How To Unlock An Iphone

UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
I'd like to change carriers from AT&T. Can someone tell me the scoop on unlocking these phones? I see a lot of internet sites on doing it, but I'm not sure if they are safe. Or, if someone wants my iphone... I think it's a 4. Thanks.
 
I'm not sure on what all carriers you can switch to, I think the ATT phones can be switched to Tmobile and thats it. Not certain though.

I used a program called redsn0w when I jailbroke my 3G, i've been looking into unlocking my 4S but haven't dug to deep yet.
 
AT&T can be opened up to T-Mobile. If you have or have had a current account with AT&T, just call their customer service or get on their customer service site and they can walk you through the process. I just did this with one of my older iphones a few months ago and my boy is using it on T-Mobile now. If you can't find the right info, feel free to contact me and I will dig it out of my email etc.
 
The problem with going from at&t to t-mobile or vise versa is that you will lose every thing above 2G. They use different frequencies from 3G and up. So if you don't mind being knocked down to 2G(edge) then your fine. All you need to do is call your current carrier tell them that you are going out of country and that you need to have the unlock code for your phone to be able to use it abroad.
 
This is my wifes phone. She almost never uses it for internet. In fact our last bill even showed she talked on it for 11 minuets. We are paying $100 for it each month and are thinking about Cricket. It would cut the bill at least in half. I don't even know if it would work with Cricket. I looked on their website and it didn't say anything about the iphone, but I hear on the radio that they have the 5 now. She really likes the phone and wants to keep using it. She also just got a Mophie battery pack thing for it as well. I just feel like we are throwing money away. I have a company phone, so I don't play into all this.
 
It's now against the law to unlock your phone. You can thank congress. They don't think that hardware you have in your hands actually belongs to you.
 
It is against the law to do it unlawfully "jailbreaking". But you can still get a carrier like att or tmobile to unlock your phone and its 100% legal
 
chase3194 said:
It is against the law to do it unlawfully "jailbreaking". But you can still get a carrier like att or tmobile to unlock your phone and its 100% legal
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I know what you are saying, but I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. Both are now illegal. Which is super lame. :(

So what is unlocking, exactly? Most cell phones in the U.S. are sold by a particular carrier; you buy a phone from Verizon, for example, or T-Mobile or AT&T. The carriers subsidize the cost of the phone, often selling it for a few hundred dollars less than the regular price, but require buyers to sign a service contract, usually for two years. The phone is then tied to that particular carrier — your iPhone might be tied to AT&T, your Droid to Verizon and so on. You can’t use it with another company’s network, and if you travel to another country, it probably won’t work there either.
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Herzog said:
It's now against the law to unlock your phone. You can thank congress. They don't think that hardware you have in your hands actually belongs to you.
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Technically, if your phone subsidized at all, that phone isn't yours until your contract is up. Also, I'm pretty sure laws just passed (last year I believe) that said just the opposite of what you're saying. I know AT&T is now required to unlock your phone for a number of reasons, one being if you're not in a contract with them.

I've unlocked my phones a few times, but I never do anything with it that requires it to be unlocked so I don't even bother anymore. While the unlocks are a million times better than they have ever been, you always run the risk of bricking (i.e. ruining) your phone unless you go through the proper channels to get it unlocked. Also, plan on your phone being "re-locked" every time you updated. Lastly, depending on the what OS version her phone is on, and what the current progress is on that jailbreak, you may not be able to even reboot your phone with it "re-locking" again. This all is not the case if you go through the carrier to get it unlocked.
 
Last edited:
https://www.eff.org/is-it-illegal-to-unlock-a-phone

That protection you mentioned expired last week.

The "legal shield" for jailbreaking is still intact:

The legal shield for jailbreaking and rooting your phone remains up - it'll protect us at least through 2015.
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I'm guessing that if you go through your provider to unlock your phone it's a non-issue, since you got permission.

Interesting set of loops to jump though. It's all stupid if you ask me. :)

Edit- reading more seems to point out that they are going after side companies that are unlocking phones and reselling them. But the wording in the law pretty much says that even the owner of the device cannot unlock it, unless unlocked through the originating provider. I'm guessing they'll be sending you a bill for such a thing too. :)
 
Herzog said:
https://www.eff.org/is-it-illegal-to-unlock-a-phone

That protection you mentioned expired last week.

The "legal shield" for jailbreaking is still intact:



I'm guessing that if you go through your provider to unlock your phone it's a non-issue, since you got permission.

Interesting set of loops to jump though. It's all stupid if you ask me. :)

Edit- reading more seems to point out that they are going after side companies that are unlocking phones and reselling them. But the wording in the law pretty much says that even the owner of the device cannot unlock it, unless unlocked through the originating provider. I'm guessing they'll be sending you a bill for such a thing too. :)
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I was going to reply with that same info but your edit beat me :D Unlocking on your own (i.e. jailbreaking) has always been a grey area, but with the new laws put in place in the last year or so, if you meet the requirements, carriers are supposed to unlock your phone. What you're referring to though is jailbreaking before your contract is up, which has always been illegal (or very borderline at best) since that device (if subsidized) isn't yours until the end of your contract. It's like having a loan on your car, house, etc. The lien holder can do what they want with their property, usually in the contract you have with them, they allow you to use the <fill in the blank> so long as you meet your end of the agreement (i.e. making your payments). Once your payments are done and the property is paid-in-full, you can do whatever you would like to with it. Same goes for phones that are subsidized.
 
You can't assume just because a company has a particular model of phone that the same phone from a different carrier will work on it. Each carrier uses a different radio frequencies. So if you are looking to switch carriers that is what you need to look at. Also looking it up Cricket is CDMA which would be Verizon,Sprint and I know AT&t,T-Mobile use GSM (sim card) so that would kill any chance of moving over to that carrier.
 
Pretty much what Badger said. The iPhone 4 is not global capable so it only supports the network in which it was being used. Since you had it with AT&T it will be GSM, and Cricket is CDMA so they would not be compatible even if you unlocked it. You might be better off seeing if anyone on ksl wants to trade their CDMA iPhone 4 for your GSM iPhone 4.
 
Thanks. That's the Info I needed to know. Might just be best to sale it and use those funds to pay off the contract. Then start over. Is anyone on here using Cricket? She likes to play the word games and such on it with her friends, then lots of texts and a little voice. Almost no internet. Is also never leaves town with it, or almost never. So she wouldn't need a large coverage area. She sounds like a good candidate for Cricket. What do you think?
 
Well see is using the internet(data) on her phone if she is playing word games. She might not use the browser and surf the internet but if she is playing any type of game that interacts with others she is using the data plan to do so.
 
Ok. I thought that might be using text. I just looked at our last bill. She used 602 MB. That doesn't seem like much to me.
 
UNSTUCK said:
Thanks. That's the Info I needed to know. Might just be best to sale it and use those funds to pay off the contract. Then start over. Is anyone on here using Cricket? She likes to play the word games and such on it with her friends, then lots of texts and a little voice. Almost no internet. Is also never leaves town with it, or almost never. So she wouldn't need a large coverage area. She sounds like a good candidate for Cricket. What do you think?
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IMO, if you want your wife to have sub-par service, then sure. If it were me and I was trying to save a few bucks (mind you, I live and die by my phone) I'd rather get Cricket for myself and make sure my wife had a carrier that was going to be reliable when she needed it. When my wife NEEDS a phone, I want to make sure it works for her.
 
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