Do unlock codes expire?
Dec 5, 2007, 6:33 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Western U.S.
Posts: 28
Do unlock codes expire?
I was in Italy last week and tried to get an Italian SIM at a TIM store for my Motorola V-190, which is quad band. The people at the store popped in a SIM and I tried to enter the unlock code three times, and each time the message (in Italian) said something to the effect that the unlock code wasn't valid.
When I received the code over the phone from Cingular (now AT&T), I wrote it on a piece of paper and read it back to the Cingular rep to verify that I'd written the unlock code down correctly. So I'm positive that I was using the 8-digit string that Cingular gave me.
The only thing I could think of is that I got the code from Cingular (now AT&T) last October (2006) when I thought I was going to Italy. That trip got cancelled, so more than a year passed since I received the unlock code. It never crossed my mind that an unlock code would expire, but maybe it does.
I was wondering if anyone else had had a similar problem with a more-than-a-year-old unlock code.
Anyway, if I get to take another foreign trip, I'll call AT&T again and try to get another unlock code closer to the trip date.
Thanks!
When I received the code over the phone from Cingular (now AT&T), I wrote it on a piece of paper and read it back to the Cingular rep to verify that I'd written the unlock code down correctly. So I'm positive that I was using the 8-digit string that Cingular gave me.
The only thing I could think of is that I got the code from Cingular (now AT&T) last October (2006) when I thought I was going to Italy. That trip got cancelled, so more than a year passed since I received the unlock code. It never crossed my mind that an unlock code would expire, but maybe it does.
I was wondering if anyone else had had a similar problem with a more-than-a-year-old unlock code.
Anyway, if I get to take another foreign trip, I'll call AT&T again and try to get another unlock code closer to the trip date.
Thanks!
Dec 5, 2007, 6:36 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2000
Posts: 37,486
No, they don't expire. They are calculated based on the serial number of the phone, so as long as that doesn't change it should be the same code. What probably happened is that they issued the wrong code, it wouldn't the be the first time.
Dec 5, 2007, 7:06 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AA 3mm Plat
Posts: 10,067
Dec 6, 2007, 6:40 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: houston
Programs: UA Lifetime Platinum, 2MM since 1981, MAR Lifetime Plat, IHG Plat Amb. Global Entry
Posts: 561
Some phones will not give you the option to enter the unlock code until you place a "foreign" sim card inside.
If you don't have one, perhaps a friend is on T-Mobile? Just borrow his Sim for a few minutes. Or go into a bar and offer a beer to someone to loan you his/hers.
Better sooner, than later, before your trip.
If you don't have one, perhaps a friend is on T-Mobile? Just borrow his Sim for a few minutes. Or go into a bar and offer a beer to someone to loan you his/hers.
Better sooner, than later, before your trip.
Dec 6, 2007, 7:10 am
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: AAdvantage, SkyMiles, USAir, Singapore, BA
Posts: 602
When I received the code over the phone from Cingular (now AT&T), I wrote it on a piece of paper and read it back to the Cingular rep to verify that I'd written the unlock code down correctly. So I'm positive that I was using the 8-digit string that Cingular gave me.
If at first you don't succeed - call the carrier and start from Square One. And have them read back the IMEI.
Last edited by CessnaJock; Dec 6, 2007 at 1:31 pm