Free codes for Unlocking Phones OTHER than Nokia's Thread 3

JAYMARSH2005

tosyn wrote: »

Hello all,

I picked a sony xperia E Orange payg mobile phone from argos here is the phone.
However, my vodafone simcard does not work, the phone is asking for network unlock pin when I put my vodafone sim card.

Can I unlock it without taking to a shop?

You can ring Orange up with the sim that came the the phone and just say you bought it want it unlocking, they may charge you £20 to do it or they may do it for free, the others way to unlock these phones are usually around £25 so calling Orange may be your cheapest option.

tosyn

JAYMARSH2005 wrote: »

You can ring Orange up with the sim that came the the phone and just say you bought it want it unlocking, they may charge you £20 to do it or they may do it for free, the others way to unlock these phones are usually around £25 so calling Orange may be your cheapest option.

Thanks JM, the customer service personal pointed me to this website and it says it will cost £21 to unlock, deducting from the credit.

Is it possible to unlock this phone on a market place phoneshop for £5- £10?. Are there any places near Heathrow airport?

JAYMARSH2005

tosyn wrote: »

Thanks JM, the customer service personal pointed me to this website and it says it will cost £21 to unlock, deducting from the credit.

Is it possible to unlock this phone on a market place phoneshop for £5- £10?. Are there any places near Heathrow airport?

I very much doubt it, I have phone a number for a phone unlocking shop near heathrow airport so it might be worth calling them but I'm going to hazard a guess they ill charge more than Orange.

Tel: 020 85709191

tosyn

JAYMARSH2005 wrote: »

I very much doubt it

Is that becuase the phone is running 4.1.1 i.e Android jelly bean version ?

JAYMARSH2005

tosyn wrote: »

Is that becuase the phone is running 4.1.1 i.e Android jelly bean version ?

Its just because the cost of unlocking phones has risen over the years, it used to be around £5 for a basic old nokia phone, where as these days they are more expensive to unlock and are mainly unlocked with codes rather than cables and hardware.

tosyn

JAYMARSH2005 wrote: »

Its just because the cost of unlocking phones has risen over the years, it used to be around £5 for a basic old nokia phone, where as these days they are more expensive to unlock and are mainly unlocked with codes rather than cables and hardware.

I thought unlocking android was a matter of minutes, since we can access the filesystem via usb and rooting the device is fairly easy ..so obviously I would have thought market stall prices would come down since there is more competition without hardware/kits/cables/randomizing?

JAYMARSH2005

tosyn wrote: »

I thought unlocking android was a matter of minutes, since we can access the filesystem via usb and rooting the device is fairly easy ..so obviously I would have thought market stall prices would come down since there is more competition without hardware/kits/cables/randomizing?

Unlocking and rooting are 2 different things, rooting phones are methods to give you unrestricted access to your mobile device's entire file system. Where as unlocking gives your phone access to any network provider, the difference unlocking with Jailbreak/Rooting is that it voids the warranty, where as using a network unlock code wont void the warranty, and it wont get relocked when you update the phone.

tosyn

JAYMARSH2005 wrote: »

Unlocking and rooting are 2 different things, rooting phones are methods to give you unrestricted access to your mobile device's entire file system. Where as unlocking gives your phone access to any network provider, the difference unlocking with Jailbreak/Rooting is that it voids the warranty, where as using a network unlock code wont void the warranty, and it wont get relocked when you update the phone.

Yes, I do understand the terminologies ,unlocking GSM, unlocking bootloader and rooting the device. Unlocking basically allows sim registration on a different network. However I still do not understand why it is getting expensive to unlock an android phone?

JAYMARSH2005

tosyn wrote: »

Yes, I do understand the terminologies ,unlocking GSM, unlocking bootloader and rooting the device. Unlocking basically allows sim registration on a different network. However I still do not understand why it is getting expensive to unlock an android phone?

There may be a cheaper way of unlocking it, but most phone unlockers these days wont void a warranty on a phone, and its the most safe method on the market to unlock my code, with that being the case the cost of it has gone up, if it was an iPhone they are now costing £100 to be unlocked on Orange.

tosyn

unlock bootloader + flash tool is good try from sony adroid dev website ; however it is worth noting that anyone doing the above is risking device's warranty. Network unlock code is probably the safest option if you do not have an appetite for risk.

JAYMARSH2005 wrote: »

There may be a cheaper way of unlocking it, but most phone unlockers these days wont void a warranty on a phone, and its the most safe method on the market to unlock my code, with that being the case the cost of it has gone up, if it was an iPhone they are now costing £100 to be unlocked on Orange.