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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 157956 times)

Offline AnonymousUser

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #300 on: April 03, 2016, 07:44:12 PM »
I have a verizon Moto X 1st gen. that currently has (pre-paid) page plus service. How can i use it in Israel? How do i unlock it?
All Verizon LTE devices should come unlocked.

Offline elikay

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #301 on: May 03, 2016, 02:31:13 AM »
All Verizon LTE devices should come unlocked.
S3 mini is not

Offline sammy n

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #302 on: May 03, 2016, 03:57:18 AM »
S3 mini is not
He's talking about more current phones.

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #303 on: May 03, 2016, 07:59:56 AM »
Money talks...mine says goodbye!

Offline bk73

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #304 on: May 03, 2016, 09:17:41 PM »
Hi,
Im not familiar with smart phone unlocking switching service etc...
I have a samsung s4 from sprint and I would like to use it on my regular verizon plan . Is this possible and how do i go about doing it ?
Thanks in advance

Offline elikay

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #305 on: May 03, 2016, 09:36:07 PM »

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #306 on: May 04, 2016, 03:27:32 AM »
Hi,
Im not familiar with smart phone unlocking switching service etc...
I have a samsung s4 from sprint and I would like to use it on my regular verizon plan . Is this possible and how do i go about doing it ?
Thanks in advance
No there is no way to do that
Money talks...mine says goodbye!

Offline Luvisrael

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #307 on: May 04, 2016, 08:55:48 AM »
Hi, I have a tmobile BlackBerry which, tmobile provided the unlock code. I tried insuccesfully three times with new codes, but it didn't work. Any suggestions?

Offline Luvisrael

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #308 on: May 04, 2016, 09:12:50 AM »
Hi, I have a tmobile BlackBerry which, tmobile provided the unlock code. I tried insuccesfully three times with new codes, but it didn't work. Any suggestions?

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #309 on: May 04, 2016, 12:37:01 PM »
Hi, I have a tmobile BlackBerry which, tmobile provided the unlock code. I tried insuccesfully three times with new codes, but it didn't work. Any suggestions?
Which BB?
Money talks...mine says goodbye!

Offline Luvisrael

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #310 on: May 04, 2016, 01:44:07 PM »
Hi, I have a tmobile BlackBerry which, tmobile provided the unlock code. I tried insuccesfully three times with new codes, but it didn't work. Any suggestions?
Curve

Offline Luvisrael

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #311 on: May 04, 2016, 01:44:43 PM »

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #312 on: May 04, 2016, 05:04:21 PM »
curve
Nope you have to get it from them or pay for it
Money talks...mine says goodbye!

Offline Luvisrael

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #313 on: May 04, 2016, 05:35:15 PM »
Nope you have to get it from them or pay for it
I go tit directly from them. It simply didnt work

Offline ae123

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #314 on: May 08, 2016, 03:14:16 PM »
I have an LG Optimus S from a Sprint contract.

I'd like to use it with Cricket (which I believe uses AT&T towers).

Cricket says I can't use this phone with them.

Is there any way I can?

P.S. I'm quite the novice in this topic so please help out. :)

Thanks.

Offline cozmohoot

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #315 on: May 08, 2016, 10:35:28 PM »
I have an LG Optimus S from a Sprint contract.

I'd like to use it with Cricket (which I believe uses AT&T towers).

Cricket says I can't use this phone with them.

Is there any way I can?

P.S. I'm quite the novice in this topic so please help out. :)

Thanks.
That is a 6 year old phone. It doesn't have the gsm frequencies so it won't work on cricket.
Buy a cheap att or go phone and it will work on cricket

Offline ae123

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #316 on: May 09, 2016, 10:33:51 AM »
That is a 6 year old phone. It doesn't have the gsm frequencies so it won't work on cricket.
Buy a cheap att or go phone and it will work on cricket

Thank you.

Would a Samsung Galaxy S3 from either Total Wireless (uses Verizon) or Boost Mobile (uses Sprint) be able to be used with Cricket?

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #317 on: May 09, 2016, 12:42:11 PM »
Thank you.

Would a Samsung Galaxy S3 from either Total Wireless (uses Verizon) or Boost Mobile (uses Sprint) be able to be used with Cricket?
Only the verizon S3 but you will not have fast data
Money talks...mine says goodbye!

Offline ae123

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #318 on: May 09, 2016, 01:50:17 PM »
Only the verizon S3 but you will not have fast data

For the novice that I am, could you please explain why only the Verizon phone and why not fast data?

Thank you.

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #319 on: May 09, 2016, 01:54:39 PM »
For the novice that I am, could you please explain why only the Verizon phone and why not fast data?

Thank you.
You will only have 2g (today we have 3g and 4g) so you data will be slow
Money talks...mine says goodbye!