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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 157960 times)

Offline Jay the PRESIDENT

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #160 on: May 18, 2014, 07:07:35 PM »
Anyone with a AT&T account so that I can request to unlock my iPhone?
does that still work? or will ATT check if the phone was associated with that number?

Offline cozmohoot

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #161 on: May 18, 2014, 07:48:30 PM »
Thanks again...
Would a verizon iphone 5 would work with a US GSM carrier (tmobile) ?
yes.

Offline Jay the PRESIDENT

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #162 on: May 18, 2014, 08:16:47 PM »

Offline AnonymousUser

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #163 on: May 18, 2014, 08:20:07 PM »

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #164 on: May 18, 2014, 08:46:40 PM »
thanks   how bout LTE?
On ATT iPhone 5 will work on 4G (HSPA+)

Offline Emkay

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #165 on: June 09, 2014, 11:15:05 PM »
Anyway to unlock my at-t iPhone that is still in contract?

Offline whacked1

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #166 on: June 09, 2014, 11:51:59 PM »
Anyway to unlock my at-t iPhone that is still in contract?
I have found with at&t that if you tell them that you would like to travel and use the phone internationally than they will unlock the phone for you. (but again i have not been with them for a few years so things could have changed)

Offline Emkay

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #167 on: June 09, 2014, 11:58:46 PM »
I have found with at&t that if you tell them that you would like to travel and use the phone internationally than they will unlock the phone for you. (but again i have not been with them for a few years so things could have changed)
not anymore if you are in contract

Offline sillypainter

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #168 on: June 10, 2014, 12:01:03 AM »
not anymore if you are in contract

Try threatening them that you'll switch to VZW, which all their LTE phones are unlocked out of the box.

Offline Emkay

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #169 on: June 10, 2014, 12:35:08 AM »
Try threatening them that you'll switch to VZW, which all their LTE phones are unlocked out of the box.
they don't mind as they will get their termination fee

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #170 on: June 25, 2014, 12:23:04 PM »
I saw someone wrote that the Verizon Galaxy S4 comes unlocked... for some reason I couldn't get it to work with Sprint or Boost Mobile... Am I missing something?
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Offline DovtheBear

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #171 on: June 25, 2014, 12:31:58 PM »
I saw someone wrote that the Verizon Galaxy S4 comes unlocked... for some reason I couldn't get it to work with Sprint or Boost Mobile... Am I missing something?
IINM only GSM is unlocked and only for out of the country.
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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #172 on: June 25, 2014, 12:39:21 PM »
IINM only GSM is unlocked and only for out of the country.
How could I could I get it unlocked for inside the country, for sprint or boost?
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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #173 on: June 25, 2014, 12:53:24 PM »
How could I could I get it unlocked for inside the country, for sprint or boost?
I don't think it's possible to unlock CDMA, somebody please CMIIW. Maybe flashing, but I don't know.
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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #174 on: June 25, 2014, 12:57:44 PM »
I would like a galaxy s4 for use in Israel and America. Which model should I get ?    I9505 or i9500 ? I don't know which carrier I will use in America yet I just want to have the most options available.

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #175 on: June 25, 2014, 01:38:35 PM »
I don't think it's possible to unlock CDMA, somebody please CMIIW. Maybe flashing, but I don't know.
After doing some more research, it seems that unless the phone is in their system, there is no way to get them to activate it... The only option I think left, is to flash. Anyone try flashing the Galaxy s4? Is it safe?
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Offline Thingywingy

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #176 on: October 07, 2014, 10:23:53 PM »
Can a Virgin Mobile phone be used on Sprint? Does it need to be unlocked? How can that be done? Its for a dumb phone (Samsung SPH M570).
I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline cozmohoot

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #177 on: October 07, 2014, 11:55:06 PM »
Better off buying a sprint model for cheap on ebay

Offline ice man

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #178 on: October 29, 2014, 01:12:50 PM »
I want to unlock my S4 to use in Israel. Any suggestions on how should go about this?

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Re: cell phone unlocking
« Reply #179 on: October 29, 2014, 02:20:35 PM »
I want to unlock my S4 to use in Israel. Any suggestions on how should go about this?
What carrier is it locked to?