Verizon iPhone 4S SIM UNLOCK Tutorial

[acbaumann]

I am wondering if I could get the iPhone 4S on my eligable upgrade line, but not activating the new device with this line, and still unlock it internationally with our +44 SIM card?

I am going abroad soon and my family was thinking to keep the coresp. line on the old device which will stay in the U.S. We can transfer the line after return over to the iPhone.

(The standard process already worked for us with another line - very nice policy by Verizon.)

Any idea?

[silver6055]

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acbaumann wrote:

I am wondering if I could get the iPhone 4S on my eligable upgrade line, but not activating the new device with this line, and still unlock it internationally with our +44 SIM card?

I am going abroad soon and my family was thinking to keep the coresp. line on the old device which will stay in the U.S. We can transfer the line after return over to the iPhone.

(The standard process already worked for us with another line - very nice policy by Verizon.)

Any idea?

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The quoted policy, apart from the the 60 day and 10 month stuff, also states that the phone to be unlocked must be activated on the line.  Now of course that doesn't mean that you won't find a rep who might do it anyway.

What is the other device?  If it is a smartphone, I don't think there is a problem activating the iPhone, getting it unlocked, and then putting the old device back.  If it isn't a smartphone, you will have to add the data package but that will be prorated.

But I don't know if the iPhone has some extra complications with the relationship with iTunes....

[csnana]

i have curious question here and nobody has asked this in the forum here ,

what happens if i need to close my contract by paying the ETF after 60days or 90 days and go out of the country for long time of period , would verizon unlock the iphone 4S permanently .

[PJNC284]

Assuming you unlock it before you close the line, you should be good.  

[sringa]

I am thinking of buying one of those international sim cards to test it out...check this out

http://www.telestial.com/view_product.php?ID=MSIM-PPL2

Amazon has the same micro sim shipped for 5 bucks...

[willzzz88]

Sringa,

That depends.

VZW it is rumored for competition purposes (has NOTHING to do with technical stuff) has a MNC (Mobile Network Code) and MCC (Mobile Country Code) lock to prevent US GSM codes of 310 and 311 being inserted into the 4S for competition purposes (people buying a VZW phone, unlocking it and using it on AT&T for example WITH 3G!). I don't know if this blocks extends to AT&T and T-Mobile's codes only or all of US. If it's AT&T and T-mobile you could in theory go to a US rural/regional GSM carrier and inserted their card into it (e.g. I-wireless in the Plains).

T-Mobile 3G as said won't work because it doesn't have the ab-normal US AWS bands.

The AT&T, Sprint and VZW iPhone's are PHSYICALLY IDENTICAL using the Qualcomm shipset. the SKU for a VZW, S and T phone are EXACTLY THE SAME!

The ONLY diffence is a software profile difference pushed by the carrier + Apple.

This MASSIVELY reduces Apple's costs by building a phone that is EXACTLY the same for ALL carriers WORLDWIDE and diffrentiating through software.

Note that this will be different and non-applicable on 4G LTE because VZW has their OWN US GSM LTE network code of 311-480 (their 4G LTE network in the US!) so obviously they can't block all US GSM/LTE because they would block their OWN NETWORK! Heh.

BTW is the SIM card a VZW international roaming only SIM (Vodafone registed to NL) or is it actually a USA VZW 4G LTE SIM with 3G international roaming (they supposedly are going to active direct roaming very soon using NATIVE VZW 4G LTE SIM cards!) by adding a USIM profile (UMTS/GSM) in addition to the existing CSIM (CDMA2000) and USIM+ (LTE, upgraded version of USIM for their LTE network)..

Anyways all this stuff it software...

And the jailbreak to use it on any US carrier will come soon enough to anyone who has IT/technical experience...

[willzzz88]

sringa,

That depends. If that SIM card is registered in the US (any company can get one, it's a simple business license type of process)... and using US routing to get active internationally (that number is ACTUALLY A US +1 number) it MAY NOT work.

If it's a non-US number I am pretty sure it will work...

[joelsschafer]

Just got off the phone with Verizon and they largely confirmed what the original poster said.

The only odd thing was that the rep said that entering any foreign SIM would 'brick' (her words) my iPhone until I synched it with iTunes.   And she said that doing this would require my to re-load all my iPhone data (via iTunes) following this sync.    (I don't think she was trying to discourage me from doing it though, because she noted that 'people do this all the time')

She said this would only be the case the first time, and that inserting other foreign SIMs in the future would not require a connection to iTunes-- and said that upon return to the US the Verizon network would pick up the iPhone again even if the foreign SIM was still installed.

Does the phone indeed become unusable if a SIM is installed and do you really lose music and app data?

Slightly off topic, I'm curious how widely available micro-SIM cards are in the developing world?   I don't recall ever seeing any in the past.

Joel

[sringa]

WillZZZ - I did not understand your original reply...sorry...not that cell-phone techie, I am

ANyways here is an update - I got the telestial card (MicroSIM Passport Elite) to check the unlocking...

This is what I see -

If I unlock the SIM as a Global number (UK), the phone activated properly but I could not make and receive any calls. But it registered in the AT&T network. In this case, the iTunes software showed the global number as well.

The provider suggests to enter the PIN as 3+PIN in order to use the cell phone in the US. However, I could not activate the phone with that SIM. I get the dreaded message below

Only compatible SIM Cards from a supported carrier may be used to activate iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came with your iPhone or visit a supported carrier store to receive a replacement SIM card.

I guess this is where the carrier limitations come in.

So I think i have made progress further to test international phone but I am not sure if my phone is truly usable everywhere...

[VZC]

When you insert an international SIM into the phone do you still see the word Verizon in the upper left of the screen?

Thanks!