Will AT&T unlock my GSM phone?
May 11, 2004, 4:31 pm
#16
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I just switched to ATT from sprint, the service seems fine everywhere but my house. I am now seen in my front yard talking on the phone. I hate that. The dog loves it, it means more walks.
lala
lala
May 11, 2004, 5:48 pm
#17
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skofarrell; I would send a nice email or letter to the FCC on that one... This might start opening up their eyes to this.
Legislation in Europe and some Asian countries made it so ALL phones have to be unlocked on the users request (service charge may be implied) as long as the user has met or WILL meet the contract obligations.
We truly do have an FCC these days that is NOT consumer friendly but rooting for the large broadcast and communication companies.
Legislation in Europe and some Asian countries made it so ALL phones have to be unlocked on the users request (service charge may be implied) as long as the user has met or WILL meet the contract obligations.
We truly do have an FCC these days that is NOT consumer friendly but rooting for the large broadcast and communication companies.
May 12, 2004, 7:12 am
#18
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Yes, I think it is a disgrace that ATT wont unlock phones. One reason I havent dont business with them. As the post above point out, however, it is easy enough to get around this. It is ridiculous to have to buy a phone in countries you visit instead of putting in a SIM. I believe that in the UK the companies are required by law to provide unlock codes for a reasonable price. I bought a prepaid Vodafone phone a few years ago and they charged 30 GBP for the unlock. I thought that was reasonable, I realize it is a business, I dont mind them having charges, but I think total refusal to unlock is unacceptable.
May 12, 2004, 5:55 pm
#19
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Yeah, when I was speaking with a "Supervisor" regarding unlocking my phone he said:
1. We can't do it.
2. We won't do it.
3. It would "Screw up our network and towers if we did it"
When I told him I was just going to have to pay somone $15 to do it:
1. That might be illegal.
2. Our network will tell us and we will shut your phone down.
I can't believe the load of bullsh*t that came out of this guy's mouth.
AT&T can rot in hell.
1. We can't do it.
2. We won't do it.
3. It would "Screw up our network and towers if we did it"
When I told him I was just going to have to pay somone $15 to do it:
1. That might be illegal.
2. Our network will tell us and we will shut your phone down.
I can't believe the load of bullsh*t that came out of this guy's mouth.
AT&T can rot in hell.
Jul 18, 2004, 2:58 am
#20
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After dealing with customer service reps who either had no idea what I was talking about or acted like I was some type of criminal, I went to Chinatown and got the phone (Motorola V600) unlocked for $20. Easy as could be and have used the phone all over the world with local SIM cards with no problems. Plus, provided you're not on a contract with AT&T, you can switch to the more customer friendly TMobile (great service/crappy phones)
Jul 18, 2004, 6:58 am
#21
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Good job TrishBOS. Another option for people is to just buy a discountedm unlocked phone from a dealer that will sell you a wide range of phones (outside the normal range for a given carrier) with a new activation discount. These phones are typically unlocked as well. Or of course by a phone unlocked at retail but if you are a new customer its nice to get the discount.
Jul 18, 2004, 10:25 pm
#22
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Unlocking Nokia phones
Here's a link to unlocking Nokia phones for free. ^
I unlocked my Nokia 6820 at this site, no charge, and it has been great. I used it in UK, South Africa, before, now off to Bali, Thailand and HKG this week: see how well it works there.
Looking for cheap SIM cards for these countries, so the folks at the office can call using cheap prepaid cards.
I unlocked my Nokia 6820 at this site, no charge, and it has been great. I used it in UK, South Africa, before, now off to Bali, Thailand and HKG this week: see how well it works there.
Looking for cheap SIM cards for these countries, so the folks at the office can call using cheap prepaid cards.
Jul 19, 2004, 12:16 am
#23
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An uninformed person here. So we can unlock our cell phones and then when we go to other countries, we can purchase local sim cards and the phone will work there. Is that the basic idea?
Last edited by myefre; Jul 19, 2004 at 12:21 am
Jul 19, 2004, 9:05 am
#24
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Originally Posted by myefre
An uninformed person here. So we can unlock our cell phones and then when we go to other countries, we can purchase local sim cards and the phone will work there. Is that the basic idea?
- GSM phones only.
- Your phone must support the band (e.g. 850, 900, 1800, or 1900 MHz) that the your SIM's service provider operates on.
- Your GSM phone will probably work overseas without being unlocked, using your carrier's SIM, but you'll be roaming - rates start at around $1 per minute and go up from there. Your friends in the foreign country would need to dial a US number to reach you. With a foreign SIM you get a local (non-US) number and pay much less per minute.
OTOH if you don't plan on more than ~30 minutes of calls for the duration of your trip your total cost might be lower to simply roam on your US SIM. That's what I do in the UK.
Jul 19, 2004, 2:31 pm
#25
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If I take my cell phone to England but keep the same US sim card. If I place a call home do I just have to dial the number as if I were back in Texas. I know it would be roaming.
Jul 19, 2004, 2:37 pm
#26
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Originally Posted by myefre
If I take my cell phone to England but keep the same US sim card. If I place a call home do I just have to dial the number as if I were back in Texas. I know it would be roaming.
Usually you dial a plus by holding the pound or star key, check your manual for more on that.
Often you can also just add 00 to dial internationally.
So, to call the us you dial: + 1 123 456 7890
Jul 19, 2004, 3:20 pm
#27
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If you want to, you can add +1 to any/all of the US numbers in your phone book and they will still dial correctly when you're at home or abroad.
At least this works on my TMobile XDA. YMMV.
At least this works on my TMobile XDA. YMMV.
Jul 19, 2004, 3:24 pm
#28
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Originally Posted by pdhenry
If you want to, you can add +1 to any/all of the US numbers in your phone book and they will still dial correctly when you're at home or abroad.
At least this works on my TMobile XDA. YMMV.
At least this works on my TMobile XDA. YMMV.
Jul 21, 2004, 8:54 am
#29
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Right, adding +1 to every number plus area code will work. That is also how you would do it on prepaid SIMs such as Orange or Virgin Mobile.
Jul 21, 2004, 1:56 pm
#30
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Originally Posted by pdhenry
With a couple of caveats, yes:
- GSM phones only.
- Your phone must support the band (e.g. 850, 900, 1800, or 1900 MHz) that the your SIM's service provider operates on.
- Your GSM phone will probably work overseas without being unlocked, using your carrier's SIM, but you'll be roaming - rates start at around $1 per minute and go up from there. Your friends in the foreign country would need to dial a US number to reach you. With a foreign SIM you get a local (non-US) number and pay much less per minute.
OTOH if you don't plan on more than ~30 minutes of calls for the duration of your trip your total cost might be lower to simply roam on your US SIM. That's what I do in the UK.
- GSM phones only.
- Your phone must support the band (e.g. 850, 900, 1800, or 1900 MHz) that the your SIM's service provider operates on.
- Your GSM phone will probably work overseas without being unlocked, using your carrier's SIM, but you'll be roaming - rates start at around $1 per minute and go up from there. Your friends in the foreign country would need to dial a US number to reach you. With a foreign SIM you get a local (non-US) number and pay much less per minute.
OTOH if you don't plan on more than ~30 minutes of calls for the duration of your trip your total cost might be lower to simply roam on your US SIM. That's what I do in the UK.
I checked the cost of GSM sim here in Switzerland yesterday with a SwissCom shop. It turned out that without a plan - that is just to buy a prepaid sim with an alloted number of minutes - it was very nearly the same cost as using my ATT GSM phone service. There was a cost for the sim card plus a cost per unit - a minute per unit within this country and more to call outside Switzerland. The units came out to be about US$0.80. ATT charges US$1.00.
The difference is not worth the bother to me given my usage and the availability of a land line in the rental flat.
Best wishes,
Teacher49