that you're phone wont be region unlocked. Sim unlock and region unlock are different.
Did you buy your phone full price/off contract?
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Yeah I did buy it full price out of contract. As for the region unlock luckily we still have Chainfires method for that fix.
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Whoflungdu said:
Yeah I did buy it full price out of contract. As for the region unlock luckily we still have Chainfires method for that fix.
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Thats kinda of upsetting. I walked into the store and told them I wanted one full price and they were like "There's no 'full price', its just at&t next and you pay it off all at once if you want". I went online and showed them the option to do full price OR next, and they said they couldn't sell full price in the store. Didn't understand that because my s3 and note 3 were both full price at the store, Plus I've found deals with coupons online and they've matched it before! I hate when I go somewhere and I know more than the person working with me (I think he was just trying to get more commission off me.IDK). : They made me wait longer for the phone than I should've too. Guess my store here just sucks :rolleyes
Kudos to you. Wish that would've happened to me!
tyiphius said:
Thats kinda of upsetting. I walked into the store and told them I wanted one full price and they were like "There's no 'full price', its just at&t next and you pay it off all at once if you want". I went online and showed them the option to do full price OR next, and they said they couldn't sell full price in the store. Didn't understand that because my s3 and note 3 were both full price at the store, Plus I've found deals with coupons online and they've matched it before! I hate when I go somewhere and I know more than the person working with me (I think he was just trying to get more commission off me.IDK). : They made me wait longer for the phone than I should've too. Guess my store here just sucks :rolleyes
Kudos to you. Wish that would've happened to me!
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I had herd a lot of horror stories like this before I went it but I knew my facts as it seems you do too. An I was just very blunt and studdorn, but also polite. I explained I travel to Europe all the time since I am English and I refuse to pay international rates. An I guess I got the 1 guy in all AT&T that was willing to go to bat for me.
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Whoflungdu said:
I had herd a lot of horror stories like this before I went it but I knew my facts as it seems you do too. An I was just very blunt and studdorn, but also polite. I explained I travel to Europe all the time since I am English and I refuse to pay international rates. An I guess I got the 1 guy in all AT&T that was willing to go to bat for me.
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Me too. Going back to London next month, I shall see if the my N900T works there with a local sim card. Any recommendations on what sim to get when out there?
Limeybastard said:
Me too. Going back to London next month, I shall see if the my N900T works there with a local sim card. Any recommendations on what sim to get when out there?
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EE is the largest provider in England but there are also Vodafone, 3, and someone else.
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Whoflungdu said:
EE is the largest provider in England but there are also Vodafone, 3, and someone else.
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Wasn't EE orange and t mobile joining? I have to verify the lte band support they offer and chose one based on what my unit is compatible with. There is O2 also.
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Limeybastard said:
Wasn't EE orange and t mobile joining? I have to verify the lte band support they offer and chose one based on what my unit is compatible with. There is O2 also.
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That's exactly right yeah so you will probably have your best chance with them since your using a T-Mobile device here.
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Whoflungdu said:
That's exactly right yeah so you will probably have your best chance with them since your using a T-Mobile device here.
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I'm thinking Band 7 2600 , according to Wikipedia both EE and Vodaphone support it.
I'm on ATT on a t mobile device.
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Limeybastard said:
I'm thinking Band 7 2600 , according to Wikipedia both EE and Vodaphone support it.
I'm on ATT on a t mobile device.
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I would say go with EE first cause I have herd mixed results from my mates that are on Vodafone.
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Whoflungdu said:
I would say go with EE first cause I have herd mixed results from my mates that are on Vodafone.
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Okay will do thanks. Going to research sim card prices.
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Limeybastard said:
Okay will do thanks. Going to research sim card prices.
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They should cost more than £1 at most if your just after a crap pay as you go. Its up to you what you put on the account.
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