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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 157848 times)

Offline shulemw

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #560 on: September 14, 2017, 03:51:32 PM »
I bought a unlocked galaxy S6 that was supposed to work on verizon TMobile
I set up TMobile access access point name and web is working perfect
but talk doesn't work comes up error "sim card is not from verizon"
any help?

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #561 on: September 14, 2017, 04:08:41 PM »
I bought a unlocked galaxy S6 that was supposed to work on verizon TMobile
I set up TMobile access access point name and web is working perfect
but talk doesn't work comes up error "sim card is not from verizon"
any help?
Does it work? It will always say that
Money talks...mine says goodbye!

Offline shulemw

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #562 on: September 14, 2017, 09:23:58 PM »
it works but calls not. all else works

Offline Myccrabbi

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #563 on: September 20, 2017, 11:32:40 AM »
First of all all iphones for verizon since the Iphone 5 CANNOT be activated using CDMA. Actually any phone that can use LTE (a sim in verizons case) will only activate using LTE.
I don't know how many phones you have activated but i am over 500 by now.

That being said, there are standard bands that are used on LTE, if the iPhone (we not talking about android) was made specifically for at&t then it should work on some LTE bands of verizon. They will NOT work if there is only CDMA.
If it was bought directly from apple it should work on all networks (except for sprint) without any issues.

As I said before this whole game it just about over as ALL the new phones are made will all the band's. So they will be able to go from one to the next.

There are some older android phones that will do this too. For example the nexus phones.
I hear but either way it will not work on sprint.
If u work for a living, why kill urself working?

Offline yakov116

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #564 on: September 23, 2017, 04:18:25 PM »
I hear but either way it will not work on sprint.
!?! Explain
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Offline Myccrabbi

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #565 on: September 23, 2017, 08:54:41 PM »
!?! Explain
You said you only know of a exception with Verizon on SOME bands, so I take it it that sprint is NOT guaranteed on any bands.

Either way I think @Sam wanted to know if his at&t IPhone can be unlocked and used regularly on sprint and the answer afaik is no, even if you will find some types of bands it is not guaranteed to work properly
If u work for a living, why kill urself working?

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #566 on: October 03, 2017, 02:38:45 PM »
I'm trying to unlock a Galaxy Express 3 At&t 4G LTE SM-J120A.

I tried with the att.com/unlock site but they're asking for a pin

Please help!

Offline DanH

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #567 on: October 09, 2017, 02:39:34 PM »
I'm trying to unlock a Galaxy Express 3 At&t 4G LTE SM-J120A.

I tried with the att.com/unlock site but they're asking for a pin

Please help!
I've used this guy once, worked great:

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Offline Thingywingy

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #568 on: March 06, 2018, 12:12:48 AM »
Helping Canadian friend who wants a Samsung Gravity SGH-T379. They sell in the US as T-Mobile phones. Do you know if I need it to be unlocked to use on a Canadian GSM carrier (Chatr)?
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline myi

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #569 on: March 06, 2018, 06:15:37 PM »
Helping Canadian friend who wants a Samsung Gravity SGH-T379. They sell in the US as T-Mobile phones. Do you know if I need it to be unlocked to use on a Canadian GSM carrier (Chatr)?
I have one here in Israel which I needed unlocked to use on hot mobile, and have used a locked one on t-mobile in Toronto.
   But for someone who has a tmobile account it takes a second to have it unlocked just make sure to tell them you been using the phone for a while.
  I have unlocked multiple phones while using t-mobile, point
Being it's easy to unlock.
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Offline Thingywingy

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #570 on: March 06, 2018, 10:42:58 PM »
“And have used a locked one on t-mobile in Toronto.“
Do you mean that you used it roaming while you had t-mobile service or you set it up with a Canadian carrier?
Regarding calling t-mobile, I don’t have the phone on a t-mobile account; I’m looking to buy a cheap one on Ebay.
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline Definitions

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #571 on: March 07, 2018, 12:23:59 AM »
Helping Canadian friend who wants a Samsung Gravity SGH-T379. They sell in the US as T-Mobile phones. Do you know if I need it to be unlocked to use on a Canadian GSM carrier (Chatr)?
I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't have to be unlocked.
My Tapatalk notifications don't always work.

Offline chaimmayer

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #572 on: June 18, 2018, 11:45:23 AM »
Someone gave me a used iPhone 6..  It seems like it's locked on boost and I want to use it on t mobile.  The only unlock services I saw online were like $80! 
Is there any cheaper way to unlock it?
Thanks

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #573 on: July 25, 2018, 06:25:11 PM »
I have an iPhone with Total wireless that's locked. I'm happy to stay with them but want to use it in Israel. Officially they require you have the phone for 12 months to unlock. Any suggestions?
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #574 on: July 26, 2018, 07:14:46 PM »
I have an iPhone with Total wireless that's locked. I'm happy to stay with them but want to use it in Israel. Officially they require you have the phone for 12 months to unlock. Any suggestions?
I tried checking on eBay, but nothing comes when I search with Total Wireless. Should a Verizon service work, since it's an MNVO off of them?
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline shwarmabob

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #575 on: July 27, 2018, 02:24:14 PM »
I tried checking on eBay, but nothing comes when I search with Total Wireless. Should a Verizon service work, since it's an MNVO off of them?
pay for an unlock service. it's about $20

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #576 on: July 27, 2018, 05:18:04 PM »
pay for an unlock service. it's about $20
You mean on eBay or somewhere else? On eBay I can seem to find for Total Wireless...
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline shwarmabob

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #577 on: July 29, 2018, 11:09:30 AM »
You mean on eBay or somewhere else? On eBay I can seem to find for Total Wireless...
this has nothing to do with ebay. You want to be able to use another provider and your phone is locked.
https://cellphoneunlock.net/
or something similar, there are many services out there. I haven't use one for a couple of years. compare the prices.

Offline Thingywingy

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #578 on: July 30, 2018, 05:19:42 PM »
I'm helping a relative who prefers purchased a Samsung T379 Gravity TXT dumb phone for service on a Canadian carrier. The listing said it was unlocked, but the buyer says it's locked. I'm trying to figure out if is in fact locked to T-mobile. I checked the IMEI number on IMEI.info, and on Swappa but they don't seem to say whether it is unlocked. Any suggestions?
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline ek

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #579 on: July 31, 2018, 11:50:25 AM »
I want to get a locked iphone se. They are $139 at Walmart. Can anyone recommend a reliable unlocking service?
thank you