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Old 11-10-2016, 17:45
Stereo Steve
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Right. Got an iPhone 4, locked to Orange. Bought my boy a Nokia 130 with Tesco (O2) sim as he's gone to secondary and wanted to keep in touch. Anyway, seems it's taken as read that kids can take a photo of work on their phones. WTF? Anyway, bought the missus an SE unlocked and want to let the boy use her old iPhone 4. So paid the £8.99 to get it unlocked and got a text to my mobile with a 6 digit code and they said it was unlocked.

Put Tesco SIM in iPhone 4 and nothing. It didn't say the sim was evil but no signal and no number in settings. Went outside and waved it around and nothing. Soft reset, nothing. The instructions online tell me to 'complete the setup process'. OK. Right. Which one is that then? WTF is this code? Where do I put that? Up my arriss? Up EE's arriss?

What am I doing wrong?

I hate this stuff and currently want to kill everybody. I'm sure there is a simple solution and then I won't want to kill everybody any more. If anyone can help, it will save a lot of needless violence, even if it's only foliage related.
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Old 11-10-2016, 18:28
gavo360
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I havent unlocked a iphone for a while but you used to plug the phone into itunes with the new sim to complete the unlocking.
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Old 11-10-2016, 18:42
d123
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As said, there's no codes with an iPhone. It should unlock just putting the other sim in, but if not plug into iTunes and sync, if that does nothing, plug into iTunes and restore, if that does nothing, shout at Orange.
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Old 11-10-2016, 19:09
-GONZO-
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I'm pretty sure you need to restore the device for the unlock to take affect as the info comes from Apples servers during setup.
As your giving to your boy then restore and setup as new phone.

When your carrier has agreed to unlock your iPhone and has processed your request, you'll need to replace the old SIM card with a SIM card of the carrier you wish to change to. Make sure your iPhone is off when you do this, and when your turn your iPhone back on it will talk you through any further updates that may be required.

If you don't have the original SIM card but have requested for your iPhone to be unlocked by the original carrier, you'll need to reset your device.

Make sure you back up your iPhone by connecting it to your computer and using iTunes to perform a backup, and then completely reset your device by going to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. Everything will be wiped from your iPhone following this process, so backing up your iPhone is EXTREMELY important to do first.

You can now complete the setup assistant on your iPhone and restore your iPhone from the backup you created. Insert your new SIM card. This should mean that your iPhone is now unlocked.
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Old 11-10-2016, 20:24
jchamier
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What am I doing wrong?
The phone will need internet access; so ensure you have WiFi enabled before you start. Leave the phone powered on, and change the SIM. (Yes you can do this on iPhones).

Assuming its on iOS 7 (the last release for the iPhone 4) then a locked iPhone should on detecting a different network SIM go into the 'activation' screens automatically. These will ask you to enter the email address and password for the Apple account the phone is set to use. At this point the phone will then check the Apple activation servers to see if the phone has been reported stolen and which network it may or may not be locked to. Once validated, the phone will return to the home screen (springboard).

If you get nowhere, reboot the phone with the new SIM in (hold home button, and sleep/wake button until apple logo).

If still nothing then plugging into a PC or Mac running iTunes with an internet connection and you can do a full factory restore (which wipes everything) should force an activation cycle.

iPhones are locked on Apple's activation servers, and when unlocked you can change SIMs with the phone on at any time; the phone knows its unlocked and doesn't go through the reactivation process. (iPhones bought from Apple direct without contract do this).

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201328
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Old 11-10-2016, 22:35
LION8TIGER
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[quote=Stereo Steve;84189102iPhone 4. So paid the £8.99 to get it unlocked and got a text to my mobile with a 6 digit code and they said it was unlocked. [/quote]

I unlocked an iPhone 5c on EE about a month ago, paid the £8.99 and received a text saying phone was unlocked about 5 days later, it was unlocked to any network but there was no code.
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Old 11-10-2016, 23:07
lightspeed2398
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I clearly can't offer any advice which surpasses the advice given by others but I thought I'd drop in to say is that really expected of kids these days? Seems awfully strange to presume that every kid has a mobile phone that can take photos. I'm going to go and get my quill and wax tablet to feel better.
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Old 13-10-2016, 09:44
Stereo Steve
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Thanks folks, no idea what the code was for, it was texted to me anyway. Did a full reset and all is now working with the Tesco SIM.

I too am a little dismayed that year 7s are just expected to be able to take a photo. He says many of the kids have iphone 6/7 now. Cripes. Still he's happy with his 4 at the moment. I'm sure he'll fill it with rubbish games within the week and it will slow to a crawl.
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Old 13-10-2016, 11:36
JeffG1
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I just looked up the specs for that phone. I didn't realise they still made phones without cameras!
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Old 13-10-2016, 12:13
Stereo Steve
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I just looked up the specs for that phone. I didn't realise they still made phones without cameras!
Well it works very well as a phone which is what we wanted. He texts me every morning to confirm he's on the bus and can get in touch if he misses the bus home or whatever. Being O2(Tesco) it'll work anywhere. That was the intention.

Obviously not cool enough for school these days. I think we'll stick in the car glove box in case we end up somewhere with no EE coverage and need to call.
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