unlocking motorola razr
 

I have just signed up with T-Mobile, and recieved a Motorola Razr phone. I was wondering if anyone has any experience in having the Razr unlocked, so that it will accept other sim cards. Thanks

If you can wait 90 days, TMobile will be happy to oblige.

On the other hand, if you have a friend with a TMobile account >90 days they can get it unlocked for you (I think) although the friend can only get one unlock code every 90 days per active account.

Thanks for the quick reply and info. I will wait the 90 days, as I have an older phone that is unlocked.

If you're in the LA area, there are quite a few places in the San Gabriel Valley, that'll unlock your phone for $10.00. I had to wait 5 minutes. Totally worth it. Can't justify paying $2.35 cents a minute for international roaming (Cingular).

I'll probably get one of these when I'm in LA next week. They don't seem to have them here in France. Anyone have any issues using these phones with US software while in Europe? Does the MWI work?

Is the unlocking service legal?

Yes. The service provider might not like it (though there's absolutely no way for them to know), but it's perfectly legal.

In fact I might go so far as to say that locking the phone by a public carrier is illegal in the first place. Maybe someone will spend the legal funds to establish that someday. However it could seriously change the business model for mobile phones if that happened.

ACTUALLY, the law doesn't quite agree with you there. There is such a thing as the DMCA, and it can be invoked in these matters. And then there is the operator agreement; often when you purchase a phone or signup for service you agree to certain clauses regarding unlocking.

There still is no open and shut answer for unlocking, but for the time being I'll let this disucssion stay open.

We got my hubby's motorazr from Bangkok and it was already unlocked. But for our previous phones, hubby got some software which basically unlocked them so that I could use it when I was India and when we were travelling.

Read this link for further explanation/discussion. Short answer...I wouldn't worry too much about the legality of it. It seems to be something of a gray area. The chances of facing any kind of prosecution/legal action for unlocking your phone in the US seem to be somewhere between slim and none. If anyone can point me to a case specifically detailing legal action regarding unlocking a cell phone I'd love to read it. I'll grant you that DMCA suits have been brought...but again, show me something related specifically to cells.

Here is another link.

I think the main thing to consider is the reason that phones are locked. A nice new RAZR from Cingular is going to cost you (depending on the current deal) about $100 with a 2-year service commitment. The cost of the phone is being subsidized by Cingular...it doesn't really cost $100. If you bought it straight from Motorola already "unlocked" (if you could) it would cost you ~$400. Cingular is picking up the difference because they plan on making it up on your service contract over the 2 years. The "lock" is supposed to ensure that you can't use the phone with another provider...the worry being that you'd get an expensive phone for next to nothing, then default on the contract and take your nice new phone to another provider with a cheaper service plan.

I'm a gadget freak, and have (in the last 2 years alone) owned 6 SIM card-based phones that started out locked. Some of them I've unlocked myself (Nokias). The cell companies have provided me with others. Without fail when I've called the company and told them I needed it unlocked for an overseas trip they've given me the code. Even when I'd only been a subscriber for 2 weeks in one case.

Unlock it...but keep paying your bill. I seriously doubt you'll have any problems with John Law.

It would be impossible (unless you returned your phone for warranty service) for your carrier to find out if you unlocked your phone.

AT&T was the only US GSM carrier who refused to give out unlock codes. T-Mobile and Cingular do, if you have fulfilled a few months of your contract. Although I've heard that Cingular is starting to give you the run around now if you request unlock codes from them (depending on who you talk to).

Bottom line: Need your phone unlocked? Nicely ask your carrier. If they say no, plenty of people will do it for $10-20. Nothing to worry about.

Well I went to a Cingular Store today in LA and bought a RAZR V3 for the full retail price. Since I've had a contract for a while with Cingular and I explained to them my travel patterns, they agreed to unlock the phone. They told me several times that this was an unusual situation.

Now where do I get a USB cable to connect the phone to my PC? They don't sell those at Cingular stores apparently. :confused:

I tried many a time to have Cingular unlock my phone (old AT&T customer). They said they couldn't do it and never unlocked phones.

To give a little more background, the key points were that I paid full retail price for the phone and that some Cingular customer service guy on the phone had to OK it. We had to fax the receipt to him. The store doesn't have unlock codes themselves.