Unlocking a Razor

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Mike H. - 24 Aug 2005 14:19 GMT

Hi,

I have a Motorola Razor phone on the way from T-mobile. What must I do to
have it unlocked? I've been a T-mobile customer since 2001.

Cheers,
Mike H.

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K. M. Peterson - 24 Aug 2005 15:49 GMT

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Cheers,
> Mike H.

I'm told that they will happily unlock it for you after your account has
been up 30 days... so you should probably just ask.

_KMP

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Mike H. - 24 Aug 2005 17:10 GMT

Thanks. Good to know that your expectations are for this to be a simple
request. In the old days customer support was so poor that it took a pound
of flesh to get them to unlock a phone. I would buy all of my phones
unlocked from 3rd parties because dealing with them was so costly in time in
aggravation. Now their support appears to be excellent.

Cheers,
Mike H.

>> Hi,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> _KMP

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Corvus - 24 Aug 2005 21:10 GMT

> Thanks. Good to know that your expectations are for this to be a simple
> request. In the old days customer support was so poor that it took a pound
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> >
> > _KMP

Not even 30 days, I got all my handsets unlocked by just asking.
However, on the latest unlock request I was told they will only give
one out per year (or contract term).

A couple of times they seemed sketchy about giving me the code,
thinking I was planning to bolt but I assured them it was because I was
travelling to Canada and using a prepay SIM (Fido/Rogers), then they
seemed happy to oblige. You need to give them your IMEI number and it
takes 3-7 business days.

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Mike H. - 25 Aug 2005 22:53 GMT

Thanks Corvus. The phone arrived and I called T-mobile. I got lucky and
ended up talking to an old timer. He initiated the process the same day I
received the phone and said that I will be contacted by phone or email in 24
hours either with the unlock codes or a procedure to get the codes.

Cheers,
Mike H.

>> Thanks. Good to know that your expectations are for this to be a simple
>> request. In the old days customer support was so poor that it took a
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> seemed happy to oblige. You need to give them your IMEI number and it
> takes 3-7 business days.

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Ben Skversky - 26 Aug 2005 19:51 GMT

What do you mean when you say "unlocking a phone?"

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Cheers,
> Mike H.

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Cyrus Afzali - 26 Aug 2005 20:17 GMT

>What do you mean when you say "unlocking a phone?"

Removing the subsidy lock that's applied to all GSM phones that are
secured through the carrier. Google has loads of information on
unlocking phones.

>> Hi,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>> Cheers,
>> Mike H.

Reply to this Message

Ben Skversky - 27 Aug 2005 01:10 GMT

Thank you, Cyrus, I was just over at Google & got the info I was looking
for.

>>What do you mean when you say "unlocking a phone?"
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>>> Cheers,
>>> Mike H.

Reply to this Message

Joseph - 27 Aug 2005 01:02 GMT

>What do you mean when you say "unlocking a phone?"

So you can use a phone with another carrier and not the one from which
it was purchased. The original carrier usually has the manufacturer
"lock" the phone so only that carrier's SIM will work in it. Other
SIMs will get a "rejected" message if you insert them in a locked
phone.

>> Hi,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>> Cheers,
>> Mike H.

- -

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Mike H. - 29 Aug 2005 15:53 GMT

The phone is now unlocked!

I took delivery of the Razor last Wednesday. That evening I requested
unlocking. Thursday I received an email acknowledging the start of the
unlock process. Friday I receive the unlock code. Pretty simple and quick.
They say it can take two weeks however depending on Motorola. You need a
foreign SIM to initiate the unlocking. I placed my Swisscom SIM in the phone
and upon turning on the phone it requested the unlock code. I entered the
code and then proceeded to registered (roaming) on one of the two available
Cingular towers, as a test.

Cheers,
Mike H.

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Cheers,
> Mike H.

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Mike S. - 29 Aug 2005 17:47 GMT

>The phone is now unlocked!
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>code and then proceeded to registered (roaming) on one of the two available
>Cingular towers, as a test.

Can you manually roam on a T-Mobile tower if you wish, or has T-Mobile
locked out the manual network selection menu?

Reply to this Message

Mike H. - 29 Aug 2005 20:23 GMT

Remember I'm using a Swisscom SIM to test the unlocking of my T-Mobile Razor
phone. What I see under the network menu are two Cingular entries. I have to
select each entry to see the ID numbers, and I don't know what they mean. I
believe one the entries use to be an AT&T tower. I've never tried to
manually select among T-Mobile towers. I would think it would be possible
were I ever afforded such a luxury of choice. Usually when I manually select
a tower it's to choose the cheaper roaming partner. Or it's to avoid having
a SIM start roaming while I'm still in the home area but the roaming
partners tower has a stronger signal. This can get pretty weird.

The manually selection works while not using my T-Mobile / Voicestream SIM.
With the T-Mobile SIM the option to manually select networks appears on the
menu. It shows both Cingular towers but I can not register them of course.
If memory serves, prior to unlocking the phone I could not see the Cingular
towers. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mike H.

>>The phone is now unlocked!
>>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> Can you manually roam on a T-Mobile tower if you wish, or has T-Mobile
> locked out the manual network selection menu?

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