Why Network Providers SIM Lock Their Phones

Unlocking Your Smartphone’s Network: What You Need to Know Before You Begin

Are you thinking of buying a new smartphone and worried about the taking the time unlocking it after you purchase it? Or have you already bought that latest smartphone a while ago, and the locked network is making things very irritating for you? Now don’t think it’s something you won’t be able to get rid of easily or are going to find it really hard to be done with, because it’s quite easy. Through various methods available today, you can easily and quickly get your handset’s network unlocked in no time!

But before you go ahead and do that, do you even know why your handset’s network is locked? It might be quite obvious to think that you did something wrong to have your network locked, but the reason behind it is different. A SIM lock is simply a restriction that is built in your smartphone by the manufacturers for the usage of service providers. Through this restriction, service providers allow the phones to be used in only some specific countries or with specific networks. Normally, such smartphones can get locked so that they accept only SIM cards with certain carriers. But you aren’t just bound with a locked device forever, as you can surely get it unlocked by adding a code with select models.

Now here are a few things you should know when getting your handset’s network unlocked!

What to Consider When Unlocking Different Phone Networks:

The unlocking technology

When it comes to unlocking the various network locks on your mobile device, it’s always possible to get through with software. Now, whatever the handset brand is, when you ask the network operator to provide you the unlocking code, it makes it easier for you to unlock the device’s network. Other than adding the master code on the handset yourself, you can also get it unlocked by having the software running on your handset or by connecting it to a computer and unlocking it. Although this software is very expensive, difficult to use and always changing with every software update by the network carriers.

Using online sources for handsets

Now, lets say for example if you have a handset whose network you want to unlock, you can head online for unlock code generators. For this online service, you’ll need to know which carrier your mobile phone is locked to and furthermore also provide your IMEI. Usually, when you’re unlocking a much older model of phones such as Nokia, Samsung, LG or HTC, you can retrieve unlock code easily and for free through these services.

For AT&T devices you can unlock through AT&T’s online portal. You can access the online portal here. The requirements for AT&T unlocking are simple, you do not even need to be an AT&T customer for the device to be unlocked; however, the device needs to be activated for more than forty-five (45), and not on any finance plan through AT&T. As soon you you enter the device’s IMEI number, your personal information for them to verify the unlock, they will tell you if your device is eligible for a GSM unlock. Only AT&T devices can be unlocked through the AT&T Portal, you cannot put in any other carrier’s device and have it unlocked, it must be sold by AT&T.

Do-it-yourself through online guides

There are quite a variety of online guides available on unlocking a phone’s network properly on your own. Now when you’re heading towards an online guide to get your phone’s network unlocked, it’s important you find the right guide according to your handset model. That’s because the unlocking guide for each and every handset may be different, and there’s a lot of the ways available online that you can look into and solve the problem yourself. So if you’ve got the latest iPhone model that you’d want to unlock, you can check out this guide too. This way you’d be able to do it on your own without having to contact any company or wait for a long time to get your iPhone’s network unlocked.

Purchasing Unlocked Devices

In case you don’t really want to go through the trouble of having your device’s network unlocked after the initial purchase, you may want to spend some additional time researching which provider offers the devices unlocked out of the box.  Typically, if you purchase direct from the device’s manufacture, they will be unlocked. This is quite common and also legal in the United States and United Kingdom as well as other huge markets.

Even though the lock removing process of each handset may be different, you can be sure to run into no issues if it is factory unlocked from the manufacturer. Once you get your handset unlocked, it’ll be permanent and you won’t face the same problem with the same handset!