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I think there is a big misunderstanding what locked/unlocked means.

All phones that are made are always assigned to a carrier (yes even the ones that say "Factory GSM Unlocked") to prove that just look up the model of the phone and you will see what carrier it was assigned to.

In order for a phone to have service the company has to know that you want service on this phone.

In the past company's like Sprint and Verizon did not work with a sim card they worked with the id of the phone to recognize what kind of phone / what carrier it was assigned to. This is know as CDMA. Yet company's like att/t-mobile did that too but the service was applied by using a sim.

Once LTE came out for what ever reason all company switched to the "Sim technology". There is still one thing that did not change, each carrier has their assigned bands that they have from the FCC that they are allowed to use.

Being that there are standard bands that every one uses (for international or the like) these are included in every phone. So.... All verizon phones will work on att, BUT will only have the bands for slower internet since those are standard bands.

Now verizon's LTE band is NOT a standard nor is their CDMA a standard so an att or a t-mobile phone will NOT be able to accept a Verizon sim.

Now lets go to sprint phones,

All other company's when they had the phones made for them all they do is have it customized for its own use (Read: their own LTE bands). Sprint on the other hand not only did they have them customize it they put a lock in the software blocking all local USA bands (Verizon ATT and Tmobile).

They even go a step farther and they still do the old way of checking the device ID to see if its a sprint phone or not.

Hope this explains a few things feel free to ask any questions.

Att has an easy way to ask for an unlock https://att.com/deviceunlock

How to check a Sprint iPhone (only): You cannot check it with an american sim you must put in a foreign sim. You DO NOT have to backup and restore as sprint sends in the email! Connect to wifi before starting this procedure.

When you put the sim in one of 3 things will happen.
1. It will say no service in the top right corner = Unlocked
2. It will do a soft restart and ask you for your apple id password = Almost unlocked, after putting in the password its unlocked
3. It will do a soft restart and say "Sim not valid" = Phone is locked

If you got number 2. and you dont know the password just put in your old sim and all will return. When you find out the password repeat the steps.

Willmyphonework.net Can check if the phone will work
« Last edited by yakov116 on June 29, 2016, 01:34:42 PM »

Author Topic: cell phone unlocking  (Read 157879 times)

Offline Cheap dude

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cell phone unlocking
« on: February 06, 2010, 08:45:30 PM »
i want to unlock Sanyo Katana II any know how?

Offline Dan

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2010, 10:25:06 PM »
It's a Sprint CDMA phone, what company do you want to use it on?
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2010, 12:51:22 AM »
Its kajdoo or something like that.
Prepaid

Offline Dan

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2010, 02:17:01 AM »
And what provider do you want to use it on?
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2010, 02:55:10 AM »
I wanna sell it as unlocked.

Offline Dan

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2010, 03:16:48 AM »
You can't really unlock a CDMA phone.
With Sprint for example if it doesn't say Sprint on it they won't activate it.  No SIM card to use as a workaround.

There is an MSL code on all CDMA phones that you are given when you activate the phone...won't do you much good though AFAIK.
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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2010, 04:32:42 AM »
There are ways to unlock sprint phones for boost mobile. I think it depends on the state (boot mobile in some states uses a sim card like technology, but in others it uses  partly on cdma   in those states you can you unlock the sprint phones for use with boost mobile) all this is avail just google it

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2010, 09:41:33 AM »
the number, that is is supposedly unchangeable by CDMA is the equivalent of the imei number by GSM phones.

Although it is at a  hardware level, it can be forced.

Only a fraction of people who can unlock cells can do this.

The purpose of changing those serials are usually shady....

By cdma, if I change my number to yours, I can call on your account, or by gsms, if phones with certain serials have been reported  stolen, they will be banned from the operators, but by changing the serial, you will be able to keep on using the phone.

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2010, 09:44:25 AM »
If you are interested you can look on http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=analysis&sub=imeinr (for gsm phones=ones with sim card), and by typing *#06# on your handset, you will receive your serial number, which you can give in on site provided.

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2010, 05:26:58 PM »
I have a sprint phone with a locked esn if I get it unlocked will it work with verizon?

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #10 on: February 07, 2010, 11:28:24 PM »
I have a sprint phone with a locked esn if I get it unlocked will it work with verizon?
You can get the MSL online by switching phones back and forth.
Whether you can find a rep willing to activate on VZW is another story.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline yeshivaman

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2010, 11:56:15 PM »
& where can I find out how to unlock an iphone to be used in israel?
i wish i knew what i was doing...

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2010, 04:35:03 AM »
& where can I find out how to unlock an iphone to be used in israel?
buy an unlocked one

Offline yeshivaman

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2010, 08:07:57 AM »
how much do they cost?
i wish i knew what i was doing...

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2010, 08:09:13 AM »
& where can I find out how to unlock an iphone to be used in israel?

If they are unlocked (properly), then you are fine. There is no unlocked for europe, but not israel, etc

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #15 on: February 08, 2010, 09:05:31 AM »
whats the going rate for such a phone?

i wish i knew what i was doing...

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #16 on: February 08, 2010, 09:57:29 AM »
Not sure about the going rate, but as with every cellphone be very careful that it has a clean source.

They are very easily traceable (see hints in previous posts), and followed up even more than weed.

Buy only with an invoice (the invoice MUST have the serial number which MATCHES the one of the phone [remove the battery to see it, or type *#06#])

Offline phones2

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #17 on: February 08, 2010, 04:20:53 PM »
whats the going rate for such a phone?


VERY EXPENSIVE ABOUT $800 FOR 32GB 3GS

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #18 on: February 08, 2010, 08:00:50 PM »
i was told if you open an iphone plan w at&t and you cancel it it comes out very cheap

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #19 on: February 08, 2010, 08:22:40 PM »
i was told if you open an iphone plan w at&t and you cancel it it comes out very cheap
yep thats true. if you can get then to cancel within the first month without having to give back the phone. most of the time they wont allow you to do that. there are  to get around this. be resourceful. if you wait till the second month its gonna cost you a month of service with taxes (i think its about $80 on the cheapest plan) plus $170 to cancel i think you also pay activation fee. you gotta compare that with the online prices and include the risk/hassle factor!
analyze, judge,conclude, keep us posted.