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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Cingular / November 2005Phone locked?
How can one tell if his or her phone is locked? Do you have to "know" by virtue of how you obtained it? I have a RAZR V3, and I've been unable to find anywhere that such info can be obtained... DustyB San Jose >How can one tell if his or her phone is locked? Try a SIM from a different carrier; e.g., at a dealer, or from a friend. >Do you have to "know" by >virtue of how you obtained it? If you get it from a carrier in the USA, then it's probably locked.  SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> I'll try to be a PC as possible in my answer: Did he or she buy said phone from a wireless dealer? specifically he or she buy it from a T-Mobile or Cingular dealer or indirect? When he or she bought the phone did he or she sign a contract for his ir her service? Is the phone he or she owns branded? That is, when he or she starts up or shutsdown his or her phone does he or she see logos associated with a specific wireless carrier such as T-Mobile or Cingular? If his or her phone is working on the network he or she subscribes to, why does it matter if his or her phone is locked? Actually, the easiest way to determine if his or her phone is unlocked is to put a SIM in it from another wireless carrier and see if his or her phone starts. >How can one tell if his or her phone is locked? Do you have to "know" by >virtue of how you obtained it? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >DustyB >San Jose G'day all; Thanks to both of you for the swift reply. I wuz hopin' that there was someplace in that morass of features and functions where one could go and quickly see if such a "feature" is listed or enabled (or not). > I'll try to be a PC as possible in my answer: Well, thanks, Bob. But you certainly don't need to do that on my account...I'm a big boy...I can handle the truth...(;-o)! > Did he or she buy said phone from a wireless dealer? specifically he > or she buy it from a T-Mobile or Cingular dealer or indirect? When he > or she bought the phone did he or she sign a contract for his ir her > service? I bought it from some on-line seller of that kind of product/service. I believe service was included...or at least the selection of a service provider. In hindsight, if I hadn't been in the middle needing a more up-to-date phone, wanting to flip the bird to Nextel, *and* having to get everything done in order to go cross-country at that time, I probably would have just bought it from M. I found a convenient vendor that promised that they would transfer my number and bought it without much consideration for these rather more prosaic issues... (I think this is the spot where one reflects that they get too soon old and too late smart!) I really didn't know that much about this underworld of phone info that I've found here (BTW; thank you all very much). It was just a gadget that served a specific purpose for us. > Is the phone he or she owns branded? That is, when he or she starts > up or shutsdown his or her phone does he or she see logos associated > with a specific wireless carrier such as T-Mobile or Cingular? Yep. I do. Cingular. Although it's just the word listed near the top left of the screen. There seems to be no logo involved. However, on closer inspection I found the word "Cingular" stamped on the battery cover. So, I'd guess that it fits your description as a "branded" phone. > If his or her phone is working on the network he or she subscribes to, > why does it matter if his or her phone is locked? It was a curiosity question. I read so much about folks wanting to unlock their phones, and having trouble if they travel--esp. off-shore. Since I intend to be doing that, I just wanted to find out what the status of the phone was so I could be ready to either toss it or buy something else. As a service, Cingular has been okay for me...so far. They seem to have better connectivity than I'd had with Nextel--at least in the places where I've been so far. I just want to be able to go to Asia and Europe w/o having to jump through any hoops... > Actually, the easiest way to determine if his or her phone is unlocked > is to put a SIM in it from another wireless carrier and see if his or > her phone starts. Sure! I'm sure all you phone fanatics reading here have a handful of those lying around...right? Unfortunately, the rest of us don't! (:-o)! Anyway, thanks for getting back to me on this issue. Thank you! DustyB San Jose >>How can one tell if his or her phone is locked? Do you have to "know" by >>virtue of how you obtained it? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >>DustyB >>San Jose >Thanks to both of you for the swift reply. I wuz hopin' that there was >someplace in that morass of features and functions where one could go and >quickly see if such a "feature" is listed or enabled (or not). Not in this case. SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> ... >>I wuz hopin' that there was >>someplace in that morass of features and functions where one could go and >>quickly see if such a "feature" is listed or enabled (or not). > > Not in this case. Drat! Is there a downside to just using one of those unlocking services and getting it unlocked? I'm not interested in leaving my service provider, so what would be the difficulty or harm? DustyB >... >>>I wuz hopin' that there was [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >getting it unlocked? I'm not interested in leaving my service provider, so >what would be the difficulty or harm? The potential downside is having the phone lost or trashed. SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> > ... > >>I wuz hopin' that there was [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > DustyB unlocking your phone doesn't in any way add features or make the phone better in any way. .it just allows you to use the phone on a different network then you originally purchased the phone from. what features are you looking to add??? ... >> Is there a downside to just using one of those unlocking services and >> getting it unlocked? I'm not interested in leaving my service provider, >> so >> what would be the difficulty or harm? ... > unlocking your phone doesn't in any way add features or make the phone > better in any way. .it just allows you to use the phone on a different > network then you originally purchased the phone from. > what features are you looking to add??? Being able to travel to Canada, England, SA, Malaysia, Australia, and Japan next month (regretfully only business) and being able to get/make calls w/o having to fool around w/the darn thing... TIA, DustyB > Being able to travel to Canada, England, SA, Malaysia, Australia, and > Japan next month (regretfully only business) and being able to get/make > calls w/o having to fool around w/the darn thing... That phone won't work in Japan no matter how much you 'fool around with it'. JL ... >> Being able to travel to Canada, England, SA, Malaysia, Australia, and >> Japan next month (regretfully only business) and being able to get/make >> calls w/o having to fool around w/the darn thing... > That phone won't work in Japan no matter how much you 'fool around with > it'. So what do you suggest? DustyB > JL >... >>> Being able to travel to Canada, England, SA, Malaysia, Australia, and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> it'. >So what do you suggest? Renting a phone is what most people do when they go to Japan. Some have the ability to use a GSM SIM in their proprietary Japanese phones. - - > ... >>> Being able to travel to Canada, England, SA, Malaysia, Australia, and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> it'. > So what do you suggest? Japan has neither GSM nor prepaid, so if you want to use a phone you'll have to roam using a phone different from what you have, or borrow a local's. You should be able to roam on the two UMTS networks there with a Cingular SIM in a 3G handset (that you'll have to buy or rent), and it's not going to be cheap. JL >How can one tell if his or her phone is locked? Do you have to "know" by >virtue of how you obtained it? > >I have a RAZR V3, and I've been unable to find anywhere that such info can >be obtained... If you put a SIM from a network other than the one where the handset was bought the phone will reject it if it's locked. - - |
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