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[Q] Nexus S Unlock? [Solved]

Is it possible to SIM unlock a Nexus S that's locked to T-Mobile without asking T-Mobile for/buying an unlock code? Would the SGS unlock method work considering the Nexus S is part of the Galaxy S family?
Thanks

The NS is already sim unlocked

From what I understand they are all unlocked regardless of whether you bought it outright or under contract.

URPREY said:
From what I understand they are all unlocked regardless of whether you bought it outright or under contract.
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this is the truth

Great! Thanks for the quick replies

Samsung-Google Nexus Black (AT&T)
slowz3r said:
this is the truth
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Hi
Would this apply to the Samsung-Google Nexus phone on deal at Best Buy. The website (sorry I cannot post external links) lists this phone as Samsung - Google Nexus S Mobile Phone - Black (AT&T) and comes with a 2-yr contract
I will be in the US for a temp period; my plan is to buy a contract phone and pay the termination fee when I am done with my stay.
I need to ensure that the unit I buy can be used in India when I return.
thanks for your help!
Cheers
sid

shettysid said:
Hi
Would this apply to the Samsung-Google Nexus phone on deal at Best Buy. The website (sorry I cannot post external links) lists this phone as Samsung - Google Nexus S Mobile Phone - Black (AT&T) and comes with a 2-yr contract
I will be in the US for a temp period; my plan is to buy a contract phone and pay the termination fee when I am done with my stay.
I need to ensure that the unit I buy can be used in India when I return.
thanks for your help!
Cheers
sid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you buy a model that is compatible with the network in India you will be fine.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

Rem3Dy said:
As long as you buy a model that is compatible with the network in India you will be fine.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
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Hi Rem3Dy
thanks for your prompt response.
Would this be true even for the Motorola Atrix which is being sold on ATT website?
regards
sid

Locked
The Nexus S I bought from Best Buy for ATT shows "Locked" in the Bootloader. Is there no unlock mechanism?

knkartha said:
The Nexus S I bought from Best Buy for ATT shows "Locked" in the Bootloader. Is there no unlock mechanism?
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this is just the bootloader, this can be unlocked very easily by following the sticky to unlock bootloader and install custom recovery and anything else you wish to do developerlike.

[Q] Nexus S Unlocked but bad esn

if i buy on ebay a nexus s that has a bad esn but its factory unlocked can i move to t-mobile with it?

Saintkilla said:
if i buy on ebay a nexus s that has a bad esn but its factory unlocked can i move to t-mobile with it?
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What network was it on? Sprint? No, because that's a Nexus S 4G. AT&T? Shouldn't have a problem.
I personally wouldn't buy a phone witha bad ESN though.

I would never recommend to buy that. While ebay is a great website, you may wait for a week and surely some new Nexus S deals will pop up
This might be good deal: Samsung Google Nexus S i9020T - 16GB - Black (T-Mobile) Bundle Excellent Cond.

[Q] Buying Nexus 5

im currently with Tmobile individual plan.
if when the nexus 5 become available for purchase
will i need to buy the unlocked one or the tmobile one :good:

lilbeast said:
im currently with Tmobile individual plan.
if when the nexus 5 become available for purchase
will i need to buy the unlocked one or the tmobile one :good:
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Click to collapse
They are the same. T-Mobile Nexus devices are not locked.

Sprint Nexus 5 same as Play store?

Hey I was just wondering if the Nexus 5 sold unlocked at best buy is the same one sold on the play store? Its advertised as a sprint phone and has a few different things in the box then what I saw in YouTube videos.

vibey101 said:
Hey I was just wondering if the Nexus 5 sold unlocked at best buy is the same one sold on the play store? Its advertised as a sprint phone and has a few different things in the box then what I saw in YouTube videos.
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As far as i know there are only two versions of the nexus 5, one for north america and one for the rest of the world. The one for north america supports att, tmobile and sprint on the same device.
I actually got my Nexus 5 from T-mobile on a pay per month plan, so imagine my surprise when I put an att sim card into it rebooted and it worked on att lte. I was expecting the deivce to be locked to T-mobile and give me a sim error, the rep even told me that they are locked to T-mobile so I am not sure if they all come carrier unlocked or it was something that happened during the rooting, unlocking bootloader and custom rom process.

vibey101 said:
Hey I was just wondering if the Nexus 5 sold unlocked at best buy is the same one sold on the play store? Its advertised as a sprint phone and has a few different things in the box then what I saw in YouTube videos.
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Yup, and Google is your friends BTW. Been asked literally hundreds of times. I am using my sprint nexus 5 just fine on straight talk right now.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Is anyone using ATT? Since the Best Buy Sprint N5 has an MEID number, ATT needed an IMEI number to input into their system in order for the new sim card to work.

Well I'm 100% sure that all nexus 5's are network unlocked regardless of what carrier you get it from. Of course if you ask the customer rep that question they will say its locked because they don't want you to jump ship. They don't wanna have to go through the hassle of phone calls, emails, and letters of collection debts. Not to mention that they will get their money in the end when or if you decide to jump ship without paying cancellation fees. The the bill gets footed to your credit score in a negative manner. I spent the last three days trying to figure out whether or not they were unlocked and I got my answer from a reliable guy on here. (In the Tmobile thread) didn't want to waste 8 or 9 dollars paying a company to unlock it for me. (If it was unlocked to begin with) so yeah carriers can't be trusted. They will say whatever they have to to protect the interests of their company.
---------- Post added at 10:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:01 AM ----------
crizzb07 said:
Is anyone using ATT? Since the Best Buy Sprint N5 has an MEID number, ATT needed an IMEI number to input into their system in order for the new sim card to work.
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It is my understanding that all phones have both meid and imei numbers. Have you checked in about phone under status? Both numbers are listed there I believe.
Edit: only imei is displayed. My bad lol.

crizzb07 said:
Is anyone using ATT? Since the Best Buy Sprint N5 has an MEID number, ATT needed an IMEI number to input into their system in order for the new sim card to work.
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Click to collapse
Just pop an att Sim into the phone, reboot and it will start working. It should automatically register the imei, it did for me. If not you can go to setting->about phone->status and read the imei off to the Rep over the phone.
I got my nexus 5 from T-mobile, just removed their Sim card put in my work att Sim card and it picked up service. No need for an unlock or anything as I believe all nexus 5 regardless of who sells them are unlocked.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

fruitsalt said:
Just pop an att Sim into the phone, reboot and it will start working. It should automatically register the imei, it did for me. If not you can go to setting->about phone->status and read the imei off to the Rep over the phone.
I got my nexus 5 from T-mobile, just removed their Sim card put in my work att Sim card and it picked up service. No need for an unlock or anything as I believe all nexus 5 regardless of who sells them are unlocked.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Thanks all for your help! The Best Buy Sprint N5 doesn't come with a pin to pop out the sim tray, any suggestions on what to use?

crizzb07 said:
Thanks all for your help! The Best Buy Sprint N5 doesn't come with a pin to pop out the sim tray, any suggestions on what to use?
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I lost the pin that came with the nexus so when I need to switch Sims I just use a very fine sewing needle. Don't use a paper clip or even the pin that comes with an iPhone they are way too thick and will deform the pin hole entry, I know cause mine got deformed by the iPhone pin.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 03:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:17 PM ----------
crizzb07 said:
Thanks all for your help! The Best Buy Sprint N5 doesn't come with a pin to pop out the sim tray, any suggestions on what to use?
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Click to collapse
BTW the tray doesn't pop out completely, I would say once u push the pin in it comes out maybe like 0.5 cm after that just use ur fingers to pull it out, so the pin just kinda disengages the sim tray from the phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Q] How to buy a carrier unlocked nexus 5 outside google play

Hi i'm travelling to the US next month and i want to buy a nexus 5. as i need to use it with my country carrier i need it unlocked.
now as far as i understand, i can't buy it from the play store as i dont have an US credit card (correct me if i'm wrong)
both the t-mobile and best buy support told me that their version of the nexus 5 ($450) are not really unlocked, but i've read a lot that in fact you can use that phones with whatever carrier you want. is that true? has anyone bought the t-mobile / bestbuy(sprint) versions and tried using another carrier SIM?
Thanks guys

serianox said:
Hi i'm travelling to the US next month and i want to buy a nexus 5. as i need to use it with my country carrier i need it unlocked.
now as far as i understand, i can't buy it from the play store as i dont have an US credit card (correct me if i'm wrong)
both the t-mobile and best buy support told me that their version of the nexus 5 ($450) are not really unlocked, but i've read a lot that in fact you can use that phones with whatever carrier you want. is that true? has anyone bought the t-mobile / bestbuy(sprint) versions and tried using another carrier SIM?
Thanks guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe there are any carrier-locked N5s being sold in the US. You've checked that the US version of the phone supports the bands that are used in your country? BB will charge $100 more for the phone and likely try to sell you service, but you should be able to get it.

STi_Fanatic said:
I don't believe there are any carrier-locked N5s being sold in the US. You've checked that the US version of the phone supports the bands that are used in your country? BB will charge $100 more for the phone and likely try to sell you service, but you should be able to get it.
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yes i checked and the 850/1900 bands are supported. both bestbuy and tmobile support told me that the phone is sold locked to the respective carriers, but i've read that that's actually not true and you can just swap with whatever SIM you have. Also i hope they dont try to force me to sign some plans if i buy the device

I am interested in this info also. I have a Nexus 5 showing up from Sprint and wondering if it will work with my T-Mobile SIM later if I decide to use it.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

No Nexus 5 devices are sold locked. They are all unlocked and if anything you can test it right there in the store/parking lot to be sure.
The only problem however is LTE if you'll ever need that.

shotta35 said:
No Nexus 5 devices are sold locked. They are all unlocked and if anything you can test it right there in the store/parking lot to be sure.
The only problem however is LTE if you'll ever need that.
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i hope this is true!
they just answered me this:
Hi , If you purchase the device from T-Mobile, it is locked and will only work with a T-Mobile SIM card. Once you've met the requirements, we can help you unlock the device. If you need one unlocked already, we recommend purchasing directly through Google. - Jess

The Sprint and T-Mobile Nexus 5's are unlocked. I have a Sprint one that I purchased at Best Buy and it works just fine with my T-Mobile sim card....2G, 3G, 4G, and LTE...

lowandbehold said:
The Sprint and T-Mobile Nexus 5's are unlocked. I have a Sprint one that I purchased at Best Buy and it works just fine with my T-Mobile sim card....2G, 3G, 4G, and LTE...
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Thanks for your reply! i'm really glad this is true. can i ask you if they forced to buy some plan or sim, or you just paid the $450?
Thanks again

serianox said:
Thanks for your reply! i'm really glad this is true. can i ask you if they forced to buy some plan or sim, or you just paid the $450?
Thanks again
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Click to collapse
I got them to price match Google the day it came out, so I got it for $350. They may have smartened up to that by now though. The SIM came in the phone. I did not have to pay for the SIM or an activation fee. I didn't let them open the box at all.

lowandbehold said:
I got them to price match Google the day it came out, so I got it for $350. They may have smartened up to that by now though. The SIM came in the phone. I did not have to pay for the SIM or an activation fee. I didn't let them open the box at all.
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i'm wondering if i can do this. it says in the BB website:
"If you find a lower price on a qualifying product at a local retail competitor's store or shipped from and sold by a designated major online retailer, we will match the price. At the time of purchase, we will match the current pre-tax price for new, identical, immediately available products from a local retail competitor's store or shipped from and sold by a designated major online retailers: Amazon.com, Apple.com, Bhphotovideo.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, Frys.com, hhgregg.com, HP.com, HomeDepot.com, Lowes.com, Newegg.com, OfficeDepot.com, OfficeMax.com, Rakuten.com Shopping, Sears.com, Staples.com, Target.com, TigerDirect.com and Walmart.com."
it doesn't list google play as an allowed website.
i hope i get a cool seller lol
Thanks again!

Nexus 5's are not locked to any specific carrier. You just need to make sure that the bands are compatible with your carriers' frequency.

I bought my N5 off contract from BestBuy. It is unlocked. I am running mine on Simple Mobile. I only had to put my SIM in and program the APN for data access.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

asiandrg0n said:
I bought my N5 off contract from BestBuy. It is unlocked. I am running mine on Simple Mobile. I only had to put my SIM in and program the APN for data access.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
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Thanks for the replies, i'm sure this will help a lot of people.
i'm trying to see if i can get Best buy to match the play store price