Your Questions About Does Any Phone Can Be Unlocked
Lizzie asks…
Buying Unlocked Phone?
when i buy an unlocked phone can i just go to T-Mobile and ask them to set up that phone so i dont have to buy a phone from them, or do i have to buy one of their phones and take the simcard out and put it in the unlocked phone
admin answers:
Where are you buying your unlocked phone? From small retailers of cellphone that sells tmobile too? They could sell you unlocked phones with tmobile as your provider if your a new subscriber, if you have already a contract from tmobile, you could just insert your simcard and your off to go, but if the configuration of some of the settings is not yet ready from your unlocked cellphone call tmobile from a different phone so they could send you the configuration over the air via text. You dont have to buy their phone coz you’ll just waste your money if you wanna have extra phone just incase, take the ones they give for free when you sign up, anyway its free and it will not cost you anything.
Mark asks…
Cell phone Unlocked?
I have a Nokia cell phone with a SIM chip. It was previously used on Cingular (A T and T) network. Because I have the SIM chip, does this mean the phone is „Unlocked“ ? Or… can a phone with the SIM chip still be „locked“ ?
admin answers:
The phone can still be locked. It should have the brand of service provided. If it was using ATT sim and it has ATT logo printed somewhere on the phone, most likely its still locked. But its so simple, you can take your phone to local cell phone store and have it unlocked for around 15 to 20 bucks. You can just check it by trying a tmobile chip see if it takes the card. It will say wrong card if its still locked.
Sandy asks…
Questions about unlocked cell phones?
Hello. As you can see, I have several questions about unlocked cell phones. Please enlighten me.
1. What are the benefits?
2. Can only phones that use a SIM card (i.e. GSM phones) be unlocked?
3. How can you tell if a phone is locked or unlocked?
4. If you unlock a phone, can/will the carrier automatically lock it again?
5. Let’s say I buy an unlocked phone off eBay. Then what?
6. From what I’ve read on Google and Wikipedia, having an unlocked phone is good if you travel. Why?
I live in the USA and Verizon Wireless is my mobile phone carrier. I do travel out of the country a fair amount, but I’ve been able to manage fine with phone cards (have to use a land line each time, though).
If I had an unlocked phone and I flew to Mexico, what would I need to do to use it there? Could I make only local calls? Or could I call back to USA? Do I buy a SIM card there or something?
admin answers:
Heres your answer per question you have:
1.The benefits of having an unlocked phones is that you could use it mostly worldwide just insert the particular country’s sim and your off to go..
But take note, make sure the unlocked phones you buy is TRI-BAND, unlocked cellphones will be useless if the phone is not supported by the bandwith of the certain places you go to. There’s 800/900/1900BW so its best to get TRIBAND UNLOCKED PHONES
2.It depends on the maker of the cellphone,sometimes its exclusively for the certain providers use, although you may be able to unlock it, some of the features like web browsing mms, you wont be able to use on other provider.
3.You can immediately pop in any simcard from any network, like your in the US you’ll be able to use Tmobile or Cingular simcard.If you alrady inserted the sim and it still says, „insert simcard, no simcard or read error“, those are the signs phones are locked
4. If you bought the phone from a provider that was originally locked and they ulocked it for you, they might be able to lock it again, but if you originally bought unlocked cellphone they might not be able to lock it especially if the phone is not from them
5.Then make sure that the phone is functioning the way it should, make sure you have warranties on those, make sure that it met your expectations.
6. Like what I stated above, unlocked phones is good if you travel coz you could just pop a simcard from that country and off you go, but again make sure that the cellphone has the right BANDWIDTH so it will be supported by the network, having an unlocked phone that supports one bandwidth is useless, so its best to get triband phones
I think if you have verizon u wont be able to use unlocked cellphones, they have they own networks,check with them first, Also If you’re in Mexico and they have pre-paid simcards that you can buy, you will be able to make local calls, you will have a mexican number and at the same time you will also be able to call locally in mexico and can call back in the US.
Nancy asks…
What exactly is an unlocked phone?
I’m shopping for a new cell phone on eBay and they have unlocked phones. I just want to clarify, are they already connected to a certain carrier? And if not, can you connect them to any carrier you want? (verizon, at&t, tmobile, etc
admin answers:
An unlocked phone can be used with any GSM provider of your choice, from anywhere in the world.
When people say ‚unlocked phone for sale‘ it could mean two things:
1. The phone was never locked to any particular network
2. The phone was locked to a network but has been unlocked so you can use it with any other network
If it’s case 2 then it is possible you might expect the following:
1. The phone can have original network’s branding
2. The phone can have a custom firmware installed by the original network
Whenever you are purchasing an ‚unlocked‘ phone on sites like eBay, it’s best to read the seller’s description carefully because reliable sellers do mention such things of importance in their description.
Good luck! I hope this helps.
Susan asks…
Unlocked Phones?
I was wondering what an unlocked phone is. What is so special about them? Can they be programmed to a pre-paid service?
admin answers:
An unlocked phone has the provider installed software and limitations wiped from it.
Often they are GSM phones. If you have an unlocked GSM phone, you can switch the SIM card and use any GSM sim card in it.
Say you get an unlocked Razr GSM. You could use T-mobile prepaid/regular, or any provider that uses SIM cards in it.
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