Confused about mobile phone unlocking

StewartR

StewartR

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I have an old mobile phone that I need to unlock. (My wife has lost hers, so the plan is that she'll use my old one until hers is recovered / replaced.) My network, Three, say it will take 7 working days. Yet I see adverts on the Internet for services which can do it more-or-less instantly?

So I guess what I want to know is:
- do these online services work?
- how can I be sure?
- is there any difference between what they do and what the network does (apart from speed)?
- why does it take the network so long?
- are there any technical risks?

All help welcome. Thanks.
 
Sometimes, or so I believe, the "instant" unlocking can involve merely allocating a new IMIE number. I'm no techy guy but understand that this will unlock the phone but you then have no recourse to the original phone supplier. You are on your own. There was a long thread about this a year or two back. If it's an old phone then you will have nothing to lose. No doubt they experts will be along shortly to clarify.
 
I can't speak for these so called online services but 7 working days to unlock a phone seems a bit far fetched.

I just unlocked my O2 phone using the option within the O2 app the other day and within 24 hours I received a text from O2 with instructions how to unlock. This isn't of any help to you but it is evidence that its not a long drawn out procedure.
 
unlocking most phones (not apple and high end Samsung) is mainly a BIOS thing.
When you buy a code from say ebay for 99p for the older ones you then put a diferent SIM in.
It then recognises it cannot use that SIM as it doesn't support it and offers you the option to put an unlock code in.
The unlock code is generated by software and you provide the phones IMEI number and it unlocks the phone.

I imagine with the network doing it over the air there may be a delay for it to directly update the phones firmware.
 
I went through this process a couple of years back with an iPhone 5 locked to Vodafone. There were adverts to unlock it but they were jailbreaks. You have to get an unlock code from your provider. This is what takes the time. You then enter the code and it becomes sim free. As far as I know any other way to unlock it if you update the firmware you go back to it being locked. By the way I let RadioShack do mine and it took Vodafone nearly 3 weeks to supply the code
 
StewartR said:
OK, I understand this. Are there any online services which work in a legal fashion?
Click to expand...

just buy an unlock code from ebay if your phone is supported for pretty much 99p.
all you do is supply your IMEI its fully legit.
they supply the unlock code by return
 
Don't the el cheapskate online deals have side effects like not being able to update firmware or loss of the unlock when phone is reset.

I'm sure there is a reason I never used them but cant remember now.
 
GTG said:
Don't the el cheapskate online deals have side effects like not being able to update firmware or loss of the unlock when phone is reset.

I'm sure there is a reason I never used them but cant remember now.
Click to expand...

I am not to sure about that the unlock codes are supplied from manfactures SW they are not hooky, they either work or they do not.
the simply activate a part of the phones BIOS to unlock it from a particular network.
I have unlocked a fair few over the years without one issue.
 
stupar said:
I can't speak for these so called online services but 7 working days to unlock a phone seems a bit far fetched.

I just unlocked my O2 phone using the option within the O2 app the other day and within 24 hours I received a text from O2 with instructions how to unlock. This isn't of any help to you but it is evidence that its not a long drawn out procedure.
Click to expand...
But O2 is particularly good about unlocking and very easy whereas others like to make you jump through the hoops and some hide [or don’t supply) unlocking details on their websites.
 
sphexx said:
But O2 is particularly good about unlocking and very easy whereas others like to make you jump through the hoops and some hide [or don’t supply) unlocking details on their websites.
Click to expand...

I think that is the wrong attitude though from some providers.
Not withstanding contractual obligations for those on a pay monthly contracts it shouldnt be difficult to have a phone unlocled to other networks.

Clearly some providers like to think they can have a hold over you.
 
I had a Vodafone mobile unlocked on our local market and now have a Tesco Mobile sim in it. It works fine but I still get Vodafone marketing messages every day. To stop the marketing messages I have to message STOP to a Vodafone number which Tesco Mobile do not recognise so I cannot stop them. Annoying to me but could be more than annoying to some.
 
StewartR said:
I have an old mobile phone that I need to unlock. (My wife has lost hers, so the plan is that she'll use my old one until hers is recovered / replaced.) My network, Three, say it will take 7 working days. Yet I see adverts on the Internet for services which can do it more-or-less instantly?

So I guess what I want to know is:
- do these online services work?
- how can I be sure?
- is there any difference between what they do and what the network does (apart from speed)?
- why does it take the network so long?
- are there any technical risks?

All help welcome. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I did it recently for a friend. I picked an ebay seller who mentioned the specific phone model in the advert, and who had lots of positive feedback. The cost was about £1.50. We needed to supply the IMEI, current network and phone model, etc. The IMEI was NOT changed by the unlock (which would indeed be illegal - no normal unlocking service does this). Instructions were provided, and the code was messaged to us the same afternoon.
 
Retune said:
I did it recently for a friend. I picked an ebay seller who mentioned the specific phone model in the advert, and who had lots of positive feedback. The cost was about £1.50. We needed to supply the IMEI, current network and phone model, etc. The IMEI was NOT changed by the unlock (which would indeed be illegal - no normal unlocking service does this). Instructions were provided, and the code was messaged to us the same afternoon.
Click to expand...
Are there any security implications giving all those details of your phone to someone you don’t know?
 
I've had 3 Motorola phones unlocked for relatives via a code on ebay all worked fine with no issues.
Boughton originally from Tesco and work with Vodafone sims.

Don't think, nor have encountered any security issues and updates have arrived (as much as they do on these phones).

For £1, you dont have much to lose, and it arrived thr next day. Instructions were clear, my 67yr old father in law walked through them.
 
Meeten said:
I've had 3 Motorola phones unlocked for relatives via a code on ebay all worked fine with no issues.
Boughton originally from Tesco and work with Vodafone sims.

Don't think, nor have encountered any security issues and updates have arrived (as much as they do on these phones).

For £1, you dont have much to lose, and it arrived thr next day. Instructions were clear, my 67yr old father in law walked through them.
Click to expand...

The codes are exactly what they are for these older phones they just change the state in the phones bios nothing fancy.
more expensive phones from Samsung/apple can only be unlocked by them via your mobile phone provider as they have the authority to ask for it.
whn these phones are online the phone simply gets an update over the air and unlocks itself.
 
sphexx said:
Are there any security implications giving all those details of your phone to someone you don’t know?
Click to expand...
Well, it's always possible to think of some (perhaps not very likely) way that personal information can be misused. I suppose a malicious unlocker might report your phone as stolen, or illegally change the IMEI of another phone to match yours (for whatever reason), or use their knowledge of your old phone's model number to send you a phishing email that uses an exploit that was never fixed in the most up to date version of the operating system it supports. I think the IMEI is also used as one of the security identifiers for a Whatsapp account, though to do anything with this also requires your current phone number (not required for unlocking). But to put this in context, most Android users probably have various apps written by strangers installed on their phones, with permission to harvest all sorts of information that can in principle be passed on to whoever.
 
Retune said:
Well, it's always possible to think of some (perhaps not very likely) way that personal information can be misused. ..........
Click to expand...
Yes, I asked the question having seen in the news today that someone in USA had his phone contract transferred illegally to another cellphone network an then had his bitcoins stolen — which were somehow linked to his phone number! In this case the telcos were at fault for not asking for passwords and the whole thing seems very insecure anyway since losing his phone might have had the same effect :(
 
When I wanted to unlock some older phones I was able to do it for free and more-or-less on the spot through 3's web site. Did you use this page?
 
Snapsh0t said:
When I wanted to unlock some older phones I was able to do it for free and more-or-less on the spot through 3's web site. Did you use this page?
Click to expand...
Yes. I used the page you meant to link, which was this page. It's free, but it's certainly not quick. Currently 8½ days and counting...
 
Same as @john.margetts - i've had two or three over the years, unlocked by the local market trader selling phone cases and bits etc.

Always worked just fine for me with no adverts from previous providers
 
StewartR said:
OK, I understand this. Are there any online services which work in a legal fashion?
Click to expand...

There are no unlocks that work by changing the IMEI, I’m not sure there that idea came from (IMEI changing relates to circumventing the lost/stolen blacklist register and is illegal).

Most phones are unlocked via a code that is calculated via software and this is the way most phones are also unlocked via the network. It’s completely legal and doesn’t even impact on warranty (if a handset is still in warranty).

Usually external unlockers either rely on a separate program that calculates the unlocking code or even have access the original manufacturer program that was made to provide the codes (usually via service centres or other authorised uses of the system).

Other phones, like the iPhone rely on a signal sent from a central Apple server, this is how the networks request the unlock (and again, other users have somehow also got access and can submit requests which is how the eBay unlocked can process them).

If it’s a code calculation, there is no risk to the handset to buy a code from eBay if you don’t want to wait.

What make/model are you trying to unlock?
 
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Thanks everyone for their help. I tried one of the numerous services on eBay and it worked perfectly. Response time 14 minutes from when I sent the IMEI, cost £1.35. Very happy.
 
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