Dear Right to Repair
I have a 10 year old dumb phone (keypad phone).
Has anyone unlocked their dumb phone ?
If so, could you tell me how you did it please ?
Yours sincerely ROMMMELLL
I used to sell used cell phones on eBay. Verizon, AT&T, and T-mobile (and perhaps others) phones could be unlocked by calling the original provider’s customer service line to ask for the unlock codes and providing them the IMEI or ESN. Call from another phone because there’s sometimes a need to cycle the device off and on. Keep in mind that if the phone was never paid off with its initial contract, customer service may be unable to provide you the unlock codes.
If you meant breaking a PIN, search for instructions on how to do a hard reset and be prepared to lose everything on the device.
Good luck!
Hi A
Are you still there ?
Dear A
Thanks for your reply. That is very helpful.
I am new to the terminology.
Does ‘original provider’ refer to the phone maker, or the phone seller, or the provider of the first SIM card, or someone else ?
If the phone was NOT locked by the original provider, how else could it be locked ?
And how would you decide what sort of lock you were dealing with ?
Yours sincerely
ROMMMELLL
Unlocking older cell phones used to requiring taking them into the phone store. Very few had a way of doing it on your own in my experience.
There were plenty of ways to unlock phones; I used to work in a store that did it and lots just used software and a cable.
Dear A
Thanks for your reply.
Did you ever go ahead and unlock a dumb phone when you were working in the store ?
Yours sincerely
ROMMMELLL
Of course, we did thousands. Nowadays it’s not legal to lock phones in the UK so no need for them now; in other countries I guess it’s too difficult to unlock.
Dear A
Thanks for your reply. That is very helpful.
I didn’t realize that about the UK.
If you were me, and you had a Samsung GT-E3210 dumb phone (keypad phone) made about 2013, that would only accept your current SIM card (the 2nd SIM card you’ve used with this phone) how would you go about unlocking it please ?
Yours sincerely ROMMMELLL
Hi A
Are you still there ?
Yes but I don’t know about your specific phone, you are best off seeing if there is an online store you can send it to.
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Thanks K
