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OfflineBigHeart
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Registered: 05/30/14
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Last seen: 7 years, 5 months
How hard is it to unlock a phone?
    #21945897 - 07/15/15 05:28 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I'm getting a massive headache trying to read through all of the scams and assorted other bullshit that google is giving me when I try to search "how to unlock phone".  Can someone please help me figure this out?  I'm pretty tech savvy but haven't really messed with phones too much, just used to build computers and took programming in college.

I use Cricket Wireless, which is a GSM carrier that uses SIM cards.  They say you can bring your own phone as long as it's unlocked.  I currently have an adequate, yet boring ZTE Overture which works fine but it's not super fast and the screen is kind of small (4 inch) so I'm looking to upgrade to a Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 but I don't want to pay Cricket full price ($250 for S4 and $490 for S5) so I have been looking online and found some used ones that look good and are priced fairly but I don't know if they will work or if they're unlocked, etc. 

On Craigslist I found a seller that has a T-Mobile Galaxy S5 for $200 .  They said it also has 3 weeks left of prepaid on it so I'm assuming that there has to be some kind of catch here, like it's got a bad IMEI or something.  Assuming the IMEI is good though (no idea how to check it); how would I go about unlocking it so I can use it on Cricket?


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InvisiblePsychonautica
Cuddly Wuddly Fuccboi


Registered: 04/20/15
Posts: 10,854
Loc: Free Soul & IISkuNkII Flag
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: BigHeart]
    #21945899 - 07/15/15 05:29 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Does it have a bad ESN?


--------------------
The chances of you even being born, Were forty million to one. There's two parts of the statistic And I want you to live through one
3/8/95 - 7/10/15 Rest In Paradise, Brother.
Sheekle said:
yeah, i said i was afraid of psychonautica


Edited by Psychonautica (07/15/15 05:30 AM)


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OfflineBigHeart
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Registered: 05/30/14
Posts: 1,319
Last seen: 7 years, 5 months
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: Psychonautica]
    #21945912 - 07/15/15 05:35 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Quote:

Psychonautica said:
Does it have a bad ESN?




No idea, I'm just trying to figure this stuff out before I go to meet someone from craigslist.  How would I check?


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InvisiblePsychonautica
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Registered: 04/20/15
Posts: 10,854
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Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: BigHeart]
    #21945921 - 07/15/15 05:39 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

https://swappa.com/esn

Basically if the phone was lost, stolen, or unpaid for, (you don't actually own your cellphone, you lease it like a car, and after 2 years you've paid it off) If you don't pay it off, they block the ESN, which is a grey area of legality to fix.

There's also things like bad IMEI codes, and other things, but it's kinda hard to explain over typing if you cant already learn from youtube videos and the internet.


--------------------
The chances of you even being born, Were forty million to one. There's two parts of the statistic And I want you to live through one
3/8/95 - 7/10/15 Rest In Paradise, Brother.
Sheekle said:
yeah, i said i was afraid of psychonautica


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OfflineBigHeart
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Registered: 05/30/14
Posts: 1,319
Last seen: 7 years, 5 months
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: Psychonautica]
    #21945934 - 07/15/15 05:46 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Quote:

Psychonautica said:
https://swappa.com/esn

Basically if the phone was lost, stolen, or unpaid for, (you don't actually own your cellphone, you lease it like a car, and after 2 years you've paid it off) If you don't pay it off, they block the ESN, which is a grey area of legality to fix.

There's also things like bad IMEI codes, and other things, but it's kinda hard to explain over typing if you cant already learn from youtube videos and the internet.




I think I have a basic grasp of that stuff, that each phone has unique codes that the carrier can block if it's stolen.  So basically when I go to look at the phone I can just enter the codes into the website and see if it's stolen or whatnot right?  Assuming that part is all good, now how do I unlock it from T-Mobile once I get home?


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InvisiblePsychonautica
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Registered: 04/20/15
Posts: 10,854
Loc: Free Soul & IISkuNkII Flag
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: BigHeart] * 2
    #21945941 - 07/15/15 05:53 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I'll answer when I'm off work, I gotta head in to the office right now, sorry bud.


--------------------
The chances of you even being born, Were forty million to one. There's two parts of the statistic And I want you to live through one
3/8/95 - 7/10/15 Rest In Paradise, Brother.
Sheekle said:
yeah, i said i was afraid of psychonautica


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OfflineBigHeart
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Posts: 1,319
Last seen: 7 years, 5 months
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: Psychonautica]
    #21945968 - 07/15/15 06:08 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Quote:

Psychonautica said:
I'll answer when I'm off work, I gotta head in to the office right now, sorry bud.




Thanks man, I appreciate it.  I am still reading as much as I can find but there is so much to go through and a lot of it looks like a scam (pay us to unlock your phone!) or they just say to call the carrier and ask them to unlock it but I don't think that will work since I'm not their customer.


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InvisiblePsychonautica
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Registered: 04/20/15
Posts: 10,854
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Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: BigHeart]
    #21945974 - 07/15/15 06:13 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Actually you'd be surprised dude. Calling a carrier to unlock the phone works more often then you would think. It the phone is all paid for and has a clean esn they'll most likely unlock it for you. Check out the xda developers forum.


--------------------
The chances of you even being born, Were forty million to one. There's two parts of the statistic And I want you to live through one
3/8/95 - 7/10/15 Rest In Paradise, Brother.
Sheekle said:
yeah, i said i was afraid of psychonautica


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OfflineBeanhead
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Registered: 10/11/08
Posts: 17,257
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Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: Psychonautica]
    #21946020 - 07/15/15 06:36 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Usually not possible unless there's a hardwire/hardcoded factory reset in the system. I've cracked a few phones but others it didn't work (or yer doin it wrong xD)

www.dashhacks.com might help you.


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OfflineBigHeart
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Registered: 05/30/14
Posts: 1,319
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Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: Psychonautica]
    #21946070 - 07/15/15 06:59 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Quote:

Psychonautica said:
Actually you'd be surprised dude. Calling a carrier to unlock the phone works more often then you would think. It the phone is all paid for and has a clean esn they'll most likely unlock it for you. Check out the xda developers forum.




I think that's the catch right there though.  I've been reading accounts of people that buy a phone from someone on craigslist, everything is good to go and then the next day or week or month it's reported as stolen or the seller stopped paying the bill so it got locked.  I think I'm going to skip over craigslist because if it's too good to be true ($200 Galaxy S5) then it probably is. 

Right now I'm checking ebay to see what I can find for cheap so I can play around with it and if it doesn't work I won't be upset.  I'd just hate to hand over $200 to some craigslist scammer for a phone they probably stole or didn't pay off.  I already messaged one guy about a phone and asked a few questions and he literally told me to "go fuck myself", so he probably stole it or something.  It pissed me off for a second but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of a reply, he's most definitely got a shittier life than me anyways so why bother.


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Invisiblelessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: BigHeart]
    #21946081 - 07/15/15 07:03 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

dct3 unlock calculate online free

online phone unlock free

unlock <model /phone name> online free

dct3 online free

dct3 calculator free download windows


it takes 2-5 minutes with a Nokia phone or such online, but works on any phone
usually free, but some charge up to $10 for it
You just enter the IMEI which you need from inside phone under the battery, you also need to know your carrier, or guess it from between 10-15 carriers


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Invisiblelessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore]
    #21946095 - 07/15/15 07:08 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Just unlocked a nokia 3310 and 3510i , very nice phones :-)

Took a few tries as I didnt know the carrier... but they dont forcelock if you fail entering unlock code, unlike simcodes


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Invisiblelessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore]
    #21946104 - 07/15/15 07:10 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Exchanged my Galaxy S3 for Nokia 3310, the nokia 3310 costs $8 today, the S3 costs like $600

the 3310 is better in every way, each day I find new benefits , and 1 week battery lifetime


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OfflineBigHeart
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Registered: 05/30/14
Posts: 1,319
Last seen: 7 years, 5 months
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore]
    #21946123 - 07/15/15 07:16 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Quote:

lessismore said:
Just unlocked a nokia 3310 and 3510i , very nice phones :-)

Took a few tries as I didnt know the carrier... but they dont forcelock if you fail entering unlock code, unlike simcodes




Did I just get trolled?  Hmmm I guess I should have clarified that I want a better smartphone, not an oldschool nokia...  I'm not a drug dealer looking for a burner phone lol.


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Invisiblelessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: BigHeart]
    #21946320 - 07/15/15 08:29 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I would never buy a samsung, and not sure I would buy an android phone if I were to buy a smartphone again, too many problems

Slow dialer, slow apps, even on an S3, and the battery drains in 5-6 hours to 16 hours max with normal use - or 1-1.5 days with standby most of time


Android is really terrible for phone stuff, and its apps are even more terrible, ads everywhere and slowness everywhere

Sure it works, in nice ways sometimes, but it's just slow and drains battery like hell


Samsung is the worst 'phone' I have had in my life, drops calls daily in the start, then they firmware fixed it so it didn't, people still complained daily they couldn't hear me
Maybe just a Galaxy S3 issue?

S2 has these problems too iirc, or some similar issues, cant quite remember...

Rather a Nexus, or any other brand than Samsung , the signal quality is very very poor, 0% signal often inside buildings/cars

My friend with a HTC desire got 80-90% signal inside a concrete building, where I got 0% signal, not even GPRS . So my GPS stops functioning inside cities, inside buildings, inside cars often, especially when I needed it, just useless as a phone. Everyone of my coworkers says the same, don't buy a samsung. Cheap plastic phones (and expensive plastic too).

Iphones got the same issues... you cannot hold the phone then it drops signal to 10% from 100%

Because all smartphones have 'antenna' in bottom of phone


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Invisiblelessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore]
    #21946335 - 07/15/15 08:33 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

If you want to hold a smartphone in your hand, you need a cover put on it, else your hand disturbs the signal, as the antenna is in the bottom

So signal drops from 100% to 5-10%


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InvisibleMalcolm_Xtasy
Oh baby what Is you doin??
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Registered: 04/04/12
Posts: 13,851
Loc: Flag
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore] * 1
    #21946356 - 07/15/15 08:37 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Quote:

lessismore said:
I would never buy a samsung, and not sure I would buy an android phone if I were to buy a smartphone again, too many problems

Slow dialer, slow apps, even on an S3, and the battery drains in 5-6 hours to 16 hours max with normal use - or 1-1.5 days with standby most of time


Android is really terrible for phone stuff, and its apps are even more terrible, ads everywhere and slowness everywhere

Sure it works, in nice ways sometimes, but it's just slow and drains battery like hell


Samsung is the worst 'phone' I have had in my life, drops calls daily in the start, then they firmware fixed it so it didn't, people still complained daily they couldn't hear me
Maybe just a Galaxy S3 issue?

S2 has these problems too iirc, or some similar issues, cant quite remember...

Rather a Nexus, or any other brand than Samsung , the signal quality is very very poor, 0% signal often inside buildings/cars

My friend with a HTC desire got 80-90% signal inside a concrete building, where I got 0% signal, not even GPRS . So my GPS stops functioning inside cities, inside buildings, inside cars often, especially when I needed it, just useless as a phone. Everyone of my coworkers says the same, don't buy a samsung. Cheap plastic phones (and expensive plastic too).

Iphones got the same issues... you cannot hold the phone then it drops signal to 10% from 100%

Because all smartphones have 'antenna' in bottom of phone



:lolsy: dude you have a fuckin s3 and you're bitching? That phone is practically a fossil. You know the s6 is out now right?


--------------------
I'm stupid, Enlil is smart.
I'm ugly, Enlil is beautiful.
I'm a loser, Enlil is a winner.
Someday, I hope to be like Enlil but secretly know I never will.


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InvisibleMalcolm_Xtasy
Oh baby what Is you doin??
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Registered: 04/04/12
Posts: 13,851
Loc: Flag
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore] * 1
    #21946365 - 07/15/15 08:39 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Quote:

lessismore said:
If you want to hold a smartphone in your hand, you need a cover put on it, else your hand disturbs the signal, as the antenna is in the bottom

So signal drops from 100% to 5-10%



:justno:


--------------------
I'm stupid, Enlil is smart.
I'm ugly, Enlil is beautiful.
I'm a loser, Enlil is a winner.
Someday, I hope to be like Enlil but secretly know I never will.


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Invisiblelessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore]
    #21946366 - 07/15/15 08:39 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I'm not much a fan of Windows phones, I actually hate windows, but Nokias windows phones look like the most comfortable thing to use, compared to the bad signal quality of Iphones and Samsung phones, and compared to the slowness of Android (its terrible, especially with powersave on...)

Windows phones also have extremely good camera, as good as a mobile phone can get

Still nowhere near a real digital camera of course... , people think they get the best of all in 1 package, but cameras in phones are usually useless.. Distorted colors that I wouldn't take my pictures with.

Nokias windows phones have the best sensors at this moment as to what I can see...


41Megapixels vs like 8-12Mpix in the Galaxy


The real advantage to the windows phone is it looks so easy to use, and fast too...
I just cannot stand android, its terrible to use in practice, but looks cool...

Its fun as a gadget, but I wouldnt use Android as a phone really. Hope they fix it in the future, then I may use my S3 again from my desk drawer...


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OfflineBeanhead
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Re: How hard is it to unlock a phone? [Re: lessismore]
    #21946367 - 07/15/15 08:39 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Only installing software that runs properly on the android system could help.
I used custom firmware on my PSP to extend the battery life, put out LED lights inside the hardware and use various programs for battery saving.

Still that puppy only runs 333mhz (unlocked, when it was put in store it runs at half the speed of the processor for battery-saving :lol: scammers)
Compared to a few GHZ these days on phones...
it can be an issue if you have several apps running in the background or processes you're not using. I tend to be minimalistic with electronics.
I believe most android phones even possess a fifth core along with the quad-core solely for battery saving.

These aren't thorium batteries yo but I generally don't buy smartphones, etc. Computers are much more handy :P Buy old Nokia. It can call, it can text, it never runs out ^^!


Edited by Beanhead (07/15/15 08:40 AM)


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