Unlock Code

I've requested an unlock code via the "contact us/ email" on the
Cingular web site.

After one back - and forth round of email requesting the IMEI, a new
email this morning advises they will forward the code and instructions
within 7 business days.

So it appears you can get this done, if you are patient and plan
ahead. We'll see what shows up in a week to my inbox.

---

› See More: Unlock Code

You are right. It is possible to have a phone unlocked for Cingular.
There are some conditions that I was reading on an internal website:

The phone has to be purchased at full retail price.
Or.
The phone can be purchased at a subsidized price, but the terms of the
agreement must be up.
Or.
The phone can be purchased at a subsidized price and unlocked within
the terms of the agreement if the customer qualifies for an
international roaming package and the line must be active for 90 days.

Cingular will NOT unlock phones from another carrier or phones that are
not branded Cingular. However, I do not know how they can check.

Cingular will NOT unlock AT&T phones either. You will be referred to
AT&T for that.

It's a very easy process, but I don't think most associates in stores
know how to do it.

I hope this helps.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on 18 Nov 2005
15:36:25 -0800, "TabooLexicon" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Cingular will NOT unlock phones from another carrier or phones that are
>not branded Cingular. However, I do not know how they can check.

Easily checked.

>Cingular will NOT unlock AT&T phones either. You will be referred to
>AT&T for that.

ATTWS no longer exists as a separate entity, and didn't unlock when it did.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>
MY HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
<http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

How would someone unlock a phone branded for ATT/ Who would possess this
information?

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <[email protected]> on 18 Nov 2005
> 15:36:25 -0800, "TabooLexicon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Cingular will NOT unlock phones from another carrier or phones that are
>>not branded Cingular. However, I do not know how they can check.
>
> Easily checked.
>
>>Cingular will NOT unlock AT&T phones either. You will be referred to
>>AT&T for that.
>
> ATTWS no longer exists as a separate entity, and didn't unlock when it
> did.
>
> --
> Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS
> John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>
> MY HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
> <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've requested an unlock code via the "contact us/ email" on the
> Cingular web site.

I requested the unlock via the web site. I received email about how that
would violate my warranty, but a code would be coming soon via email.
Then, I received email that my IMEI had been submitted incorrectly, asking
me to verify the proper one. I sent the proper one.

I received an unlock code via email a couple of days later. Now I just
need a non-Cingular SIM to insert so that it asks for the code.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

[email protected] wrote:
>I received an unlock code via email a couple of days later. Now I just
>need a non-Cingular SIM to insert so that it asks for the code.

I have that, will advise when they send my info if it works properly.

ATTWS handsets can often (but not always) be unlocked by a 3rd-party service.
See Unlocking in the Cingular Wireless FAQ (in my sig block below).

In <[email protected]> on Sat, 19 Nov 2005 23:51:58 -0500,
"William Frady" <[email protected]> wrote:

>How would someone unlock a phone branded for ATT/ Who would possess this
>information?
>
>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> In <[email protected]> on 18 Nov 2005
>> 15:36:25 -0800, "TabooLexicon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>Cingular will NOT unlock phones from another carrier or phones that are
>>>not branded Cingular. However, I do not know how they can check.
>>
>> Easily checked.
>>
>>>Cingular will NOT unlock AT&T phones either. You will be referred to
>>>AT&T for that.
>>
>> ATTWS no longer exists as a separate entity, and didn't unlock when it
>> did.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:

>I've requested an unlock code via the "contact us/ email" on the
>Cingular web site.
>
>After one back - and forth round of email requesting the IMEI, a new
>email this morning advises they will forward the code and instructions
>within 7 business days.
>
>So it appears you can get this done, if you are patient and plan
>ahead. We'll see what shows up in a week to my inbox.

Well, so far, as of 11/23, I've had 4 emails back and forth. The last
email just arrived. "The number is not in our database and appears to
be a preproduction model". Well, that's because they fat-fingered two
digits. I verified the mistake is their - I am sending my emails using
a fixed font which makes seeing the numbers very clear; the number I
provided was the correct number. They read it incorrectly.

Have sent them a correction, we'll see what happes next. They aren't
being quick or easy about it.

Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:

>I've requested an unlock code via the "contact us/ email" on the
>Cingular web site.
>
>After one back - and forth round of email requesting the IMEI, a new
>email this morning advises they will forward the code and instructions
>within 7 business days.
>
>So it appears you can get this done, if you are patient and plan
>ahead. We'll see what shows up in a week to my inbox.

OK, from Nov 18th, it took until today. Entered the provided code. My
Samsung phone said "Personalization Cancelled" after entering the
code.

I put in a SIM from a Nextel phone, and the Cingular Samung powered up
wtih no complaint. Before this it said "invalid SIM" so the lock code
appears to have worked.

It did take several rounds of email - they kept mis-typing my IMEI
code - it was always correct in my email TO them. It wasn't a zero vs
oh issue.

Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:

> OK, from Nov 18th, it took until today. Entered the provided code. My
> Samsung phone said "Personalization Cancelled" after entering the
> code.

Did you put in the foreign SIM in order to get prompted for the code?

> I put in a SIM from a Nextel phone, and the Cingular Samung powered up
> wtih no complaint. Before this it said "invalid SIM" so the lock code
> appears to have worked.

Or did you mean to put paragraph two before one?

> It did take several rounds of email - they kept mis-typing my IMEI
> code - it was always correct in my email TO them. It wasn't a zero vs
> oh issue.

Mine was "zero" verses "eight", an easy mistake with the proper font.
Now I have my code, but I need to borrow a foreign SIM.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

[email protected] wrote:

>Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Did you put in the foreign SIM in order to get prompted for the code?

Nope. Phone was on. With my usual Cingular SIM in the phone, I entered
the code, and got the "Personalization Cancelled" message.

I then powered off, tried the Nextel SIM, and it worked. Whereas,
before entereing the code (a week or so ago) putting in the Nextel SIM
resulted in an "invalid SIM" message.

This is a Samsung x427M 850 single band phone. My reason for unlocking
is to use a different SIM when doing consulting, not for overseas
travel. Obviously with only one band this phone won't work in a lot of
non-us places.

Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
> >Did you put in the foreign SIM in order to get prompted for the code?

> Nope. Phone was on. With my usual Cingular SIM in the phone, I entered
> the code, and got the "Personalization Cancelled" message.

What screen or prompt were you at when you entered the code, while the
Cingular SIM was in place?

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

[email protected] wrote:

>Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>> >Did you put in the foreign SIM in order to get prompted for the code?
>
>> Nope. Phone was on. With my usual Cingular SIM in the phone, I entered
>> the code, and got the "Personalization Cancelled" message.
>
>What screen or prompt were you at when you entered the code, while the
>Cingular SIM was in place?

Phone was on, Cingular SIM in as normal.

Open phone. Punch in code. So the same, as if I were going to dial a
number to place a call.

William Frady wrote:
> How would someone unlock a phone branded for ATT/ Who would possess this
> information?

Depends on the phone. A lot of the Nokia phones can be unlocked with a
code that you can generate yourself.

I.e., I used the codes generated from

"http://www.peters1.dk/webtools/nokia/nokiaonline.php?sprog=en"

to unlock an AT&T Nokia 3595 that someone wanted to use on T-Mobile
prepaid.

There are unlocking services that are able to unlock many phones, either
remotely or via a cable.

Check craigslist.org and search for "unlocking" under "sale/wanted."

Merlin <[email protected]> wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:

> >What screen or prompt were you at when you entered the code, while the
> >Cingular SIM was in place?

> Phone was on, Cingular SIM in as normal.

> Open phone. Punch in code. So the same, as if I were going to dial a
> number to place a call.

That didn't work for me.
Oddly enough, I received a new unlock email message today. This is
different from the one I received before.

I still can't get it to work, though. It says to hold * to dial the
initial "P", but that doesn't work. The first * is an *, no matter how
long I hold it. The second * changes to a p, but that doesn't do anything,
as far as I can manage.
*#06# shows the IMEI, but *#32# does nothing.

A Google search shows some other people with the same problem. The
solution seems to be to pay someone $20.

Subject: SUBSIDY UNLOCK CODE REQUEST
IMEI::My IMEI
UNLOCK CODE::nnnnnnnn
Motorola Subsidy Unlock Process
1. With Sim Removed or with Cingular Sim installed
2. Turn on handset
3. Enter P*#32#
4. Press OK
5. Enter the unlock code
P can be entered by holding down the * key. (Shows as a box)

With non-Cingular SIM installed
1. Turn on handset
2. Enter unlock code when prompted
3. Press OK

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5