OT: US Cell Carriers Agree to Unlock Phones

[SpokeValley]

When your contract is up, of course...

http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/12/us-carriers-agree-to-unlock-customers-phones-after-pressure-from-fcc/#!

[rice rocket]

T-Mobile has unlocked every phone I've ever asked them to, one month into the contract or 2 years. Tell them you need it for overseas travel and they'll gladly oblige.

[93legendti]

Yup, AT&T unlocked 3 phones for me in June-2 were still under contract.

[AngryScientist]

what does unlocked mean exactly?

i'm not optimistic, but what i want is to be able to use my iPhone on Verizon WITHOUT a data package. nearly everywhere i go has wifi, so i really never use any data. this new ruling doesnt help me there, does it?

[fkelly]

This is a topic that is "loaded" with FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). Even the carriers and their staffs often don't understand what's involved. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 from Verizon, for instance. It, like the IPHONE and other recent phones is supposed to be "unlocked" from the outset, that is from the day you walk out the door with it. I bought mine in May. I was planning a trip to Australia in October. I had numerous warnings that it would not work with a foreign carriers SIM card over there, even though the specs said it would. I talked to both the local Verizon techies here and their Global help line. Just get a SIM card over there and it should work. It's unlocked. Yet I kept reading about problems on tech forums.

Went to Australia, went to Telstra (their Verizon equivalent) office. First two reps told me their SIM card wouldn't work and tried it anyway and couldn't get it to work. Went back to hotel, read the tech Forum threads again, made some notes and went back to Telstra the next day. The rep that day consulted with his tech support, said, "oh it will work you just have to leave the Telstra Sim card in and wait a few hours for it to propagate through the network". Rode a tour bus and waited, it didn't work.

Next day, back to Telstra. Told them that I had to speak to someone who knew what they were talking about with regard to Access Point Names (ACP). Basically, the foreign carrier needs to insert a their own SIM and then change network settings on the phone to have the proper ACP settings for their network. Even the knowledgeable rep there had to look those settings up on the Internet. But poof, when it was done the phone worked immediately on their network.

If you Google something like "verizon unlocking Forum ACP" substituting your carrier and perhaps adding your phone model you'll find what you need as well as a lot of misinformation. But yes, many recent phones come unlocked but also that does not mean that getting them to work properly on a different network is straightforward.

Also, note that unlocking and rooting are two different things entirely but often get conflated in the discussions. You'll be told you need to root your phone and you don't want to go near that unless you are a software developer and can support yourself.

[93legendti]

what does unlocked mean exactly?

i'm not optimistic, but what i want is to be able to use my iPhone on Verizon WITHOUT a data package. nearly everywhere i go has wifi, so i really never use any data. this new ruling doesnt help me there, does it?
You could probably do that with a VoIP provider...like Google Voice, Skype, Viber, etc...I just called my home phone from this iPad with 3G using Skype over wifi...

Unlocked refers to whether or not, for example, an AT&T phone can be used on another provider's network...

[PQJ]

I must be missing something here. VZW unlocked my still on contract phone without any fuss a couple years ago. They did the same to my wife's phone just recently. What's newsworthy about this?

[ultraman6970]

In broken english it means that the phone can be used virtually with any phone provider here or in any part of the world.

An unlocked verizon phone can be used (activated)at att for example. That's the reason unlocked phones a few years back were more expensive than the regular ones, actually samsung or lg offered an unlocked phone like for 100 bucks like a month ago (read in the i-net)



what does unlocked mean exactly?

[MattTuck]

In broken english it means that the phone can be used virtually with any phone provider here or in any part of the world.

An unlocked verizon phone can be used (activated)at att for example. That's the reason unlocked phones a few years back were more expensive than the regular ones, actually samsung or lg offered an unlocked phone like for 100 bucks like a month ago (read in the i-net)


That is not true, I don't believe. Verizon uses a different technology than at&t. I believe sprint and verizon use the same technology, and at&t and tmobile use a competing technology.

[ultraman6970]

I'm giving an example dude... come on.

[Nooch]

Man, Nick, it would be nice to have an iPhone and no data plan...

figure that out, please, and let me know how!

[fkelly]

"i'm not optimistic, but what i want is to be able to use my iPhone on Verizon WITHOUT a data package. nearly everywhere i go has wifi, so i really never use any data. this new ruling doesnt help me there, does it?"

If your phone will connect to a wifi network you can use it anywhere without a data package. However, I doubt that Verizon, for instance, will sell you a smartphone without a data package. They are subsidizing the cost of the phone and making that back (several times over) with the cost of the data package plus the cost of your phone plan.

In Australia recently I got a sim card from Telstra. It only cost like $30 per month but there was a data limit for the data over the cellular network (where there was no wifi, which is most of Australia. However, if you are on a wireless network you can use Skype. When I had to call back to the U.S., I used Skype ... it is close to free. If I had used Telstra's cellular network to make the call I would have paid through the nose.

[floxy1]

Or you could get a Nexus which comes unlocked. I love my 5.

[93legendti]

Or you could get a Nexus which comes unlocked. I love my 5.

And the Nexus 4 is dropping in price on ebay. Mine is my backup. Great phone.

There's also the 7" Asus Fonepad which can be bought unlocked.

[unterhausen]

apparently, enough people are buying phones without a plan that Amazon pushes them when you go search for a cellphone. I'm not sure how to make up that difference though.

Att was nice enough to unlock all of our phones when we went to Europe even though they were all less than 2 years old. But then the plan they offered was attractive enough that we didn't go off network after all.

[4Rings6Stars]

Man, Nick, it would be nice to have an iPhone and no data plan...

figure that out, please, and let me know how!

Get a cheap flip phone with no data plan and carry around an ipod touch or an ipad mini...or an old iphone that is no longer activated.

[Exonerv]

While this is on the Sprint network, the cellular/data coverage has worked quite well in our area (NC)

Republic Wireless offer the Moto-X for $299.
(-100 rebate if you turn in another Motorola phone)

Calls can be made on wi-fi or cellular and they've gotten pretty good with the hand-off from one to another.

My unlimited 3G plan runs me $25 per month.
4G is available for $40.
For $10 per month you get unlimited texts & calls.
For $5 per month, you get calls/data over wifi only.

And you can switch your plan, through the phone up to twice a month. Pretty slick....

I use an ipad/ipod practically non-stop, and have been very happy with Moto-X. It's a great phone for my needs.

https://republicwireless.com/plans

[cachagua]

Get a cheap flip phone with no data plan and carry around an old iphone that is no longer activated.

Interesting! I have those two devices, what do I do with them?

[lukasz]

That is not true, I don't believe. Verizon uses a different technology than at&t. I believe sprint and verizon use the same technology, and at&t and tmobile use a competing technology.

The iPhone and others now accept SIM cards even if you get the Verizon (CDMA) version.

[93legendti]

Here's a new, reasonable option:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H0MGCDK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Motorola Moto G unlocked Android phone. 16gb, $199.

[rice rocket]

I like the idea of that phone, but still too many choices.

"Global GSM"? "Global US"?

Apple has one thing right, and it's consumer choice confuses 80% of buyers. Most people like to be told what to buy.

[kramnnim]

Interesting! I have those two devices, what do I do with them?

Carry around both of them...lol.

Can they even tell that sort of phone you are using, if you were to switch over an off contract smartphone over to a voice only line? Thought it was something that can be done over phone.

[fogrider]

I like the idea of that phone, but still too many choices.

"Global GSM"? "Global US"?

Apple has one thing right, and it's consumer choice confuses 80% of buyers. Most people like to be told what to buy.

that's because most people are dumb. there are two technologies for cell phones GSM and cdma. GSM is used by AT&T, T-Mobile (and others), Verizon, Sprint, and Virgin Mobile use cdma. GSM use sim cards which can be switched out to change carriers. I'm not sure how to switch carriers with cdma, I think you just need to call the carrier and give them the phone id numbers.

here's another option for GSM.
http://ultra.me/plan/19

[gomango]

Get a cheap flip phone with no data plan and carry around an ipod touch or an ipad mini...or an old iphone that is no longer activated.

Precisely what we do when we travel in Europe.

Had the phone available in a pinch and then used wifi on a Touch.

Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, Northern Italy, Germany and the Czeck Republic. Picked up the phone in Prague when we landed, loaded it with a hour of air time and ended up with 59 minutes five weeks later. Travelled extensively through the listed countries and if all else failed, asked for help.

Used the Touch to plan city walking routes in advance and on board gps in the BMW when travelling from city to city.

Worked fine. Granted it was an elcheapo solution, but it was easy to do.

Especially nice was the use of wifi at a local bar that was seaside on Trogir in Croatia.:)

[PQJ]

that's because most people are dumb. there are two technologies for cell phones GSM and cdma. GSM is used by AT&T, T-Mobile (and others), Verizon, Sprint, and Virgin Mobile use cdma. GSM use sim cards which can be switched out to change carriers. I'm not sure how to switch carriers with cdma, I think you just need to call the carrier and give them the phone id numbers.

here's another option for GSM.
http://ultra.me/plan/19

A lot (most?) smartphones these days work on both. I have an iphone with Verizon. When I travel overseas, I pop in a local sim (mostly on a gsm network) and have no issues.

[lookout2015]

The iPhone and others now accept SIM cards even if you get the Verizon (CDMA) version.

However depending on the version Verizon iPhones are still carrier-locked. Verizon will unlock such devices for overseas use if you're a customer in good standing *and* if they haven't done it for you recently -- but not for use on another carrier's network within the US.

[tribarbet]

AT&T unlocked mine. They gave me a code to use through iTunes. It was very simple.

[aramis]

well I got an old verizon iphone 4s and I'm going to see if I can get it working on "Straight Talk" so it's $45 /mo instead of spending $100 a month or so through verizon or ATT. Wish me luck. I just ordered a sim and apparently it should work.