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Old 01-09-2017, 11:07 AM
 
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why do carriers lock cell phones??? i just don't get it.. you can pay a third party service to unlock your phone for you and still run to another carrier. one interesting thing that i found out is that carriers sell the unlock codes to different parties!!! and this pertains more to GSM phones wich will take any GSM carrier vs cdma wich is more complicated
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Old 01-09-2017, 02:53 PM
 
Location: Florida & Cebu, Philippines
2,805 posts, read 3,244,367 times
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Most carriers will give you an unlock code after a few months of service, T-Mobile has given me many unlock codes over the years, even for phones I was not using on their service but had been used on their service in the past. AT&T even has a website to ask for unlock codes for the phones you have been using with them or are using with them, no questions asked by either provider. I am told Verizon does the same and that all smart phones on their service that have sim cards already come sim unlocked.

So why do providers lock their phones to their service, in hopes to keep you on their service.
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Old 01-11-2017, 01:24 PM
 
1,080 posts, read 1,187,024 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Lee View Post
Most carriers will give you an unlock code after a few months of service, T-Mobile has given me many unlock codes over the years, even for phones I was not using on their service but had been used on their service in the past. AT&T even has a website to ask for unlock codes for the phones you have been using with them or are using with them, no questions asked by either provider. I am told Verizon does the same and that all smart phones on their service that have sim cards already come sim unlocked.

So why do providers lock their phones to their service, in hopes to keep you on their service.
haha AT&T are the worst mother ****ers for getting the unlock codes for phones has been my experiance. i don't know how T-MOBILE is at unlocking phones but to be fair i'm sure some had good and bad experiances with all of the companies. i heard that verizons 4 glte and there 3g phones come unlocks and that has something to do with them getting the 700 mhz spectrum. personaly i stopped buying locked phones it just makes no sense they you have to pay someone to unlock it and that can cost 25.00-50.00 bucks on top of the cost of the device and then you still have the originals carriers crapware on the device to deal with. unlocked phones hold there value better than a locked phone tied to a carrier..
i left AT&T for T-MOBILES one plan att didn't like that. but i get better service in my area and it's more cost effective living in a high taxed state
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Old 01-11-2017, 08:53 PM
 
Location: Ocala, FL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ground_pounder View Post
haha AT&T are the worst mother ****ers for getting the unlock codes for phones .....
IMHO that statement is garbage.

The policy is clear that once a contract is fulfilled or payments on the phone have been met in full, the unlock can be requested at no charge. I have seen unlocks in as little as a few hours.
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Old 01-12-2017, 05:47 AM
 
Location: Florida & Cebu, Philippines
2,805 posts, read 3,244,367 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dontaskwhy View Post
The policy is clear that once a contract is fulfilled or payments on the phone have been met in full, the unlock can be requested at no charge. I have seen unlocks in as little as a few hours.
That has been my experience with both AT&T using their unlock code website and T-Mobile with one phone call.
Currently my wife is on T-Mobile prepaid and I am on AT&T prepaid and I use an unlocked Asus Zenfone 3 64 that I bought last year in the Philippines and I am very happy with it, BUT, it does not have the 700 mhz band, so eventually years down the road, that might become an issue.

Let me add, any phone T-Mobile unlocked for me was fully paid for or given to me free from T-Mobile for signing or renewing a contract, that might make the difference, I was told that they will not unlock a phone until it has been paid off.
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Old 01-12-2017, 08:24 AM
 
Location: Metro Washington DC
15,409 posts, read 25,722,081 times
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T-Mobile once unlocked a phone for me, prior to an international trip, even though the phone was under contract. Did they change?
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Old 01-12-2017, 08:30 AM
 
Location: Southern California
12,713 posts, read 15,468,522 times
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T-Mobile will unlock a phone for you after 40 days of use on your account but they have limits to the number of times they will do this for you.
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Old 01-12-2017, 10:13 AM
 
1,080 posts, read 1,187,024 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dontaskwhy View Post
IMHO that statement is garbage.

The policy is clear that once a contract is fulfilled or payments on the phone have been met in full, the unlock can be requested at no charge. I have seen unlocks in as little as a few hours.
i paid full price for a phone at wal mart and there making me wait until the 16th to unlock it. now entertain me and tell me how my statement is garbage. though i can see if ones under a contract and or making payments on the device but not paying full price
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Old 01-12-2017, 10:15 AM
 
1,080 posts, read 1,187,024 times
Reputation: 633
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Geek View Post
T-Mobile will unlock a phone for you after 40 days of use on your account but they have limits to the number of times they will do this for you.
i belive the limit of phones they will unlock is two per year don't qoute me on that. they told me if i paid in full that they would give me the unlock code right away but i dunno if they really would give me the code they might just be saying that to get me to buy there device!!! unlocked is really the only way to go these days
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Old 01-16-2017, 12:34 PM
 
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I bought my GSM iphones unlocked from Apple. you can pay them in installment thru 3rd party credit providers for 2 years w/o interest then use ATT prepaid cards to use. bought 3 iphones with this arrangement

we use them for 5 years and they are still working..
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