I recently obtained a S3 from tesco phone shop on contract offered by 02. I have been told that the phone is unlocked and unbranded, as it is tesco's policy (they provide contracts by various different operators).
So I am just a bit unsure whether my phone is branded/locked to 02? I noticed that in the google play store my phone is listed as 02 Samsung GT i9300, I am able to use different sim cards so it shouldn't be locked, however I am worried about whether ill be delayed with receiving different OTA updates.
So I wanted to know if there is a sure way to check if your phone is unbranded, maybe using a app or something? ( I am not going to root my phone unfortunately, still too new )
P.S. I do not have any tesco/02 branded apps or anything on the phone
Since you can use different operator sim cards that proves it is unlocked (I'm not sure how OTA updates will be handled).
Related
It seems that Branded Samsung S3 are not compatible with BMW Telematics and Unbranded versions are.
I do not understand why this is.
This has been discovered by my service centre who have raised the question with Samsung.
They cannot flash my current Vodaphone unlocked phone with unbranded software as it will invalidate my warranty so they have send a job report and have ask if they would offer an exemption in writing so my phone can be flashed or better still be offered a replacement unbranded phone.
The baseband version on the unbranded phone was different to the branded version and it was not running the latest baseband. On my branded phone it did not work either the latest or the previous firmware as they had another S3 on T-Mobile & O2 and they did not work either.
THEY "Samsung" must either offer me a new phone or allow current phone to be flash it is not right to be held a will to have a phone that cost me £300 plus a two year contract and I cannot get it to work.
The Faults:
The fault is to due with Contacts stored in Gmail. The car cannot pull down the contacts and store them and it causes the phone to disconnect and remove it profile after attempting several times.
If you set the phone to not download contacts from phone to car, the phone works perfectly with the car.
I bought a Galaxy S5 (Tmobile) and Unlocked it, flash new ROM. if for some reasons, Tmobile blocked the IMEI, am I still able to use it because its unlocked?
Im asking this because I bought it off from Craiglists.
I am just curious why would t-mobile block the ime.
Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Free mobile app
i afraid they may in the future because of someone not making payment
If you didn't pay for the device and they blacklisted the IMEI, you will not likely be able to use it on either AT&T or T-Mobile as they have been said to share blacklist databases. You will likely only be able to use it internationally. Unlocking it doesn't matter, if it is blacklisted, it wont register on the network and you wont be able to use it.
risestar2 said:
If you didn't pay for the device and they blacklisted the IMEI, you will not likely be able to use it on either AT&T or T-Mobile as they have been said to share blacklist databases. You will likely only be able to use it internationally. Unlocking it doesn't matter, if it is blacklisted, it wont register on the network and you wont be able to use it.
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of course you can use a blacklisted t-mobile phone on at&t network without any problems. just unlock it, insert your sim card and there. i have personally used them on at&t.
What Rom Did You Flash To Unlock SGS5 Tmobile?
T33H00 said:
I bought a Galaxy S5 (Tmobile) and Unlocked it, flash new ROM. if for some reasons, Tmobile blocked the IMEI, am I still able to use it because its unlocked?
Im asking this because I bought it off from Craiglists.
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Click to collapse
What Rom Did You Flash To Unlock SGS5 Tmobile?
I am loathe to help you because you are talking about a stolen or fraudulently sold phone. And whether you were scammed or complicit in the fraud, it remains that the phone is stolen and helping anyone use a stolen phone spurs an ongoing demand for stolen phones.
I'll just say that TMB blacklisting the IMEI ought to prevent you from using the phone on another carrier. However, TMB is well known for being erratic in sharing their blacklist with other carriers. So provided that your phone is not re-activation OR SIM locked, you can probably use the handset on another carrier. For the moment anyway.
TMB has been promising lately to clean up their act in this regard and start sharing their blacklist with other carriers. So while you might be able to use that stolen handset today, it will stop working in two months, four months or whatever date TMB actually starts sharing their blacklist with other carriers.
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T33H00 said:
I bought a Galaxy S5 (Tmobile) and Unlocked it, flash new ROM. if for some reasons, Tmobile blocked the IMEI, am I still able to use it because its unlocked?
Im asking this because I bought it off from Craiglists.
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Click to collapse
Short answer: No you cannot.
Long answer:
As I believe a T-Mobile and ATT "contract" (not really a contract, more so an agreement) established a more global blacklist.. well, list, prevents the use on other networks. This is a new policy that has been created.
I even recall an instance where a Verizon S4 (most of Verizon's phone have both CDMA and GSM hardware) would not be allowed on T-Mobile's network.
However, brighter side of things, you could try Swappa.com to sell it as a blocked IMEI phone (i believe they are still usable overseas)
Or, what I would do, part the phone out and sell each part, you will probably get more for it. Screen display's aren't cheap, especially the entire digitizer and LCD still glued together.
For future purchases over Craigslist, ensure the transaction happens inside a T-Mobile store. They can transfer the phone serial and such to your account leaving the previous account holder phoneless. This also ensures that the phone is truly paid off in full. If the phone gets reported lost/stolen, you have proof that it was legally sold to you and not stolen.
About 2 months ago I cancelled my T-Mobile account after some bad experiences with them. I had my LG V10 on lease with them, not yet fully paid. At the same time I convinced the representative to unlock my phone so I could switch to another carrier. I asked her if I needed to do anything and she said no, she can do it remotely, then told me it was all done. My phone was under some old guarantee that I could continue paying off the phone monthly instead of all at once (apparently that's since vanished, and they have no record of that guarantee ever existing. Figures.)
Anyway, I was happy to have an unlocked phone. But a few weeks ago I got a letter asking me to pay up the remaining balance or be sent to a collection agency. I couldn't, so they did. Yesterday I called T-Mobile to find out if my phone was unlocked and they said that since my account was closed and in collection, they couldn't check or tell me, and to call the agency. I did, and the collection rep didn't seem to want to give me a straight answer. His answers were (paraphrasing): "There's some things T-Mobile doesn't want us telling you (the consumer); "I'm going to choose my words carefully"; and, If you pay off your balance T-Mobile may unlock your phone." He repeated the last one whenever I asked additional questions. I figure he could've just said no, your phone is not unlocked.
So I'm thinking that since my phone was remotely unlocked by T-Mobile just before closing my account, that it's still unlocked and they just don't want to confirm it to me for fear that I may not pay them back as fast. My question is, if T-Mobile unlocked my phone before closing my account, could they re-lock it, wven without an active account? Also, could the rep have lied to me about having unlocked my phone?
By the way, I can't do the SIM swap trick because everyone I know uses micro sim and my phone uses a nano sim. Also there isn't a cell store anywhere near me.
Oh, I did an IMEI check online on Swappa and it said Activation Status: Clear, not blacklisted, and identified my phone as either LG V10 (T-Mobile) or LG V10 (Unlocked). Not sure what that means. Did a check on another site and under carrier code it said T-Mobile, and carrier code TMO.
Did you get your phone from tmobile? Aka model h901? It should have the tmobile unlock app already installed which will tell you if it's unlocked or eligible to be unlocked. They would have told you to use it to unlock it in the first place.
Also, a collection agency isn't going to know anything about tmobile services, they'll say anything to get your money. It's a completely separate company.
I'd be more worried that tmobile blacklisted your imei rather than having it locked since you didn't pay off your lease.
Hello everyone!
Okay so first off, sorry for having to post my first post as a question.
So I'm from Egypt (we still don't even have the s5e in stores..), I usually get all my tech from Amazon.com, seeing that the LTE variantof the Tab S6 is not available there yet, I went to check out amazon UK(also has global shipping)
I found an LTE variant of the tablet (Can't link it since I'm a new user) but its the "Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 LTE 256 GB 10.5-Inch Tablet - Mountain Grey (UK Version)". Link: amazon.co.uk/dp/B07W4KVH18?tag=dradisplay0bb-21&ascsubtag=8ae47d4591cfa385f0e63929fb543ed4_CT&ref=dra_a_ms_sb_ho_xx_P600_100
I found alot of questions getting answered by (it'll work only after you make a 10 min phone call in the UK using a UK sim card), is this what they call (Unlocking process) ? and is there anyway I can bypass that ? will I even need to do this ? since someone who lives in the EU asked that question and they said it'll work just fine without going through that process. also I use (Vodafone EG) as my carrier
I do apologies for a somewhat silly question, but I don't quite get how the locked/unlocked/GSM/CMDA thingy works
Thank you in advance !
Try putting in the link, but without the http(s)://www bit at the beginning
Oh and it's not at all a silly question.
Was it this one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-10-5-Inch-Tablet/dp/B07WC1BF34
pinsb said:
Try putting in the link, but without the http(s)://www bit at the beginning
Oh and it's not at all a silly question.
Was it this one?
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Done, and yeah that's the one.
OK, there are two issues.
Service Provider Lock
Region Lock
As this is from Amazon then it should be Service Provider unlocked.
However to stop what are known as 'Grey Imports' where a unit is destined for say the Hong Kong market, to stop it being then re-exported to say the UK they require a HK sim to be installed first (which is why if you but a new unit from Hong Kong it's usually been opened and a sim put in it so that it performs it's initial region check) this then allows you to subsequently install any sim, as long as the first sim is from a matching region.
In this instance I would guess that the unit Amazon are selling are probably region locked to Europe (I'm not certain though obviously), which means the first sim you installed would have to be a euro sim and you would have to do it in Europe for the sim to validate live and disable the region lock.
A potential way around this would be buy a used unit off ebay where the Region Lock has already been deactivated.
Hope the above makes sense, if you need further help and don't want to do it in the thread you could PM me.
Update: I got the tablet from Amazon UK and it worked just fine in Egypt, (I just popped in my Egyptian sim card and turned on the device
I am glad it works well for you.
I am wondering if it will work in the US if I get it from Amazon.uk. T-Mobile only carries the 128gb one; I need the 256gb one.
My question since I’m 100% new to android again is, is there an easy was to sim unlock my s23 ultra it’s coming from Verizon but want to switch it up sometimes
dunno if it trips the knox counter nowadays but you can just flash a non branded rom.
Verizon will automatically unlock the SIM after 60 days.
Device Unlocking Policies | Verizon Privacy Policy
In order to mitigate theft and other fraudulent activity, newly purchased devices are “locked” to work exclusively on the Verizon network. We have separate device unlocking policies that cover postpay and prepaid devices, as well as special rules for deployed military personnel.
www.verizon.com
I can't believe they still lock Sims in the US. That practice has been banned in Canada since 2017. I feel your pain
Normally, here in the US, carriers won't SIM unlock your phone unless it's paid off (not financed through the carrier). Samsung Finance, I am not sure about.
Flashing an unlocked ROM will NOT SIM Unlock your phone.
Of course, verify with your carrier what the criteria is to get your phone SIM Unlocked.
Talderon said:
Normally, here in the US, carriers won't SIM unlock your phone unless it's paid off (not financed through the carrier). Samsung Finance, I am not sure about.
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As part of Verizon's purchase of their 700MHz spectrum, they were required to commit to not locking their devices. They were allowed a 60 day period to try to account for fraud purposes later but whether it's financed or not, Verizon unlocks after 60 days.
EtherealRemnant said:
As part of Verizon's purchase of their 700MHz spectrum, they were required to commit to not locking their devices. They were allowed a 60 day period to try to account for fraud purposes later but whether it's financed or not, Verizon unlocks after 60 days.
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Automatic or do I have to call in?
There is an app on Verizon phones called "Network Unlock" which I believe is pinged at 60 days and the phone is then unlocked. Note that if you're using the Unlocked firmware, this app is not available and the phone will not automatically unlock. People have reported having to flash Verizon firmware, reactivate, then go back to U1 firmware.
I had a s21 ultra Verizon branded and I flashed the unlock software the day I got it and it would not work on Verizon or any other carrier. I had to reflash the Verizon firmware and wait the 60 days once it's done then you can flash the unlocked U1 firmware at least that was my experience.
After that I have just bought the U1 and skipped the Verizon nonsense. Also the csc won't change when you put in another carrier sim. So even though you put xaa firmware on it will not show xaa. It will always be vzw so it doesn't really work like a U1 phone.