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New Law -Ok to Hack your Phone to another carrier now

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128772296
"Another exemption will allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their phones in order to switch wireless carriers."

Apple's restrictive obsession finally bit them in the a$$...

This is fine and dandy indeed, but do you really think the wireless service providers aren't going to throw heaps of lobbyist money to thwart this effort?

All phones in the USA should come sim unlocked prior to buying the phone. Carriers should worry and concentrate on their data supplied and packages.
Not worry about "locking" down cells lure buyers to their company because they sim locked the phone to their network.
USA needs too learn a few more things from Europe.

Yes but what about the case of Verizon phones where they don't use SIM cards? would they be required to switch to an "unlockable" phone setup? I'm thinking no, in which case what you may see in the case of other carriers is that their special phones (like iphone) are going to be locked down in the same manner as Verizon, i.e. SIM cardless

monty_boy said:
This is fine and dandy indeed, but do you really think the wireless service providers aren't going to throw heaps of lobbyist money to thwart this effort?
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It's apparently a done deal.
The DOJ has also launched a probe into the legality of the Apple/ATT deal... Something like 90% of their cases always win. So in other words, when the DOJ launches an investigation against you, you're screwed (they basically have the case built, just not officially).
Like I said earlier, Apple shot themselves in the foot with this one.

the problem si that there still lowed to put these restrictions on in the first place. there should be an option in a menu somewhere that says hey do you want to only user the appstore or would you like to be able to sideload apps. from those ive spoken to over 90% of people don't understand what a root or jailbreak is.

Hepæstus said:
Yes but what about the case of Verizon phones where they don't use SIM cards? would they be required to switch to an "unlockable" phone setup? I'm thinking no, in which case what you may see in the case of other carriers is that their special phones (like iphone) are going to be locked down in the same manner as Verizon, i.e. SIM cardless
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Verizon and have been switching their phones over to sim compatible

is there a reason why the MOST IMPORTANT site isnt linked...
https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/07/26
GG KK THX BYE!

But... Warranty? will be void still? I don't see nothing about this.

Ummm... Maybe the NPR article took this out of context.
On EFF's request, the Librarian of Congress renewed a 2006 rule exempting cell phone unlocking so handsets can be used with other telecommunications carriers. Cell phone unlockers have been successfully sued under the DMCA, even though there is no copyright infringement involved in the unlocking. Digital locks on cell phones make it harder to resell, reuse, or recycle the handset, prompting EFF to ask for renewal of this rule on behalf of our clients, The Wireless Alliance, ReCellular and Flipswap. However, the 2009 rule has been modified so that it only applies to used mobile phones, not new ones.
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This seems to mean that the carrier can still lock them, they just can't refuse to unlock them after purchase (IE, after becoming "used").
newalopez said:
But... Warranty? will be void still? I don't see nothing about this.
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This is all about copyright... In other words, you bought the device you can do what the hell you want with it and Apple can't sue you.
This doesn't mean the App Store is going away or anything else, it basically just establishes into law that Apple can't hold someone at fault for using a device the way they want to use it.
If you do things to the device that aren't supported, you're still SOL. If you pour anti-freeze into your oil of your vehicle, for instance, Toyota or whomever isn't going to support it if you don't follow their manual.
So yes, they still have every right to void your warranty. However as usual, flashing back to stock firmware will net you warranty terms again obviously.

Hhmmm...
How will this ever be enforced? Will the carriers do in store unlocks for "used" phones? Can me and a friend buy phones, sell it to each other for $1 and get them unlocked on the spot!?
...this is gonna be CHAOS! lol

Gootah said:
How will this ever be enforced? Will the carriers do in store unlocks for "used" phones? Can me and a friend buy phones, sell it to each other for $1 and get them unlocked on the spot!?
...this is gonna be CHAOS! lol
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Click to collapse
No it won't be chaos... It really doesn't change much. Instead of doing it after 180 days they're required to as soon as it's "used" (I guess as soon as you buy it??). It also establishes more of a no-questions-asked policy versus having to tell them you travel internationally or something.
The main gist of this thing was aimed at Apple, this just happened to be a side affect.

Well at least here in my country (Portugal), new law was approved this month, now carriers must unlock all phones for free at the end of the contracts.

In my opinion there are two sides to it :
1) If the Service Provider (Sprint, AT&T etc.) gives a subsidy or discount as part of the contract, they should be allowed to network lock the phones since the consumer has not paid the full price of the phone and not fulfilled the contract. However, with the completion of the contract, the service provider should unlock the phone for free.(I am only talking abt the network lock here)
2) If the consumer has paid the full amount, then the phones should come unlocked.
As far as 'Jailbreaking' or installing softwares is concerned, the consumer should have the right to do so in any of the above 2 cases since he is the owner/user of the phone. The Manufacturer or Service provider has NO right to lock that portion. However, they should have the right to void warranty as there is a chance that the user may install potetially harmfull sofware on the phone thereby damaging it.
However, if the law comes that people are able to network unlock their phones legally, there is a chance that the service providers might stop subsidising the phones and ask for upfront payment.

Mikey1022 said:
All phones in the USA should come sim unlocked prior to buying the phone. Carriers should worry and concentrate on their data supplied and packages.
Not worry about "locking" down cells lure buyers to their company because they sim locked the phone to their network.
USA needs too learn a few more things from Europe.
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Click to collapse
i highly agree with you! they should work on providing better network, and data coverage i.e. ATT. they do have a fairly big clientele but is there service worth me moving from tmous. i dont think so. my x girl has att and she can barely get coverage in her house and we live in a city you would think got excellent coverage. SAN FRANCISCO!

Hepæstus said:
Yes but what about the case of Verizon phones where they don't use SIM cards? would they be required to switch to an "unlockable" phone setup? I'm thinking no, in which case what you may see in the case of other carriers is that their special phones (like iphone) are going to be locked down in the same manner as Verizon, i.e. SIM cardless
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Click to collapse
i think they should just phase out with the CDMA phones little by little and start intro'ing with the GSM'. same goes for sprint

Truth be told, CDMA is a superior technology but that's a debate for a different thread.
As far as Sprint and Verizon are concerned, their phones are just as "unlockable" as GSM handsets. MVNO carriers like Revol wireless and Page Plus live off of old beat up verizon and sprint phones. They simply need to be reflashed. With a little google-ing, it can be done fairly easily.

say goodbye to phone subsidies

Great deal. Now it would be a better deal if carriers stop installing crap and bloat that you can't remove or not giving root access to the phone owner which is silly imo, lets see how many are willing to buy a computer without admin rights.

[Q] Selling ATT HTC OneXL Internationally?

I'm looking to sell my ATT Htc OneXL and have had inquiries from overseas (currently I'm in the US). If I sell this to someone overseas, as is (no unlocked anything etc) will it still be able to work in whichever country they're in with a sim card they buy (I know LTE isn't available abroad)? And if that's not the case, will unlocking it via the new 2.20 exploit method, allow someone to use it overseas? Thanks!

shankinstuff said:
I'm looking to sell my ATT Htc OneXL and have had inquiries from overseas (currently I'm in the US). If I sell this to someone overseas, as is (no unlocked anything etc) will it still be able to work in whichever country they're in with a sim card they buy (I know LTE isn't available abroad)? And if that's not the case, will unlocking it via the new 2.20 exploit method, allow someone to use it overseas? Thanks!
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It "can" work on other carriers sim cards but it must first be sim-unlocked which most not be confused with the bootloader unlocked that you refered to as the new 2.20 exploit. ATT will sim-unlock your device for free if your account with them is in good standing, and there are other sites that will sim-unlock your device for a small fee. The 2.20 exploit has nothing to do with the sim card though.

In isolated cases, some people have been having trouble getting the SIM unlocked from paid unlocking services. If that is the case for the foreign buyer, they are going to be dissatisfied, and probably seek a return/refund, even if you state in the terms of the transaction that the phone is sold as-is and SIM locked. You would still be in the right to refuse a return, but its going to result in a pissed-off buyer, nonetheless. Not a position I would want to be in, personally. Plus, I would think that there would be enough interest from US buyers, that you would not have to hassle with a foreign sale. Especially once you add in the cost of shipping to a foreign location.
And as already mentioned, root and bootloader unlock do not get you SIM unlock. Might be possible with S-Off, but that has not yet been achieved. There is no way to get SIM unlock, aside from AT&T or paid services.

ImagioX1 said:
It "can" work on other carriers sim cards but it must first be sim-unlocked which most not be confused with the bootloader unlocked that you refered to as the new 2.20 exploit. ATT will sim-unlock your device for free if your account with them is in good standing, and there are other sites that will sim-unlock your device for a small fee. The 2.20 exploit has nothing to do with the sim card though.
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Thanks for the info. I'm in good standing with ATT so hopefully they'll allow me to sim-unlock it. Thanks again

redpoint73 said:
In isolated cases, some people have been having trouble getting the SIM unlocked from paid unlocking services. If that is the case for the foreign buyer, they are going to be dissatisfied, and probably seek a return/refund, even if you state in the terms of the transaction that the phone is sold as-is and SIM locked. You would still be in the right to refuse a return, but its going to result in a pissed-off buyer, nonetheless. Not a position I would want to be in, personally. Plus, I would think that there would be enough interest from US buyers, that you would not have to hassle with a foreign sale. Especially once you add in the cost of shipping to a foreign location.
And as already mentioned, root and bootloader unlock do not get you SIM unlock. Might be possible with S-Off, but that has not yet been achieved. There is no way to get SIM unlock, aside from AT&T or paid services.
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Thanks for the info. Yeah, I'm in good standing with ATT (as far as I know) and would prefer to get it sim-unlocked on my end before shipping it overseas just so the buyer has no problems with it.
I've had a hard time finding a US buyer. I've posted the phone on Swappa and Craigslist. Lots of looks but no real interest it seems like. If you can recommend some other places I might be able to try and sell it, I would appreciate it. Thanks for the info none the less!

I think 11/06/2012 is the date AT&T will officially start to allow the One X to be sim unlocked (by them for free). AT&T Customer care will let you know for sure. The online unlocking guys do it for less than $5 if you don't have luck with AT&T or don't have the patience to wait for them. Price is the key factor in selling anything, if priced right it will go fast. Priced poorly and it will linger with little interest.

shankinstuff said:
Thanks for the info. Yeah, I'm in good standing with ATT (as far as I know) and would prefer to get it sim-unlocked on my end before shipping it overseas just so the buyer has no problems with it.
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AT&T may or may not give the SIM unlock code to you. Technically, they don't need to give it to you for a period of 10 months after the phone was released (May 2012) per their policy. But have given the code for some devices after 6 months (which is right about now). Some people have already gotten the code for the One X. Being a long time customer, and multiple lines may have been a factor. There is really no guarantee. But certainly doesn't hurt to ask.
shankinstuff said:
I've had a hard time finding a US buyer. I've posted the phone on Swappa and Craigslist. Lots of looks but no real interest it seems like. If you can recommend some other places I might be able to try and sell it, I would appreciate it.
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Click to collapse
eBay. Lots more exposure than Craigslist (just going to get local attention), and I've never even heard of Swappa. Maybe I'm just out of the loop about that website. But everyone has heard of eBay.
Looks like some really good activity on eBay for the AT&T One X. Not surprising, since its a great phone still. Not sure what you expect to get. But it looks like lots of AT&T One X's going for $200-300 with time still left in the auctions (depending on condition).

I called and 11/6/12 is the end of the att HTC one x exclusive thingy. This was two weeks ago but my phone was already unlocked when it arrived.
Sent from my One X

Possbile sad time for unlockers with the DMCA law.

Just FYI for anyone who will buy a cell phone or tablet from a wireless company in the US, regardless of brand. Tmonews .com has an article about a new law that takes effect on the 26th making it illegal to unlock your devices and then use them on other networks.
I don't know if the Transformer line have cellular models in the US yet. It may also depend if Asus sells them directly to customers carrier unlocked (like Apple or Google does) and you just pop a simcard or through cell companies. I can see how it would be nice to have 3g/4g signal on a tablet instead of turning on hotspot from the phone.
I hope this gets turned down fast as yet again they are telling us what we can and can't do with a product we buy in this law.

This is a SIM unlock matter with US carrier branded devices.
It was announced last year. So this is not really "news" at this point.
IF you buy a carrier branded device that is SIM locked for a specific carrier network, "legally" you'll only be able to get the SIM unlock code from the carrier. And given how carriers have rules for giving up the unlock code, that favors them.
Anyone who buys an unlocked device has nothing to worry about. Our Infinities are not locked to any carrier and no US carrier has a branded Infinity. So this is not a concern for us.
Personally I'm with a pre-pay carrier and intend to buy unlocked devices going forward anyway.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

AW: Possbile sad time for unlockers with the DMCA law.
And that's why I'm happy to be able to buy unlocked phones and tablets and choose my carrier later.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium

Haha the US made a law forbidding users to do whatever they want with a device they paid good money for?
Can anyone say dictatorship?
Glad I'm Australian.

stevles said:
Haha the US made a law forbidding users to do whatever they want with a device they paid good money for?
Can anyone say dictatorship?
Glad I'm Australian.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rational for the most recent decision is this. Someone signs up for a 2 year carrier contract and gets a phone free. (Or they get it at a price much lower than the actual cost of the device.) They then unlock that phone via 3rd party means and then leave the carrier. The EFT fee they may pay ends up being less than the cost of the device they obtained for free. So the carrier ends up losing a customer and losing money overall. The ruling is to thwart that kind of thing, or at least that's the position being taken.
People who pay full price for a device should still be able to get the unlock code and people who obtain a subsidized device should be able to get the unlock code after they've either paid off the device or meet other obligations as determined by their contract. They will need to get that code from the carrier, but they should be granted it. (I must say, I asked T-Mobile USA for unlock codes before I left them and they didn't send them to me in the timeframe they promised. I waited a week and got nothing. I ended up SIM unlocking on my own via a utility on this site.)
Anyone who buys an unlocked (International) device can do as they please and its already SIM unlocked anyway with no carrier ties.
Bottom line, don't buy things with the carrier's brand on them. Things with their brand are subject to their rules.
I've left the full service carriers and I'm not looking back.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

They should just adjust the contracts. In Switzerland you have to pay a lot if you want to buy out of a contract.
Or you quit it but you can't do that before the end of the period written in the contract. This way I can unlock my phone as I want but the carrier still gets his money.
I don't understand why America needs a law for that.

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
The rational for the most recent decision is this. Someone signs up for a 2 year carrier contract and gets a phone free. (Or they get it at a price much lower than the actual cost of the device.) They then unlock that phone via 3rd party means and then leave the carrier. The EFT fee they may pay ends up being less than the cost of the device they obtained for free. So the carrier ends up losing a customer and losing money overall. The ruling is to thwart that kind of thing, or at least that's the position being taken.
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Click to collapse
Here in Quebec (Canada), they passed Bill 60 not far from three years ago, they basically take the rebate they gave you, divided by 36 months (3 year contracts). It repays slowly each month, if you wanna break the contract you pay what's left to pay. Let's say a 600$ phone you got free (so 600$ rebate), you pay 300$ to cancel after a year and a half. Carriers still are the winners in this, but it's not too bad if you got a good plan and you're a bit lucky. Before, we had to pay 20$ per month remaining on contract + variable cancellation fee (depending on the carrier), minimum 100$ and pretty much no maximum (I think it was 600$). Back then, I had to pay over 250$ to break a 1 year remaining contract with Rogers with a crappy Samsung sliding-keyboard phone).
How are early cancellation fees calculated in US? I'd love to see how in hell can someone pay his phone cheaper by going with a plan and cancelling out immediately.

carrier/network unlocking

i'm still on pay as you go mainly bc i like my deal and i tend to switch phones a lot so i'm not very sure about contracts and stuff.
anyways my friend recently got an upgrade handset (sony xperia sp) but doesnt want it bc got an iphone from work. he's willing to sell it to me for a fraction of what it's worth and i'd be happy to buy the only thing is i'm an o2 customer and it's locked to tmobile.
i know phone unlocking is possible (although i'm sure i read somewhere recently that a handset can only be unlocked one a contract has ended - anyone confirm whether or not this is true?)
there is a shop in town that's very popular for phone unlocking a private shop (i'm guessng they dont use the cleanest of methods) and i have always used them in the past...... just not on such an expensive handset. i dont want to buy it take it there and they try unlock it and end up messing up something else (as i heard using certain method could damage the handset - again can anyone confirm this?)
on the tmob website it says that handsets can be unlocked for a fee but that you must have been a customer to that netowrk for 6months. so since i'm not a customer to that network i guess they wont unlock it.....
any advice? i dont want to buy the handset and realise i cant get it unlocked. and i want to stay with o2.

neonflash said:
i'm still on pay as you go mainly bc i like my deal and i tend to switch phones a lot so i'm not very sure about contracts and stuff.
anyways my friend recently got an upgrade handset (sony xperia sp) but doesnt want it bc got an iphone from work. he's willing to sell it to me for a fraction of what it's worth and i'd be happy to buy the only thing is i'm an o2 customer and it's locked to tmobile.
i know phone unlocking is possible (although i'm sure i read somewhere recently that a handset can only be unlocked one a contract has ended - anyone confirm whether or not this is true?)
there is a shop in town that's very popular for phone unlocking a private shop (i'm guessng they dont use the cleanest of methods) and i have always used them in the past...... just not on such an expensive handset. i dont want to buy it take it there and they try unlock it and end up messing up something else (as i heard using certain method could damage the handset - again can anyone confirm this?)
on the tmob website it says that handsets can be unlocked for a fee but that you must have been a customer to that netowrk for 6months. so since i'm not a customer to that network i guess they wont unlock it.....
any advice? i dont want to buy the handset and realise i cant get it unlocked. and i want to stay with o2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Private shops are probably fine for a SIM unlock code. Just make sure they acquire an unlock code from your IMEI and unlock it using the standard processes. There are a number of unlock shops around the internet that I'd have a much harder time trusting - but you should at least look around and see what the prices are before going in to your private shop so you can argue the price. Sometimes you get lucky and find a free source of unlock codes online, but beware of scams.

Oafed said:
Private shops are probably fine for a SIM unlock code. Just make sure they acquire an unlock code from your IMEI and unlock it using the standard processes. There are a number of unlock shops around the internet that I'd have a much harder time trusting - but you should at least look around and see what the prices are before going in to your private shop so you can argue the price. Sometimes you get lucky and find a free source of unlock codes online, but beware of scams.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
put it into the shop today.
checked out 2 of the better known private shops for this and both quoted 5-7 days! i had no idea it would take so long :/
i'm pretty sure they used to do it in an hour and for a quarter of the price.
anyhoo i left it there.

The word is that the phone locks to carrier on sim insertion.

Interesting. So does this mean that the phone is technically "unlocked". This is going to play out a little differently with me because I purposely ordered a T-Mobile version for use on AT&T because of my experience with the Note 4. Now I am a bit worried because I wonder what routine the phone uses and if it locks the bootloader if I put an ATT sim in it first. I guess that is the risk you run when you want to step up to the plate first. I think I will wait before I stick a sim in the phone as I would hate for me to be locked out of it by ATT. Not sure if I am going to root this one or not, wavering on keeping it stock and will for a while until the brains get there hands on it and I get more information on the downsides.
http://www.gsmarena.com/galaxy_s7_a...cks_to_the_first_inserted_sim_-news-16902.php
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Along these same lines is the question of whether or not the US S7's/S7E's have hardware support for all bands, cdma and gsm, and its just a software block that will be on them? I've seen posted elsewhere the FCC filings that seem to point to one US model of both phones that work on all carriers but nobody seems to know any specifics.
I'm blown away by the fact that all these major Android and Tech blogs go to these conferences and have Samsung tech people right in front of them and they don't ask these kinds of questions. If each phone was capable of working on all bands in the US, holy crap that's huge, and would mean that maybe at some point we would have a chance at an unlocked US phone that wasn't tied to any carriers. Wishful thinking, I know, with Samsung.
Edit: Found this thread over in the regular S7 section, thought if someone stumbled on this thread in S7E it would be useful to follow. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/how-to/finally-single-hardware-variant-carriers-t3308040

I've always bought HTC One and before that, I used to own iPhones... I could always buy a factory unlocked HTC online no hassles, so I am new to this and I am SO CONFUSED!
I want to buy an unlocked S7 Edge with a Snapdragon 820 to use in South America. I have a friend that can bring me the phone from USA, but there is no way to buy one.
1) Where can I check the bands used on the AT&T vs T-Mobile one to see which one is better for me?
2) I spoke with T-Mobile rep and he said phone must be tied to a plan for 7 days for them to unlock it (this is paying the full $800 for the phone), is it easy to have my friend make an account with T-Mobile to get the phone and cancel it? Will he have credit score issues or something? (Keep in mind I am paying the full amount not subsidized)
3) How soon (if ever) would a Factory Unlocked with Snapdragon 820 appear in Amazon or Best Buy?

schn1tt3r said:
I've always bought HTC One and before that, I used to own iPhones... I could always buy a factory unlocked HTC online no hassles, so I am new to this and I am SO CONFUSED!
I want to buy an unlocked S7 Edge with a Snapdragon 820 to use in South America. I have a friend that can bring me the phone from USA, but there is no way to buy one.
1) Where can I check the bands used on the AT&T vs T-Mobile one to see which one is better for me?
2) I spoke with T-Mobile rep and he said phone must be tied to a plan for 7 days for them to unlock it (this is paying the full $800 for the phone), is it easy to have my friend make an account with T-Mobile to get the phone and cancel it? Will he have credit score issues or something? (Keep in mind I am paying the full amount not subsidized)
3) How soon (if ever) would a Factory Unlocked with Snapdragon 820 appear in Amazon or Best Buy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.frequencycheck.com/models

schn1tt3r said:
I've always bought HTC One and before that, I used to own iPhones... I could always buy a factory unlocked HTC online no hassles, so I am new to this and I am SO CONFUSED!
I want to buy an unlocked S7 Edge with a Snapdragon 820 to use in South America. I have a friend that can bring me the phone from USA, but there is no way to buy one.
1) Where can I check the bands used on the AT&T vs T-Mobile one to see which one is better for me?
2) I spoke with T-Mobile rep and he said phone must be tied to a plan for 7 days for them to unlock it (this is paying the full $800 for the phone), is it easy to have my friend make an account with T-Mobile to get the phone and cancel it? Will he have credit score issues or something? (Keep in mind I am paying the full amount not subsidized)
3) How soon (if ever) would a Factory Unlocked with Snapdragon 820 appear in Amazon or Best Buy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-mobile requires a device to be active for 40 days according to their terms of service. before they will give unlock code. The thread mentioned above compares the two carriers. The problem is that we don't know how ATT is going to modify the phone before sale IF they do at all. In the past ATT has been notorious for locking the bootloader which makes rooting difficult. T-Mobile usually doesn't. According to the above mentioned thread what I saw is that the T-M version is missing one or two bands. However, this might not be the case if all phones are created equal as the phone might have a built in routine that occurs upon sim insertion to install carrier specifics which makes me nervous because who knows if it can be undone. I am glad I have 14 days to return as if this is what Sammy has done, essentially barring me from and unlock then the phone is going back. I am not paying 800 dollars for a phone that funnels me to one direction.

jackler1 said:
T-mobile requires a device to be active for 40 days according to their terms of service. before they will give unlock code. The thread mentioned above compares the two carriers. The problem is that we don't know how ATT is going to modify the phone before sale IF they do at all. In the past ATT has been notorious for locking the bootloader which makes rooting difficult. T-Mobile usually doesn't. According to the above mentioned thread what I saw is that the T-M version is missing one or two bands. However, this might not be the case if all phones are created equal as the phone might have a built in routine that occurs upon sim insertion to install carrier specifics which makes me nervous because who knows if it can be undone. I am glad I have 14 days to return as if this is what Sammy has done, essentially barring me from and unlock then the phone is going back. I am not paying 800 dollars for a phone that funnels me to one direction.
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Click to collapse
That is weird, I spoke with online support (T-Mobile) and he said after 7 days if paid in full... but still, problem is I know no one that has a T-Mobile account where I can "link" my phone to have it unlocked. So that is the reason I want to know if it would be a problem to have my friend make a T-Mobile account, pay the phone in full to get it unlocked, and cancel T-Mobile. And yeah, from what I read, your statement about AT&T is the reason I want T-Mobile. I can't live with a phone that doesn't have AdAway. You should see my FireFox browser on my computer with Greasemonkey + adblock plus + anti adblock killer, and NoScript

schn1tt3r said:
That is weird, I spoke with online support (T-Mobile) and he said after 7 days if paid in full... but still, problem is I know no one that has a T-Mobile account where I can "link" my phone to have it unlocked. So that is the reason I want to know if it would be a problem to have my friend make a T-Mobile account, pay the phone in full to get it unlocked, and cancel T-Mobile. And yeah, from what I read, your statement about AT&T is the reason I want T-Mobile. I can't live with a phone that doesn't have AdAway. You should see my FireFox browser on my computer with Greasemonkey + adblock plus + anti adblock killer, and NoScript
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Click to collapse
He should read the policies better
https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1588
Unlock eligibility for monthly phones, tablets, and mobile internet devices
The device must have been active on the T-Mobile network for at least 40 days on the requesting line.
If the device is financed using T-Mobile’s Equipment Installment Plan (EIP)or if it's leased through JUMP! On Demand™, all payments must be satisfied and the device must be paid in full.
If the device is on an account that is under a service contract term, at least 18 consecutive monthly payments must have been made or the account has migrated to Simple Choice no contract rate plan.
If the device is associated with a canceled account, the account balance must be zero, including all pending charges
Unlock eligibility for Pay in Advance (Prepaid) phones, tablets, and mobile internet devices
The device has been active on the T-Mobile network for more than 1 year on the requesting line.
If the device has been active for less than 1 year on the requesting line, the Pay in Advance account associated with the device must have had more than $25 in refills for basic phones or $100 in refills for smartphones or tablet since device first use date. $100 in total refills is required for each device that is requested to be unlocked.

schn1tt3r said:
That is weird, I spoke with online support (T-Mobile) and he said after 7 days if paid in full... but still, problem is I know no one that has a T-Mobile account where I can "link" my phone to have it unlocked. So that is the reason I want to know if it would be a problem to have my friend make a T-Mobile account, pay the phone in full to get it unlocked, and cancel T-Mobile. And yeah, from what I read, your statement about AT&T is the reason I want T-Mobile. I can't live with a phone that doesn't have AdAway. You should see my FireFox browser on my computer with Greasemonkey + adblock plus + anti adblock killer, and NoScript
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Just spend another 10 dollars to get an unlock code from an app from the playstore. Screw waiting for T-Mobile.

I wonder if it's possible to just flash the appropriate carrier firmware then just activate with sim card.
The reason i ask is I am on verizon and sprint has a buy one get the second 50% off. I have friend on sprint and is pre ordering the s7 edge but asked if I wanted the second line for verizon, I had to turn her down, but that was before I knew about carrier sim lock. Am i completely thinking the wrong way?

anrichardson said:
I wonder if it's possible to just flash the appropriate carrier firmware then just activate with sim card.
The reason i ask is I am on verizon and sprint has a buy one get the second 50% off. I have friend on sprint and is pre ordering the s7 edge but asked if I wanted the second line for verizon, I had to turn her down, but that was before I knew about carrier sim lock. Am i completely thinking the wrong way?
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AFAIK you can set it up but once the sim is inserted it will flash carrier firmware and you will have to set up again. You cannot choose which carrier firmware without the appropriate sim card.

anrichardson said:
I wonder if it's possible to just flash the appropriate carrier firmware then just activate with sim card.
The reason i ask is I am on verizon and sprint has a buy one get the second 50% off. I have friend on sprint and is pre ordering the s7 edge but asked if I wanted the second line for verizon, I had to turn her down, but that was before I knew about carrier sim lock. Am i completely thinking the wrong way?
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Click to collapse
On the S6, you could use odin to flash METRO PCS stock tar - it is the same exact firmware as TMOBILE but it didn't include the "UNLOCK AP". TMobile Unlock app made it impossible to unlock the device with an unclock code that you might have purchased from an online service.
So once you flashed the Metro PCS stock rom in Odin, you could buy and use an Unlock Code to unlock the device.

schn1tt3r said:
I've always bought HTC One and before that, I used to own iPhones... I could always buy a factory unlocked HTC online no hassles, so I am new to this and I am SO CONFUSED!
I want to buy an unlocked S7 Edge with a Snapdragon 820 to use in South America. I have a friend that can bring me the phone from USA, but there is no way to buy one.
1) Where can I check the bands used on the AT&T vs T-Mobile one to see which one is better for me?
2) I spoke with T-Mobile rep and he said phone must be tied to a plan for 7 days for them to unlock it (this is paying the full $800 for the phone), is it easy to have my friend make an account with T-Mobile to get the phone and cancel it? Will he have credit score issues or something? (Keep in mind I am paying the full amount not subsidized)
3) How soon (if ever) would a Factory Unlocked with Snapdragon 820 appear in Amazon or Best Buy?
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CuBz90 said:
AFAIK you can set it up but once the sim is inserted it will flash carrier firmware and you will have to set up again. You cannot choose which carrier firmware without the appropriate sim card.
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This is it isn't it.? The million dollar question? Does it matter who you buy the phone from? With T-M they have eliminated contracts. You don't owe them a dime if the phone is paid in full, they just require that if they are going to provide you with an unlock code you have to be with them for 40 days. Now, for me, that is 50 for the first month plus taxes etc and a pro-rated 50 for the second. So approximated 85 dollars all in give or take. On day 40 I call and they give me the code to unlock and then I cancel not costing me much more than a lot of unlock services and i get something for it as does T-M . Now, if I stick my ATT sim in FIRST then it becomes ATT carrier locked. I may then have to call ATT who could say that because the phone was not purchased through them they have no obligation to unlock the phone. Catch 22.
This may not be looking good for me as a consumer as it seems to be a loophole for the carriers. This is why. The carriers can say they are under no obligation to unlock a phone for you if you haven't done business with them. For me that is tricky because my phone service is provided to me by work and so I have no rights to claim I have service technically.
This is how it adds up for me:
1. The firmware on the phone at purchase is generic. It only becomes specific when it recognizes a carrier via sim and downloads or loads a routine already on the phone which installs a carrier group and then deletes everything else. ATT may have a say on what the contents of the routine may be and it may lock you out. You then become beholden to the first place of service, not the place of purchase. This is bad because I can tell you that if there is no warning that this will happen T-M might be getting a phone back that says ATT on it.
2. We can get a preimage first and essentially odin that image onto the phone resetting it back to factory before branding. In essence and unlocked phone from the jump. This would be awesome for us tinkerers, not so much for the everyman.
3. The phone is unlocked from the jump. Put whatever sim you want in it and it works. Not likely.
4. We I am over thinking this thing and things will be as they always have, T-M gets there phone loaded with the firmware they want with the safeguards as they see them in place at sim insertion. I have to wait my 40 days and then I get the unlock code and use it with whomever. This seems most likely. There may be other scenarios that I didn't consider.
I guess it's a wait and see proposition but as I have sold my Note 4 and am using a Skyrocket right now I will have to hold myself back from inserting a sim in that bad boy until we see what shakes out. This sounds like it could be the greatest or the worst or the same thing as ever.

The carriers could say that they are like DTV (Direct TV) if you want service it's a two year contract. DTV doesn't care if you have your own equipment or not. The service is tied to registering the card. They give you a new card to go into your equipment, it marries when you call to activate and you are locked in for two years. There is no discount for paying for your own equipment. I could see the carriers going in that direction because they can change their terms and get out from under the FCC says situation. When you activate a sim you agree to a 2 year contract. The phone is unlocked take it where you want but you owe us for two years or an ETF. Most people lock themselves in regardless but not good for me.
My credit card just charged this morning BTW the phone is on it's way I would presume.

Very insightful post. I also sold my HTC one and have a Sony M4 for the moment. I wanted to take advantage of the free VR headset, but since I need the oh one to work in South America, I can't do anything.

Why not just purchase from US Cellular? The S6 and Note 5 came unlocked from them. http://www.uscellular.com/site/legal/mobile-wireless-device-unlocking.html

While I hope the article that said the S7 would; be automatically locked to the carrier for the Sim card you insert first - I am having a little trouble believing that - not saying it isn't true - and frankly for me, that is the perect situaiton - but it doesn't make sense.
If this were true, a user who purchased a phone with month to month payments - could conceivably insert a sim from a different carrier and use it without having paid in full for the device. Carriers typically won't unlock the phone if you still owe them money - there may be exceptions, but I haven't heard of any.
Just seems odd to me - but then I guess stranger things have happened....

It'd be nice if someone found a way to setup the phone without having carrier bloat installed before inserting the sim.

mocsab said:
While I hope the article that said the S7 would; be automatically locked to the carrier for the Sim card you insert first - I am having a little trouble believing that - not saying it isn't true - and frankly for me, that is the perect situaiton - but it doesn't make sense.
If this were true, a user who purchased a phone with month to month payments - could conceivably insert a sim from a different carrier and use it without having paid in full for the device. Carriers typically won't unlock the phone if you still owe them money - there may be exceptions, but I haven't heard of any.
Just seems odd to me - but then I guess stranger things have happened....
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There is another twist. I called T-M yesterday because my bank stopped payment because of the amount. I approved it but T-M cancelled the order. Just as well because I decided I wanted to switch to black instead of silver. That pushed me back a bit but they said I would still get the Netflix and VR set. and a phone by the 11th and overnight. I asked the agent about this issue and she had no clue. She did however say that because I had purchased the phone outright I could call in on day one and get the unlock code. I will believe if when I see it.
HOWEVER this is the twist which I never thought of. The phone is going to arrive with a SIM IN IT and ALREADY ACTIVATED. So I will have no choice. The only way to not have this happen is to purchase the phone on launch day and not let them put a sim in it. So all of us with pre-orders are going to receive carrier locked phones. Bare that in mind when you pre-order. Fortunately I have 14 days and can walk the phone back in if bad news comes.

noamaniac said:
Why not just purchase from US Cellular? The S6 and Note 5 came unlocked from them. http://www.uscellular.com/site/legal/mobile-wireless-device-unlocking.html
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US Cellular doesn't offer service in my area for one and two, there is no mention on their website as to the status of the phone being locked or not. The price is right but no year of netflix only VR set. May be an option for some people.

jackler1 said:
There is another twist. I called T-M yesterday because my bank stopped payment because of the amount. I approved it but T-M cancelled the order. Just as well because I decided I wanted to switch to black instead of silver. That pushed me back a bit but they said I would still get the Netflix and VR set. and a phone by the 11th and overnight. I asked the agent about this issue and she had no clue. She did however say that because I had purchased the phone outright I could call in on day one and get the unlock code. I will believe if when I see it.
HOWEVER this is the twist which I never thought of. The phone is going to arrive with a SIM IN IT and ALREADY ACTIVATED. So I will have no choice. The only way to not have this happen is to purchase the phone on launch day and not let them put a sim in it. So all of us with pre-orders are going to receive carrier locked phones. Bare that in mind when you pre-order. Fortunately I have 14 days and can walk the phone back in if bad news comes.
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When I have done Pre-orders in the past with TMobile - the SIM was not installed. Now, maybe they will install it this time - but that seems unlikely to me. That means they would have to open thousands of phones - work the sim card away from the business card holder it comes in and and insert in the phone. I don't think that is likely - but like I said, it could happen. Maybe because it does lock to the carrier of the first Sim card inserted, they will take the extra effort to insert sim cards in every pre-order.
But think about it a bit - anytime you buy a phone from a TMOBILE STORE - they have to manually insert the sim card while you wait - and like I said, all previous pre-orders I had to manually install the sim.
---------- Post added at 10:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 AM ----------
jackler1 said:
My credit card just charged this morning BTW the phone is on it's way I would presume.
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I also noticed today that I have pending charges on the card I purchased the S7 on - my best reccollection in the past for every pre-order I have done before is that I didn't see charges show up on my card until shipping was imminent. I don't know for sure that this is the case this time, but it has me hopeful for an early shipping date for pre-orders....Fingers Crossed!!! :laugh:
EDIT -
Shipping Label Created today by UPS 2-28-2016
Checked My UPS and discovered that a UPS Shipping Label has been created. (my credit card shows a charge today for the purchase price of my phone) looks like Shipping for my New S7 is Imminent!
---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------
jackler1 said:
There is another twist. I called T-M yesterday because my bank stopped payment because of the amount. I approved it but T-M cancelled the order. Just as well because I decided I wanted to switch to black instead of silver. That pushed me back a bit but they said I would still get the Netflix and VR set. and a phone by the 11th and overnight. I asked the agent about this issue and she had no clue. She did however say that because I had purchased the phone outright I could call in on day one and get the unlock code. I will believe if when I see it.
HOWEVER this is the twist which I never thought of. The phone is going to arrive with a SIM IN IT and ALREADY ACTIVATED. So I will have no choice. The only way to not have this happen is to purchase the phone on launch day and not let them put a sim in it. So all of us with pre-orders are going to receive carrier locked phones. Bare that in mind when you pre-order. Fortunately I have 14 days and can walk the phone back in if bad news comes.
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Click to collapse
TMobile has very clear policies about unlocking devices - If you have been a customer for more than a year, you can get it unlocked immediately, if you own the phone (paid outright)
If you have been a customer for less than a year, you have to wait 40 days
if you have a Pre-Pay account, you can unlock immediately as long as their is a minimum pre-paid balance of $100 on your account. (but, you can't pre-order an S7 for a Pre-Paid account. They won't sell it to you. You would have to start a different account and then move the phone to the prepaid account by switching sims.)