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Unlocking AT&T iPhone for international travel

G

gaanee

macrumors 65816
Original poster
I have 5s on 2 year contract with At&t. I will be traveling and would like to get it unlocked so that I can use it there. I checked with At&t to find out what the options are, one is to suspend the service for couple of months and restart it after coming back. How will affect unlocking after 2 year contract. Also, can someone who has unlock available on their account use my imie and get it unlocked for me?
 
gaanee said:
I have 5s on 2 year contract with At&t. I will be traveling and would like to get it unlocked so that I can use it there. I checked with At&t to find out what the options are, one is to suspend the service for couple of months and restart it after coming back. How will affect unlocking after 2 year contract. Also, can someone who has unlock available on their account use my imie and get it unlocked for me?
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Have you tried to complete the online request form?

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/termsAndCondition

If that does't work, call 611 from your iPhone and talk to a representative. Explain that you are traveling overseas and need to have it unlocked for that purpose and will remain an AT&T customer. It probably will not work, but it is worth a try. I don't believe your other options of suspending or having someone else submit for you will work.
 
I talked to At&t customer rep and was suggested to get their international plan - which is too expensive. I explained her that the iphone will be still under contract and I will be making payments even during the time I am traveling without using their service. So I got this info about suspending the service where I still have to pay 9.99 instead of full payment. Question is whether it affects unlocking after 2 years.
 
gaanee said:
I talked to At&t customer rep and was suggested to get their international plan - which is too expensive. I explained her that the iphone will be still under contract and I will be making payments even during the time I am traveling without using their service. So I got this info about suspending the service where I still have to pay 9.99 instead of full payment. Question is whether it affects unlocking after 2 years.
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No, while the service is "reduced-rate" suspended your contract still honors its same end date. However, you can only do a "reduced rate suspension" once every 12 months... and I believe only for up to 6 months.
 
TheAppleFairy said:
Any chance you actually own the site and never actually 'used' that site.

OP there are a lot of gray market unlocking sites out there and some are better than others. There is an official thread about unlocking services here somewhere. The prices vary but I have paid between $5 and $20 for unlocking AT&T iPhones in the past.
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I don't own the site, I really REALLY used the service, just a suggestion. Created an account to help another human being, that's all.
 
I used at&t internationally. Let's just say I blew 400. 😡

I went back home paid $86 to unlock my phone. Now I pay $10 for 5gig of data in Asia.
 
I visited SE Asia frequently and just bought a cheap phone for use. When I moved to Thailand,I bought a 3GS here and had AT&T unlock it. So for ~$100, I have a phone I can use nearly everywhere and left my newer iPhone back in the States. This was a few years ago.

1rottenapple said:
I used at&t internationally. Let's just say I blew 400. 😡

I went back home paid $86 to unlock my phone. Now I pay $10 for 5gig of data in Asia.
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Iphone 5c Unlock

i just bought iphone 5c locked to at&t and hav paid on 3rd july 2014 to chronicunlock while d time they gave me is 14 working days, up till now the fone has not be unlock and d time has elapse, hav tried to mail chronicunlock they reply that they are still working on it..... as it stand now am seriously frustrated dont know what to do? i dont even knw if Chronicunlock is genuine....... need advice here........ urgent reply plz
 
rottymoore said:
i just bought iphone 5c locked to at&t and hav paid on 3rd july 2014 to chronicunlock while d time they gave me is 14 working days, up till now the fone has not be unlock and d time has elapse, hav tried to mail chronicunlock they reply that they are still working on it..... as it stand now am seriously frustrated dont know what to do? i dont even knw if Chronicunlock is genuine....... need advice here........ urgent reply plz
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While I can't speak for Chronicunlock cause I did not use them, but if you bought the cheaper plan it takes a while. I used an expedited service when I unlocked my 5s because I had 7 days before my trip and it took them 3 business days. Paid $86 dollars vs $35 but uou definitely get what you paid for. There is a finite amount of unlock available for the company to do, and paying a bit more let's you jump the line.
 
Can I pay-off the remaining phone cost and request unlock from At&t. Is it same as ETF which they said would be $255. Anyone has experience doing this?
 
1rottenapple said:
While I can't speak for Chronicunlock cause I did not use them, but if you bought the cheaper plan it takes a while. I used an expedited service when I unlocked my 5s because I had 7 days before my trip and it took them 3 business days. Paid $86 dollars vs $35 but uou definitely get what you paid for. There is a finite amount of unlock available for the company to do, and paying a bit more let's you jump the line.
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Thanks bro appreacite ur reply it means a lot . I paid 101.3826 US which is 16,500 Naira at the time I pay. But even if I hav to wait like how long d u think its gonna takes for them to unlock it cod am really piss off. Or is it possible if I ask them to refund my money, and will it still be possible to unlock it somewhere else..... Reply
 
Yah it's possible to seek out another place. The first company i used could not unlock it. So I went with one with a 95% guarantee and thankfully they did it.
 
gaanee said:
Can I pay-off the remaining phone cost and request unlock from At&t. Is it same as ETF which they said would be $255. Anyone has experience doing this?
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Do you mean the AT&T NEXT balance? If so, yes. I did and i was able to get an unlock approved for my iPhone 5s
 
C DM said:
Indebt? Paying a lot of money at one time vs paying things off little by little.
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Some people with money laying around don't understand that not everyone has money laying around.

That being said, saving up the $700 for an unlocked phone and sticking with your old phone until you can buy upfront is not a bad idea. Now that carriers are giving cheaper rates when you bring your own phone. Especially if you need the phone unlocked for travel.
 
2 year contract I can't do and then if you don't pay it ends up in collections and ruins your credit. $700 is not that much I mean people buy iPads MacBooks and iMacs for higher prices.
 
pure-rockstar said:
2 year contract I can't do and then if you don't pay it ends up in collections and ruins your credit. $700 is not that much I mean people buy iPads MacBooks and iMacs for higher prices.
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Maybe they bought their MacBook for $1,000+ and don't want to drop $700 for a phone up front.

Personally I agree with you I think it's better to buy the phone up front now that it's cheaper per month and not be stuck in a contract. Unlike before it was the same price with or without a contract, but everybody had different finances.
 
If I knew of upcoming international travel, I would have bought it up front. I did that with previous 3GS with no data plan and using it on wifi. Now with cheaper plans when you bring your own phone, it makes much more sense to buy up front - if you can afford. Because at the end of 2 years, you end up paying for the phone anyway.
This aside, I am still looking to get iphone unlocked. Can a friend request unlock using my IMIE and what other unlocking services are available and how much do they charge?
 
There was a survey I don't remember on which site that asked iPhone users why they need to unlock and most cited international use for travel.
 
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