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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 157948 times)

Offline pixi

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #500 on: November 14, 2016, 05:19:11 PM »
Neither does Verizon. They both use CDMA. If you call up Sprint to unlock it they will give you the MSL code, which you could try to see if Verizon could unlock it. Otherwise there's supposed to be a way to do that by changing the SPC code....
I called sprint to activate  my unlocked verizon galaxy 7 and they said there is no way they can do it.
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Offline Live N Learn

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #501 on: November 14, 2016, 09:36:18 PM »
I called sprint to activate  my unlocked verizon galaxy 7 and they said there is no way they can do it.

I was referring to a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3.
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Offline grodnoking

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #502 on: November 19, 2016, 11:42:02 PM »
Is it possible to unlock a straight talk iPhone 5s for at&t or T-Mobile?
« Last Edit: November 20, 2016, 01:23:52 AM by grodnoking »
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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #503 on: November 20, 2016, 04:29:32 PM »
Neither does Verizon. They both use CDMA. If you call up Sprint to unlock it they will give you the MSL code, which you could try to see if Verizon could unlock it. Otherwise there's supposed to be a way to do that by changing the SPC code....
Sprint gave me the MLS number to give to Verizon to unlock a Galaxy S4. Verizon tells me that they don't have a place to enter it.

Is there a way to unlock if I have the MLS # and press the famous ##3282#, can it be done there? ( I put in my Verizon sim but it's not activating)

Offline Live N Learn

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #504 on: November 20, 2016, 05:06:28 PM »
Sprint gave me the MLS number to give to Verizon to unlock a Galaxy S4. Verizon tells me that they don't have a place to enter it.

Is there a way to unlock if I have the MLS # and press the famous ##3282#, can it be done there? ( I put in my Verizon sim but it's not activating)

Never tried it, but you could try this.
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Offline Zalc

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #505 on: November 20, 2016, 05:32:48 PM »
Bought a used Sprint Galaxy S6, switching to T-Mobile now.

Sprint won't unlock the phone as the original owner didn't finish paying...

Do you need to root to unlock?

All the services on eBay say they want to Root it for the GSM unlock, but I'd rather not.

Offline David Smith

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #506 on: November 20, 2016, 05:37:25 PM »
Bought a used Sprint Galaxy S6, switching to T-Mobile now.

Sprint won't unlock the phone as the original owner didn't finish paying...

Do you need to root to unlock?

All the services on eBay say they want to Root it for the GSM unlock, but I'd rather not.
Sprint S6 unlock is an Exynos exploit, iinm. You can run it too.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
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Offline Zalc

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #507 on: November 20, 2016, 09:55:50 PM »
Sprint S6 unlock is an Exynos exploit, iinm. You can run it too.
Where do I look?

Thanks!

Offline Eliyohu

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #508 on: November 20, 2016, 11:17:12 PM »
Sprint gave me the MLS number to give to Verizon to unlock a Galaxy S4. Verizon tells me that they don't have a place to enter it.

Is there a way to unlock if I have the MLS # and press the famous ##3282#, can it be done there? ( I put in my Verizon sim but it's not activating)
MLS code is useless! It seems that until the s6 sprint isn't up to date with the FCC regulations and by giving you the MLS although useless they're somehow complying. From the research I did it seems there's a physical piece of hardware in sprint phones (smart chip?) That would have to be removed and replaced. The one way to get around it is by flashing the phone, but couldn't find any info on how it's done.

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #509 on: November 21, 2016, 07:42:26 AM »

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #510 on: November 21, 2016, 11:08:55 AM »
 
MLS code is useless! It seems that until the s6 sprint isn't up to date with the FCC regulations and by giving you the MLS although useless they're somehow complying. From the research I did it seems there's a physical piece of hardware in sprint phones (smart chip?) That would have to be removed and replaced. The one way to get around it is by flashing the phone, but couldn't find any info on how it's done.

Found a few simple videos online. But it seems like my phone doesn't have the that option.

My phone


No 3 options

And all the other videos

Offline myi

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #511 on: May 12, 2017, 05:41:50 PM »
If I have a T-mobile unlocked phone can one use it for sprint?
 Or cdma and GSM won't work with another carrier. I know verizon can be used on T-mobile but curios to know about and unlocked T-mobile to use for sprint! Thanks 
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Offline Live N Learn

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #512 on: May 12, 2017, 06:06:57 PM »
If I have a T-mobile unlocked phone can one use it for sprint?
 Or cdma and GSM won't work with another carrier. I know verizon can be used on T-mobile but curios to know about and unlocked T-mobile to use for sprint! Thanks

No. For Sprint you need a Sprint phone.
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Offline myi

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #513 on: May 12, 2017, 06:15:30 PM »
No. For Sprint you need a Sprint phone.
Perfect.. thanks for that info.
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Offline cozmohoot

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #514 on: May 12, 2017, 06:53:12 PM »
If I have a T-mobile unlocked phone can one use it for sprint?
 Or cdma and GSM won't work with another carrier. I know verizon can be used on T-mobile but curios to know about and unlocked T-mobile to use for sprint! Thanks
What phone? Some phones are capable

Offline myi

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #515 on: May 12, 2017, 06:59:11 PM »
What phone? Some phones are capable
Samsung S7 edge. T-mobile unlocked.
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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #516 on: May 14, 2017, 10:40:01 AM »
Samsung S7 edge. T-mobile unlocked.
That won't work

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #517 on: May 14, 2017, 11:36:30 AM »
That won't work
Thanks.. curios to know what specific phone would work? 
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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #518 on: May 16, 2017, 11:37:55 AM »
Thanks.. curios to know what specific phone would work?
Some iPhones and nexus or moto androids

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #519 on: June 13, 2017, 05:05:09 PM »
If I have a T-mobile unlocked phone can one use it for sprint?
 Or cdma and GSM won't work with another carrier. I know verizon can be used on T-mobile but curios to know about and unlocked T-mobile to use for sprint! Thanks

You could check here.
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