Orange iPhone 4 Unlock charges crazy

kdfc55

I have recently bought an iPhone 4 locked to Orange and almost suffered a heart attack when I tried to get it unlocked, the least I have been quoted is £100 which is crazy.
Orange will unlock the phone for £20 if I can give them the original owners details but I do not have these details, the last owner also bought the phone second hand and was happy to stay on Orange.
Does anyone have any advice or know of a reliable unlocking service please?

Many thanks.

mits999

Unfortunately what you will find is unlocking a t-mobile or orange iPhone will cost an arm and a leg to unlock, £100 is the going rate, always better to buy an unlocked handset in the starting O2 or Vodafone Iphone usually cost £15 to unlock from third parties

grumbler

kdfc55 wrote: »

... the last owner also bought the phone second hand and was happy to stay on Orange....

If the last owner had been using it on Orange for a while, I think that's what that Orange need.

Buzby

Buy your own PAYG SIM and top it up. After 12 weeks you can then add £20 to your available credit, and this will be used for the unlocking fee.

I used this on my old iPhone 4 - no problems, apart from the time they took to d he unlock, of almost 5 weeks.

gjchester

kdfc55 wrote: »

I have recently bought an iPhone 4 locked to Orange and almost suffered a heart attack when I tried to get it unlocked, the least I have been quoted is £100 which is crazy.

Most phones are unlocked via a code entered in the handset, however iPhones are lock status is set by a flag in Apples database. When you request an iPhone to be unlocked the network contacts Apple who change the status in the database. When you put in a different sim the iPhone needs to be activated and at that point the phone checks it's status with Apple and unlocks (or not) according to the database.

If an unlock is done by any other means on an Iphone then the next time you change sim, upgrade the firmware or potentially even use itunes the phone may be re-locked to the original network.

Anyone who claims they can unlock iPhones either is doing it via an jailbreaking and ubnlocking tool or have a friend who's works for a network and is entering these details on to Apples systems, via access at work, and at some point there could be an audit at the network and the unlock revoked.

Sorry thats a bit long but the best choice is to pay the network and use the official route, it may take longer but any other mechanism could lead to the phoen being re-locked at a later date.