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iPhone 5 bought second-hand, how to tell EE network lock?
rasseru16
05-12-2014
Hi, so my friend has bought an iPhone 5 second-hand which is locked to EE, but it works with Orange, T-Mobile and EE sim cards... now if I wanted to get it officially unlocked through EE they ask me to specify if its locked to Orange / T-mobile / EE?

Which one do I choose?
Kingsd316
05-12-2014
Originally Posted by rasseru16:
“Hi, so my friend has bought an iPhone 5 second-hand which is locked to EE, but it works with Orange, T-Mobile and EE sim cards... now if I wanted to get it officially unlocked through EE they ask me to specify if its locked to Orange / T-mobile / EE?

Which one do I choose? ”

You may run into problems getting it unlocked as it is only the original owner who is able to request the unlock
dpwykes
05-12-2014
Not sure what network you're planning to use it on if you do get it unlocked, but are you aware it won't work on 4G with O2 and Vodafone
The Lord Lucan
05-12-2014
As mentioned above it doesn't have a 800Mhz 4G modem so cannot access the 4G services from o2 & Voda at all and some of the 4G coverage from Three & EE.

EE as also mentioned only allows the original customer to unlock the iPhone. It does;t matter which of the Ora-T-Mob-EE brands it is locked to.

Just so you know.
Jack_Wilson2
05-12-2014
Originally Posted by rasseru16:
“Hi, so my friend has bought an iPhone 5 second-hand which is locked to EE, but it works with Orange, T-Mobile and EE sim cards... now if I wanted to get it officially unlocked through EE they ask me to specify if its locked to Orange / T-mobile / EE?

Which one do I choose? ”

Never buy a Second Hand locked phone. (Can cause problems getting it unlocked)

You'll have to go to a random street Phone Shop to see if they will or even can unlock it as you'll be asked for the original phone owner of the device to unlock it at the EE store...
d123
05-12-2014
Originally Posted by rasseru16:
“Hi, so my friend has bought an iPhone 5 second-hand which is locked to EE, but it works with Orange, T-Mobile and EE sim cards... now if I wanted to get it officially unlocked through EE they ask me to specify if its locked to Orange / T-mobile / EE?

Which one do I choose? ”

It'll cost you £1.29 to find out the specific network.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GSX-iPhone...item20e523c182

You have to have used the phone for at least 6 months on the network for the unlock to be processed.
alanwarwic
06-12-2014
Originally Posted by Jack_Wilson2:
“Never buy a Second Hand locked iPhone. (Can cause problems getting it unlocked)...”

Corrected for you.
Android phones are usually cheap to unlock, my LG G2 costing 99p, about the same price as a Moto G unlock.
However, if you read the OPS post, you might just deduce that the iPhone in question is already 'officially unlocked'. (though it could be locked to EE, which is 'Orange/t-mobile/EE' )

It is also worth noting that, (at least from one other thread here), the use of the word 'official' is adopted by the scammers of the unlock world.
Mark C
06-12-2014
Originally Posted by Jack_Wilson2:
“Never buy a Second Hand locked phone. (Can cause problems getting it unlocked)
”

I wouldn't say NEVER, it's still perfectly usable as a phone on its 'locked to' network, isn't it ? As long as you're aware of that limitation, what's the big deal ?
corf
06-12-2014
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“Corrected for you.
Android phones are usually cheap to unlock, my LG G2 costing 99p, about the same price as a Moto G unlock.
However, if you read the OPS post, you might just deduce that the iPhone in question is already 'officially unlocked'. (though it could be locked to EE, which is 'Orange/t-mobile/EE' )

It is also worth noting that, (at least from one other thread here), the use of the word 'official' is adopted by the scammers of the unlock world.”

A T-Mobile locked iPhone works with EE in my experience. I don't think you can deduce anything from the op.
Mark C
06-12-2014
Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan:
“As mentioned above it doesn't have a 800Mhz 4G modem so cannot access the 4G services from o2 & Voda at all and some of the 4G coverage from Three & EE. ”

No, but it will still be perfectly usable on 3G, not everyone wants to use their phone
every moment of their waking day (or can even afford to), to watch Holywood movies, or download tetrabytes worth of data
alanwarwic
06-12-2014
Originally Posted by corf:
“A T-Mobile locked iPhone works with EE in my experience. I don't think you can deduce anything from the op.”

An Orange Sim does too I have been told, yet an EE Sim or t-mobile Sim would not work in an Orange phone, Orange, now part of EE who adopted the t-mobile system for running EE.
d123
06-12-2014
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“An Orange Sim does too I have been told, yet an EE Sim or t-mobile Sim would not work in an Orange phone, Orange, now part of EE who adopted the t-mobile system for running EE.”

Ive used T-Mobile sims in Orange locked handsets in the past..
rasseru16
06-12-2014
My friend isn't at all fussed about 4G as she only tops maximum of 100mb of data if that for basic e-mails and whatsapp messages.
alanwarwic
06-12-2014
Originally Posted by d123:
“Ive used T-Mobile sims in Orange locked handsets in the past..”

Maybe it was a post independent Orange handset.
d123
07-12-2014
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“Maybe it was a post independent Orange handset.”

Handsets, not handset. As in 10s of handsets...

I'll go through the old scraps box and see if I can find a really old Orange locked handset and try it as well.
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