[Q] Unlocking a used phone. - T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3

I have been using search/Google to look for these answers, but I am seeing conflicting information. Can anyone help?
I purchased a T-Mobile Note 3 that had previously been activated on the T-Mobile network. The phone is clean and can be activated. I am going to be placing it on the AT&T network (Cricket actually). I have the SIM Unlock code. I do not intend to use the phone internationally.
I do not have :
My Cricket SIM. I am in the process of changing from Page Plus to Cricket, so my number has not been transferred yet.
An active T-Mobile SIM.
I DO have some random, currently inactive SIM card from Sprint (I know this phone wont work on Sprint, I dont want it on Sprint, its just what I have at hand).
When I place the random Sprint SIM in the phone I am prompted for the unlock code. I have not attempted to enter the code, just wanted to see if it would generate the promp.
Since this phone was previously activated on T-Mobile, do I need to put a currently good T-Mobile SIM card in it to get the unlock code to work properly?
If so, can I buy a BYOD T-Mobile SIM card from Target, leave it inactivated, and use that to unlock?
Can I use an unactivated Cricket SIM to generate the Unlock message and unlock it from there?
What will the behavior be if I unlock it using the Sprint SIM?
I have been using the search to get an answer to this question, but there seem to be some conflicting reports here.

If the sim card is other than t-mobile, you will get unlock prompt. You can enter the unlock code but if you use cdma sim cards mostly you will not get signal. I am not sure if the t-mobile note 3 is cdma compatible. But sprint note 3 has both cdma and gsm.

No, you don't need a T-Mobile Sim, active or otherwise.
Since the phone is a native T-Mobile phone and you wish to UNLOCK it, simply place a Sim card from any carrier (active or not) into the phone and boot it up. As you have discovered it will prompt for an unlock code. Enter the code you paid for and you're done, that's it.
Once you receive the cricket Sim you can simply insert it and continue to use the phone.
For the above please make sure the phone is completely stock, otherwise issues will arise

Related

Network lock? what gives..

i just unlocked my tmobile TP2, when i placed a Boost mobile sim card it gave me a "NETWORK LOCK" message.
Why do I get this message and what is the workaround?
plz help me.
Extreme184X said:
i just unlocked my tmobile TP2, when i placed a Boost mobile sim card it gave me a "NETWORK LOCK" message.
Why do I get this message and what is the workaround?
plz help me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by unlocked? Do you mean Hardspl or do you mean Sim unlock? If you only dead a hardspl then you can't use another sim. Go here for the sim unlocker
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=555339
you could try calling t-mobile and seeing if they'll provide the unlock code for you.
Tell them you are going overseas for business and need the device unlocked. This has worked for me with at&t and t-mobile.
I agree it sounds like you didn't sim unlock the phone
come on guys, its obviously SIM unlock if trying a different sim card..
it took my activation number (got it from tmoblie) clearly said the phone was SIM UNLOCKED, then i put the boost sim card, it said "network locked"
i did not try any other card yet, maybe boost sim cards are not supported, but ima test a at&t sim card to see if it works.
I know someone here must of have "NETWORK LOCK" after they SIM unlock there phone, please help me out.
Extreme184X said:
I know someone here must of have "NETWORK LOCK" after they SIM unlock there phone, please help me out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just my 2 cents for what it is worth. You might want to call boost and see if your sim is locked to an imei #. I know ATT has been using locking sim cards on prepaid for a few months now. Worth a shot
i would say your problem is coming from boost mobile and not from the phone itself... as the person above me mentioned ATT has started locking sims to phones when you buy prepaid sims, not a longshot to assume boost and t-mo will start to do this as well (if they havent already)... or it could be that boost isnt actually a gsm carrier even though it uses sims... not sure about that.
edit: i googled boost mobile technology type and they are owned by sprint... to the best of my knowledge even if you get your GSM phone unlocked it is still not going to accept a sprint (or boost) sim card.
why not, isn't the tmobile one still wcdma and gsm?
like i said... to the best of my knowledge... i never said my knowledge was any good.
can anyone confirm this?
edit: i did some more googling and all the people who asked on yahoo answers and the like got the same answer, no, your boost sim will not work in a GSM phone... i beleive if the tilt 2 were capable of both technologies it would have to have slots for both sims as well..
and to the OP, if you can get a buddy with an ATT sim to try it in the phone this will give us a definitive answer whether or not its the phone or the sim causing problems.
Boost uses the Nextel iDEN network. Although iDEN and GSM both use sim cards they run on different networks. Your Boost sim is incompatible with a T-Mobile TP2. Sorry.
sm0k3ydaband1t said:
or it could be that boost isnt actually a gsm carrier even though it uses sims... not sure about that.
edit: i googled boost mobile technology type and they are owned by sprint... to the best of my knowledge even if you get your GSM phone unlocked it is still not going to accept a sprint (or boost) sim card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Boost is like Sprint not GSM

[Q] Is my phone carrier locked?

I have a Galaxy Nexus on SKT here in Korea (not sure how many of you out there are in Korea), but I'm not entirely sure if my phone is carrier locked or not.
I put an old Verizon/Vodafone SIM and KT (another Korean carrier) SIM in the phone, and for about 5 seconds it shows the carrier name, but suddenly goes to "Emergency Calls Only".
I've been reading that for people who are SIM locked, they are asked for an unlock code but putting in either SIM cards did not ask me for that. Does anyone else have this issue when putting in other SIM cards?
No one else here in Korea or can shed some light?
They use WCDMA here, but I know it has the GSM radios in it as well. Could that be a reason I don't get prompted for an unlock code when inserting another SIM?

[Q] [HELP] Ulocked i747 swap SIMs no connection?

When I take the SIM from my AT&T One XL and try using it in an unlocked AT&T i747 (updated to stock, unrooted LH9) i'm thinking of buying it gets no data connection and only an occasional phone signal--and i'm in a good signal area.
Most of the time the i747 thinks there is no sim installed. For instance when I go into Settings->More Settings and try tapping on Mobile Networks the message 'Insert SIM card' is displayed.
I tried factory resetting the phone, no change.
I can swap my SIM into my wife's One XL and everything works fine... my wife's SIM works fine in my One XL. But neither my sim nor my wife's sim works in the i747.
I chatted with AT&T cust svc and they told me they have to register the IMEI of the new phone every time i want to swap SIMs which as far as I know is complete BS. Isn't the point of unlocked GSM phones easy SIM swapping?
I also tried shimming the SIM in the i747 with a sheet of paper in case it was loose. No change.
Any thoughts? Bad radio hardware? I'm there is something wrong with the i747 since two seemingly good SIMs won't work in it.
Might be a bad unlock aswell. Call att if your brave.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using XDA Premium HD app
egyptshun said:
Might be a bad unlock aswell. Call att if your brave.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After many unsuccessful attempts i entered the secret code to check lock status (*#7465625#) and after it ran returned with:
'Connection problem or invalid MMI code'
But is that about lock status or that the running the code was in error?
FreddieP said:
I chatted with AT&T cust svc and they told me they have to register the IMEI of the new phone every time i want to swap SIMs which as far as I know is complete BS. Isn't the point of unlocked GSM phones easy SIM swapping?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on Rogers and can and always have been able to use my sim in any of my Rogers or unlocked devices. My wife on the other hand, is with Telus, and she cannot use her sim on any other device without registering the device first. There might be a self help online method if I recall. So it possible you have the same sort of deal is Telus?
Solved--exchanged phones at at&t service center, now have 4g on my s3 with same sim as i use with One X.

LG G2 for Sprint gets no love of GSM unlocks

Hello,
So I currently have a Sprint LG G2 that I would like to unlock to be able to use it on AT&T or Tmobile. From what I'v read, even the Verizon G2 comes factory unlocked which Verizon's been known to keep locked in almost all of there phones. I called customer service and told them i would be traveling overseas (they didnt ask what country) and after about 24 hours emailed me asking permission to unlock the device, they told me to go and update me UICC Unlock which gave me a message saying "your SIM is now unlocked" but when I put in a Tmobile sim card to test it, the phone would not recognize it no matter if i changed the settings to gsm/umts or global mode. What do you suggest I do next, I am worried I payed so much for the phone and if 1 or 2 years from now I decide to move carriers or even country that I am visiting to next week and the phone bieng "unlocked" still wont unlock it to be used on local carriers or even abroad, that would really suck. Any suggestions?
sazeem said:
Hello,
So I currently have a Sprint LG G2 that I would like to unlock to be able to use it on AT&T or Tmobile. From what I'v read, even the Verizon G2 comes factory unlocked which Verizon's been known to keep locked in almost all of there phones. I called customer service and told them i would be traveling overseas (they didnt ask what country) and after about 24 hours emailed me asking permission to unlock the device, they told me to go and update me UICC Unlock which gave me a message saying "your SIM is now unlocked" but when I put in a Tmobile sim card to test it, the phone would not recognize it no matter if i changed the settings to gsm/umts or global mode. What do you suggest I do next, I am worried I payed so much for the phone and if 1 or 2 years from now I decide to move carriers or even country that I am visiting to next week and the phone bieng "unlocked" still wont unlock it to be used on local carriers or even abroad, that would really suck. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You really need to do some serious research.
Concerning Verizon, Verizon is required to have the GSM portion of their CDMA/LTE phones factory unlocked due to to a requirement by the FCC when they divested some spectrum a while back.
Now for Sprint, Sprint locks down (or locks out) the GSM portion of their LTE phones for domestic GSM use, so trying to use it with a domestic GSM carrier like AT&T, T-Mobile etc is out of the question by default. They'll unlock it for international GSM use (non U.S GSM carriers). Now there are some fine folks on XDA here that have been able to work around these restrictions on the Galaxy S4, but that's the exception so far.
If like you say, they emailed you that they've unlocked your phone, if you leave the country and insert a foreign SIM, it'll work with that international carrier.
Your right
your absolutly right. Now i need to find out how they did it in s4 because it has to be possible for this phone too then that case
LordLugard said:
You really need to do some serious research.
Concerning Verizon, Verizon is required to have the GSM portion of their CDMA/LTE phones factory unlocked due to to a requirement by the FCC when they divested some spectrum a while back.
Now for Sprint, Sprint locks down (or locks out) the GSM portion of their LTE phones for domestic GSM use, so trying to use it with a domestic GSM carrier like AT&T, T-Mobile etc is out of the question by default. They'll unlock it for international GSM use (non U.S GSM carriers). Now there are some fine folks on XDA here that have been able to work around these restrictions on the Galaxy S4, but that's the exception so far.
If like you say, they emailed you that they've unlocked your phone, if you leave the country and insert a foreign SIM, it'll work with that international carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sazeem said:
Hello,
So I currently have a Sprint LG G2 that I would like to unlock to be able to use it on AT&T or Tmobile. From what I'v read, even the Verizon G2 comes factory unlocked which Verizon's been known to keep locked in almost all of there phones. I called customer service and told them i would be traveling overseas (they didnt ask what country) and after about 24 hours emailed me asking permission to unlock the device, they told me to go and update me UICC Unlock which gave me a message saying "your SIM is now unlocked" but when I put in a Tmobile sim card to test it, the phone would not recognize it no matter if i changed the settings to gsm/umts or global mode. What do you suggest I do next, I am worried I payed so much for the phone and if 1 or 2 years from now I decide to move carriers or even country that I am visiting to next week and the phone bieng "unlocked" still wont unlock it to be used on local carriers or even abroad, that would really suck. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, this is interesting, I am having a similar dilema, as far as I was aware, I thought that unlocking would be done on the cosumer end, they would give you a code, then you'd input that code in, I've just never heard of them unlocking it on their own. I got the LG G2 LS980 when I was in the US for a semester and moved to Brazil just a week ago, I haven't tried to fully make it work, but from the LS980 manual, it says that there is not even a sim lock on the phone(i'd put up a picture, but I have no idea how). And when I try to put in an old local(brazilian) SIM card, it doesn't ask for a unlock code, it just says no SIM card - Emergency calls only. I'm still researching it, but if you find anything, just post it here so I can keep up Thanks.
LordLugard said:
You really need to do some serious research.
Concerning Verizon, Verizon is required to have the GSM portion of their CDMA/LTE phones factory unlocked due to to a requirement by the FCC when they divested some spectrum a while back.
Now for Sprint, Sprint locks down (or locks out) the GSM portion of their LTE phones for domestic GSM use, so trying to use it with a domestic GSM carrier like AT&T, T-Mobile etc is out of the question by default. They'll unlock it for international GSM use (non U.S GSM carriers). Now there are some fine folks on XDA here that have been able to work around these restrictions on the Galaxy S4, but that's the exception so far.
If like you say, they emailed you that they've unlocked your phone, if you leave the country and insert a foreign SIM, it'll work with that international carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I will definitely have to wait for a workaround for the sprint LG G2 as I am not a sprint customer. I think the S4 and the HTC both have workarounds, but as far as I'm aware, these workarounds apply mostly for international use only (which is exactly what I need) meaning that ATT/TMOB is probably not going to work, or might have to wait a couple months until there is a lot more people working on the sprint version, the thing is, the phone wasn't released that long ago, so support in the forums is still low.
Back during the photon days they were able to achieve domestic gsm use by flashing the radio from the Japanese version of the photon. Well maybe not directly. It may have been a modified Japanese radio but it worked!! My daughters mother still uses the photon 4g as an att go phone. Would something like that still be possible for our devices? I know a lot of people lost interest in it because after the photon we got the photon q which had an embedded Sim. Even then people were able to take the phone apart and solder a Sim tray in and unlock it for other domestic carriers.
Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk
tsdeaton said:
Back during the photon days they were able to achieve domestic gsm use by flashing the radio from the Japanese version of the photon. Well maybe not directly. It may have been a modified Japanese radio but it worked!! My daughters mother still uses the photon 4g as an att go phone. Would something like that still be possible for our devices? I know a lot of people lost interest in it because after the photon we got the photon q which had an embedded Sim. Even then people were able to take the phone apart and solder a Sim tray in and unlock it for other domestic carriers.
Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I think first of all it needs to be unlocked for GSM or GSM part of the phone should be unlocked for any other thing to try.
st_7 said:
But I think first of all it needs to be unlocked for GSM or GSM part of the phone should be unlocked for any other thing to try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as some foreign carrier has their g2 unlocked for international gsm use then it wouldn't matter right? With the KDDI radio on the photon we weren't able to use sprint service on it after flashing. Basically as if the phone thought it was the Japanese version of the photon.
Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk
tsdeaton said:
As long as some foreign carrier has their g2 unlocked for international gsm use then it wouldn't matter right? With the KDDI radio on the photon we weren't able to use sprint service on it after flashing. Basically as if the phone thought it was the Japanese version of the photon.
Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be awesome if it worked, I'm still hopeful someone will find a way, because I don't use sprint anymore and I have since moved to brazil. Thank god this phone is awesome enough to not be useless with only wifi, but I'm still hopeful someone will find a way for me to catch Brazil's GSM signal, as the phone does have the right GSM bands for it.
Just like the HTC one, it took months for even Sprint themselves to figure out how they would unlock the HTC, what I want to know if there is anyone that has actually called Sprint and asked for the unlock, and confirmed it to be working.
Can the sprint lg g2 be unlocked for any carrier.
Im trying to change from sprint contract to straighttalk. Is there a way to get my LG G2 unlocked so I can switch?
Hathoid said:
Yeah I will definitely have to wait for a workaround for the sprint LG G2 as I am not a sprint customer. I think the S4 and the HTC both have workarounds, but as far as I'm aware, these workarounds apply mostly for international use only (which is exactly what I need) meaning that ATT/TMOB is probably not going to work, or might have to wait a couple months until there is a lot more people working on the sprint version, the thing is, the phone wasn't released that long ago, so support in the forums is still low.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unlocked my GS2 Skyrocket recently as I'm about to sell it and pick up a G2 next week. I popped in a T-Mobile SIM and verified that it worked. However, I very seriously doubt the method I used would work on the G2. Here's the thread though:
unlock free proceed at your own risk!
Domestic sims are too small
sazeem said:
Hello,
So I currently have a Sprint LG G2 that I would like to unlock to be able to use it on AT&T or Tmobile. From what I'v read, even the Verizon G2 comes factory unlocked which Verizon's been known to keep locked in almost all of there phones. I called customer service and told them i would be traveling overseas (they didnt ask what country) and after about 24 hours emailed me asking permission to unlock the device, they told me to go and update me UICC Unlock which gave me a message saying "your SIM is now unlocked" but when I put in a Tmobile sim card to test it, the phone would not recognize it no matter if i changed the settings to gsm/umts or global mode. What do you suggest I do next, I am worried I payed so much for the phone and if 1 or 2 years from now I decide to move carriers or even country that I am visiting to next week and the phone bieng "unlocked" still wont unlock it to be used on local carriers or even abroad, that would really suck. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I called the Sprint international department and they explained the situation somewhat.
Domestic sim cards such as on tmobile and att have too little memory to support the cdma function of the lg g2, so you will get an "invalid sim" message. The size of the sim must be at least 128k to work on the g2. Maybe there is a way to get domestic network data on a larger sim card.
Hope this helps.
severly said:
I called the Sprint international department and they explained the situation somewhat.
Domestic sim cards such as on tmobile and att have too little memory to support the cdma function of the lg g2, so you will get an "invalid sim" message. The size of the sim must be at least 128k to work on the g2. Maybe there is a way to get domestic network data on a larger sim card.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
while the size thing may be true.. this is not why youre getting an invalid sim error. the invalid sim error comes from when u use ANY sim thats not Sprint. After you get Sprint to OTA SIM unlock your phone.. this invalid sim error goes away... gsm will work for intl.. and possibly domestic.. tho sprint may also have a block on domestic only.. after the intl unlock. if the phone is unlocked thru sprint and you pop a tmo sim in and get no signal(but no invalid sim error)... then that means the phone is unlocked properly but domestic is blocked.
this is usually my area of interest.. i did both the htc one and gs4 unlocks but I do not own a g2 unfortunately.
autoprime said:
while the size thing may be true.. this is not why youre getting an invalid sim error. the invalid sim error comes from when u use ANY sim thats not Sprint. After you get Sprint to OTA SIM unlock your phone.. this invalid sim error goes away... gsm will work for intl.. and possibly domestic.. tho sprint may also have a block on domestic only.. after the intl unlock. if the phone is unlocked thru sprint and you pop a tmo sim in and get no signal(but no invalid sim error)... then that means the phone is unlocked properly but domestic is blocked.
this is usually my area of interest.. i did both the htc one and gs4 unlocks but I do not own a g2 unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So are you saying if you did have a Sprint G2 you would be able to find a way to unlock it?
How the heck do they do this?
How can they unlock the phone for international SIMs and prevent them from working on local SIMs? Can't be some band that they check. Otherwise, it would not work on an international SIM using that band. Hardcode something in the kernel or the OS? In which would a custom ROM and/or kernel work? Can anyone point me to some links or posts that discuss this?
os2baba said:
How can they unlock the phone for international SIMs and prevent them from working on local SIMs? Can't be some band that they check. Otherwise, it would not work on an international SIM using that band. Hardcode something in the kernel or the OS? In which would a custom ROM and/or kernel work? Can anyone point me to some links or posts that discuss this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also interested in this as I have a LS980 and I am currently in Brazil, sprint has done nothing yet as far as unlocking it.(even for actualy customers, I have not seen anyone that actually has this thing unlocked). I popped in a Claro(local provider) SIM card, and the phone says "No SIM card- Emergency calls only", I've tried multiple SIMs to see if it was a problem with the actual SIM, but all of them read the same thing, while inside the phone I get a notification saying "Restricted Access Changed - Voice Service is Blocked". So it knows there is a SIM card in there, it's just blocking it.
Cleanser2012 said:
So are you saying if you did have a Sprint G2 you would be able to find a way to unlock it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cant be 100% certain... but I'd say there'd be a good chance. Unlocked another Sprint phone this week.
Hopefully I'll get a G2 eventually.
autoprime said:
cant be 100% certain... but I'd say there'd be a good chance. Unlocked another Sprint phone this week.
Hopefully I'll get a G2 eventually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll pray every day that you do get one dood It would be a life saver because as of now I have a mini tablet G2 in brazil
autoprime said:
while the size thing may be true.. this is not why youre getting an invalid sim error. the invalid sim error comes from when u use ANY sim thats not Sprint. After you get Sprint to OTA SIM unlock your phone.. this invalid sim error goes away... gsm will work for intl.. and possibly domestic.. tho sprint may also have a block on domestic only.. after the intl unlock. if the phone is unlocked thru sprint and you pop a tmo sim in and get no signal(but no invalid sim error)... then that means the phone is unlocked properly but domestic is blocked.
this is usually my area of interest.. i did both the htc one and gs4 unlocks but I do not own a g2 unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will give 75 $ if you can buy a used set. That's my contribution. For the G2 unlock.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[Q] Can I use the Sprint S6 on another carrier if I unlock it?

I want to get this phone but might want to switch carriers soon. I was planning on doing the Sprint EasyPay for it and paying off the rest of the phone if or when I decide to switch carriers. After I pay it off in full and unlock it, would I be able to use it on T-mobile, AT&T, Verizon, or any of their MVNO's? Basically what I am asking is does the Sprint S6 support the necessary bands that the other networks operate on, and if so, would calling or texting still work? I have heard of some phones that have a SIM card slot for the LTE SIM on Sprint, but voice and text don't work once unlocked and used on another carrier.
Thanks,
Kyle
I would really like to know the answer to this as well. I have been searching without a definitive result.
Specifically, can unlocked Sprint phone be used on Verizon?

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