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Using a branded (orange) Android phone on other networks

inretro
inretro Posts: 16 Forumite
I'm interested in getting the Orange San Francisco phone (basic android phone for £99) then using it on the tesco pay monthly tariff (£15).

- As it's a new phone, are there any potential issues with getting the sim unlocked?

- As it is an Orange implementation of Android, can the OS itself do anything in terms of voice/data connection to check if the phone is still on the Orange tariff?

If this works, it looks like a nice cheap way to get an android phone on a cheap tariff :)
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Comments

  • boatman
    boatman Posts: 4,700 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-blade-modaco-com/318726/sim-unlock-s4-card-payments-p4-99-paypal-friendly-alternative-unlock-hd-video-now-online/

    http://android.modaco.com/category/453/zte-blade-blade-modaco-com/

    Unlock works fine, just put in a sim card from another phone company(not orange), turn on the phone and a box pops up on the screen, enter the code(think it was 8 numbers).. that's it. All works fine. Look at the hotukdeals forum for info too. You should be able to get a discount on the £99+£10topup, student discount, previous customer or council worker.

    http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/orange-san-francisco-android-2-1-wv/763425?page=1
  • shelly
    shelly Posts: 6,394 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Both hubby and I have bought the orange San Fran this week and love it! We got our unlock codes from a seller on ebay for £1.40 & £1.50. I have had my 02 sim in mine and it was fine.

    What's the tesco tariff include? I am putting my San Fran onto tmobile when I have given 02 a months notice. Best deal I have found so far is 100 mins, 100 texts and a flexible booster of 500mb of internet for £10 per month. I know it's not alot of mins and txts but it's plenty for me.
    :heart2: Love isn't finding someone you can live with. It's finding someone you can't live without :heart2:
  • shelly wrote: »
    Both hubby and I have bought the orange San Fran this week and love it! We got our unlock codes from a seller on ebay for £1.40 & £1.50. I have had my 02 sim in mine and it was fine.

    What's the tesco tariff include? I am putting my San Fran onto tmobile when I have given 02 a months notice. Best deal I have found so far is 100 mins, 100 texts and a flexible booster of 500mb of internet for £10 per month. I know it's not alot of mins and txts but it's plenty for me.


    Hi shelly, please could you tell me which ebay seller it was? Any problems? Thinking of the San Francisco as I am about to go sim only!
    Tough times never last longer than tough people.
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  • boatman
    boatman Posts: 4,700 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    shelly wrote: »
    Both hubby and I have bought the orange San Fran this week and love it! We got our unlock codes from a seller on ebay for £1.40 & £1.50. I have had my 02 sim in mine and it was fine.

    What's the tesco tariff include? I am putting my San Fran onto tmobile when I have given 02 a months notice. Best deal I have found so far is 100 mins, 100 texts and a flexible booster of 500mb of internet for £10 per month. I know it's not alot of mins and txts but it's plenty for me.

    This deal from Tmobile, phone up and stick to the deal offered, 600mins, unlimited text and internet, say you've seen the tesco deal. You might also be able to get free landline calls too(3000mins i think)there is also a £15 a month deal but this is not as good.
    http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/t-mobile-sim-only-12-months-600mins/754103?page=1
  • inretro
    inretro Posts: 16 Forumite
    Sounds great, thanks for the input :)

    I'll probably stick with the tesco deal £15 for 500 mins, unlimited texts & internet on a one month rolling contract (i like the flexibility! plus i was on t-mob a few years back when their coverage wasn't so good and it takes a while to forget...)

    How reliable are the ebay unlock codes? Not something i've tried before and i assume there's people trying to sell dodgy codes?

    from the modaco forum link this sounds like quite a handy phone :)
  • shelly
    shelly Posts: 6,394 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi shelly, please could you tell me which ebay seller it was? Any problems? Thinking of the San Francisco as I am about to go sim only!

    Incase you still want to know the seller is snyper747 and on checking just now he is selling the code for 99p. We have had 2 from him and had no problems.

    inretro wrote: »
    Sounds great, thanks for the input :)

    I'll probably stick with the tesco deal £15 for 500 mins, unlimited texts & internet on a one month rolling contract (i like the flexibility! plus i was on t-mob a few years back when their coverage wasn't so good and it takes a while to forget...)

    How reliable are the ebay unlock codes? Not something i've tried before and i assume there's people trying to sell dodgy codes?

    from the modaco forum link this sounds like quite a handy phone :)

    The tmobile deal I am/was thinking of going on to is a monthly rolling contract and now they also share the orange network so coverage might be better?
    I think I might phone them next week and see what the best they can offer me is.
    :heart2: Love isn't finding someone you can live with. It's finding someone you can't live without :heart2:
  • ioscorpio
    ioscorpio Posts: 2,361 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    The Tesco deal is only £10 not £15 if you go in-store or phone up for it.
  • lozzaman
    lozzaman Posts: 292 Forumite
    T-Mobile 3G coverage is so much better than o2's. It's really not even comparable.
  • i too have used a code to unlock the orange san francisco (from ebay) so i can use my t-mobile sim card but i can't seem to find where to change the wap settings ive looked on the t-mobile site and text them but they don't recognise the phone so i think having it unlocked and using a different sim isn't going to allow us to use their network, i'm going to the t-mobile shop tomorrow to see if they can do it :o
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