Why you should Unlock your Cell Phone

   Cell phones are made for a service provider to lock them. This is to keep you tied in knots to a particular service provider in a contract. There is Huge money in phone to provider placement.

There are other reasons why they do this to you; such as leaving you with no option other than to pay horrific roaming fees when you take your phone out of their network area to use it any where else in the world, even if you are only 1 block away from service!

So, first - they have you tied into a contract that you cannot get out of (because if you do - they will Destroy your credit) .  Then - if you do or can opt out - you still have to pay, in most cases,  HALF of the normal rate you are paying now with NO service !  or...once again... they will Wreck your Credit!

The good news is that these electronic locks which are factory installed by the way,  to the cell phones ARE reversable. With many cellular phones it is as simple as entering the unlocking password code into the cell phone.    It is right then unlocked right away.

This hub is to help you with ways to unlock your cell phone with minimal stress or effort.   Then you can use *any* service provider you want without having a contract!  Sweet, right?   If you want a contract and to have the reasonable option of paying reasonable fees - fine.   All these choices should still be your choices and not the Networks.   These networks are robbing us!!

So - here's the downlow info:

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   When you buy a new cell phone the chances are it will be locked onto the network from the company you bought the phone from; one of their *retail outlets*.   If you try to put another service providers Sim card in it-- it just won't work at all.

   Unlocking your phone allows the phone to be used with any compatible Sim card on any network!   Doing this  can give you a LOT of benefits such as:

Promotional deals. Often networks give away free Sim cards that can come with free texting or unlimited call features. But if your phone isn't unlocked you can't put another Sim card into your phone to take advantage of these promotions.

A cheaper tariff. If you like your phone but got a bumb network deal then unlocking the phone allows you to keep the phone you like and switch to a better network that works for you.

Fact -- you don't need a new phone should enable you to get a better rate.

Freedom to roam. Unlocking your phone extends many Sim cards so you can use (for example) the expensive overseas networks rates by getting a local Sim card everywhere you go! Awesome!

Added value. Unlocked cell phones sell for alot more cash on eBay or for resale in general because they have a much wider appeal to users already on other networks. ONE WARNING! - Some of the unlocked phones you buy on Ebay are stolen! You try to activate it and the company asks for the serial number which you give them. They then come back and tell you the phone can never be activated because it is from a stolen lot. Yes, it happened to me and it happens a lot I'm sure; especially from the sales that are *lots*. A*lot* is  where they are selling many many of the same phones and the ebay listings all look the same way down the page.

Independence from the network.   Unlocking your cell phone gives you freedom where you bought it. And the great part is it's usually quite simple to do it.  Many cell phones can be unlocked using codes generated for your phone type for free on the web or paying  a reasonable fee to have it done for you.

Isn't all of this  illegal?

No - not at all!   This is a common misconception and one the mobile phone companies want you to believe!  The confusion all starts because unlocking and unblocking are often mixed up.  Those two terms mean VERY different things!

• Unlocking is totally legal.   It simply means making the phone work with any Sim card.
  
  

• Unblocking is illegal.  This is the practice of making a phone work again after it's been blocked by the network providers, usually as the result of the phone being reported lost or stolen.   THAT IS  thoroughly illegal and should not be attempted.

  
  

Now... what about my warranty?

While it's not illegal at all and provides a lot of benefits;  unlocking your phone will invalidate the warranty (in most cases.).   So  think twice if you're still in the warranty period and have a very expensive phone.  Or think again if you have bought an extended warranty for your phone. While it is possible to 're-lock' some phones, you should not rely on this being an option!

It is possible to get a 'Sim unlocking attachment'  which is a little device about the size and shape of a Sim card that fits  into the card slot alongside the Sim card itself.   Effectively - this little device unlocks your Sim to make it work with your phone, so your phone warranty remains intact when you use one.  You then must remember you cannot then sell the cell phone as 'unlocked' because it isn't.

I hope this has answered any questions you may have had on this topic!  If not, please ask them in the comment section and I will get back with you as soon as I can :}

Have a great day!