I believe They change the esn of the phone to one that is known to be unlocked for the network but I have no clue how to do it. Nor do I know if it has to be an esn of a same model phone. Maybe somebody else can chime in.

not sure if it still applies, but sometimes phone & only the locking carrier knows they're locked, third party either doesn't know or doesn't care. I am guessing this based on numerous unlocking by flashing firmware tutorials on the internet which allow to trick the phone.

maybe some old phones used the same keygen systems as some old windows programs where a valid key was just a function of imei/serial. pretty sure this doesn't apply anymore.

Cryptography. The unlock code is generated by hashing the IMEI to a secret code that the carrier knows. The "secret" code though is not very secret, as these third party providers know them. It's likely either sold to them by rogue employees or through data breaches. So, if you want to do it yourself, you'll have to obtain the secret code

Idk how all do it, but I got a MetroPCS phone unlocked on eBay. The t mobile network uses a database and somehow these fringe folks are able to add a phone to the unlocked list. Then I just used the MetroPCS phone app to unlock it. The only other path I see might be to hack into the phone system software.

there is something called an octopusbox

Once the phone has been paid off the carrier will gladly remove the carrier lock, no need to hack anything.

Unlocking your phone from a carrier like AT&T or Verizon usually requires you to meet certain conditions. The carrier might have a policy where they unlock the phone after a certain amount of time or after paying off the device. If you're eligible, they'll give you an unlock code. You can also reach out to customer support for more details on the unlocking process. If you're dealing with a locked device and don't want to go through the carrier's process, tools like Dr.Fone can help. It offers easy-to-use methods for unlocking your phone, especially if you're not able to get it unlocked through official channels. Dr.Fone can be a great solution for those who need a reliable option to unlock their phones without much hassle.

Got a Samsung from eBay advertized as New and Unlocked. Worked w T-Mobile but when I wanted to switch to Verizon the rep said it was locked to AT&T. When I called AT&T they said they couldn't unlock it because there was an acct associated with it and there was a balance due on an installment plan for the phone.

So the eBay seller is selling phones as New & Unlocked and they are not Unlocked and as it turns out, not even New. Totally pissed off.

In case anyone needs this info now or in the future, T-mobile gives the steps on how to do it yourself: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/unlock-your-mobile-wireless-device. Hope it helps.

Oh okay. Thank you for the post

No, this article does not contain the information you hoped to see.

TL;DR, Pay it off, then follow carrier instructions.

After your phone is paid off , you contact your carrier and they will provide you with an unlock code

Was the phone purchased via t-mobile under your name?

It should be eligible for unlock after 60 days of being on network and paid off

If you purchased it locked to T-Mobile but not under your name, yeah not gonna happen unless you still have contact with the person you purchased it from

There is also a chance that it is a branded device. The s10 IS old enough where that could be a possibility. In which case, can't be "unlocked" as it is eternally branded to t-mobile.

Check out /r/nocontract for part of this. But xda-developers.com can also help.

The quickest advice.

If you are under no contract and wish to unlock your phone, go to amazon or eBay type in the phone make and model followed by unlocking code.

Go to the most bought that fits your description.

Purchase it, then Follow the directions eg giving the emei code in a message and wait a few hours and voila unlocking code done cheap

Let me know if this helps

Best Buy has a service (or at least did as of two years ago) where you could give them your previous phone bill and, based on your usage, they’d find the best carrier/plan for you (since Best Buy has agreements with all carriers, they can be unbiased). There’s probably a way to do this yourself online too, but I had a good experience with Best Buy.

I feel like a sub for this would never exist. I'm sure there's some tech website that will be happy to provide you with articles though.

Need this

First a foremost be very careful if you’re buying a locked phone. If the seller paid off the phone then they can ask the carrier it is locked to to unlock the phone. If the seller is financing the phone and decides to sell it to you without paying off the remaining payments due, the phone will get blacklisted- even if you were to unlock this phone it wouldn’t work with another carrier as it would be registered in the national blacklist database. All of this is to say, I’m not sure why someone would be selling a locked phone if it has already been paid for or contract fulfilled.

If you do decide to take the risk:

As others have mentioned R-SIM, but there are also “grey” market services that exist that can unlock the phone via IMEI. This was a lot easier to do a few years ago- there was a guy who would pay AT&T employees to unlock your phone and even went as far as having them provide him with a back door into the AT&T network so he could do it remotely. Needless to say, he was arrested back in 2018.

There are plenty of these kinds of services still out there- a simple google search will pop up a bunch of sites offering unlocking services. If you do decide to go this route some things to look out for: if the unlock service is really cheap (like $10) then it is too good to be true and the company will probably fail to unlock your phone. A lot of these sites offer a money back guarantee if they can’t unlock your phone. However, be sure to use a Privacy card to conceal your actual card number and to also be able to do a chargeback if they fail to refund you. If your credit card offers virtual cards (like privacy cards) then you can skip Privacy.

If I understand correctly, all iPhones sold in the US are carrier unlocked once the device is fully paid off. I know Verizon iPhones come unlocked for sure.

this was my main reason for jailbreaking the iphone 3g, used ultrasn0w for a while to unlock for tmobile as iphones at the time were only att.. not sure if its still current but i think they use those sims now to unlock like rsim

Not possible anymore, there’s new physical methods like the r-sim

Greyrhino

Not sure where you live but locking a phone is no longer technically allowed, at least where I am. You can bring your device to the carrier you’re connected to and they can unlock it for you. In fact they have to. They can’t even charge you for it.

This is how it is in Canada at least.

Take it back. No way to unlock it.

T-Mobile definitely offers permanent unlocks (as long as your device is paid off, if on postpaid). Your phone is permanently unlocked (the T-Mobile WiFi calling indicates the phone is on the T-Mobile network, not that it is locked)

Usually you only update and already, at some point it unlocks, usually after an update is unlocked.