Ok, I read the whole replies of this thread, but no one asked this: Can you activate the iPhone 4S with a foreign sim card? Like for example, you wanna restore your iPhone 4S while you are travelling abroad, will the iPhone 4S activate it with the foreign sim card?
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Verizon iPhone 4S SIM UNLOCK Tutorial
- Thread starter b24pgg
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Does anybody know where/how to unlock the phone without calling verizon? Somehow they are doing it over the air.. I have a few phones but like it was mentioned you can only unlock a 4s every 19 months
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Does anybody know where/how to unlock the phone without calling verizon? Somehow they are doing it over the air.. I have a few phones but like it was mentioned you can only unlock a 4s every 19 months
Thanks for the write up! I had the phone unlocked for my trip last week to Germany. Worked perfectly 
Has anyone actually tried using a SIM card from an AT&T MVNO (such as H2O Wireless or Jolt) in a Verizon iPhone 4S that has been GSM unlocked? I'm guessing that it shouldn't work... but maybe there was an oversight?
For those wondering: an MVNO is a mobile network virtual operator, and they resell airtime, usually from one of the big 4 (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile), usually on a prepaid basis, and usually far cheaper than the big 4.
For those wondering: an MVNO is a mobile network virtual operator, and they resell airtime, usually from one of the big 4 (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile), usually on a prepaid basis, and usually far cheaper than the big 4.
This. I have a little situation here, any help at ALL will be appreciated greatly. I bought a Verizon iPhone 4S from a friend. It has no service on it and I'm NOT a Verizon customer. I use T-Mobile (previous iPhone 4 owner) and when I try to hook up the SIM to my phone, it gives me the "this carrier is not supported.." message. I was wondering if there was a way to unlock without calling up Verizon, I don't think they'd help since I'm not a customer.
Is there any hope for me or do I have a shiney phone-less iPhone? O:
Your only option is to find a friend who has Verizon service and ask if they will let you temporarily activate your iPhone on their line. Then you can call VZW Global Support and unlock it.
That's right. U.S. carrier SIMs won't work (although you will be able to roam on AT&T/T-Mobile in the USA using foreign SIMs)
I will put in for a enhancement request, hopefully they can get this option in future iOS updates.
Has Apple ever gotten back to you regarding this ?
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I called VZW and did the unlock this evening.
Popped in my pre-paid Virgin Mobile UK SIM card (cut down to fit the micro-SIM slot) and the phone did a brief self-activation via wifi (VZW phone support said it requires a wifi connection to authorize the non-VZW SIM). They said it requires either plugging in to iTunes or an available wifi network to verify the non-VZW SIM activation.
It then showed 4 bars of AT&T for a minute, then it changed the carrier name to "310-410" instead of "AT&T" and immediately after I received a text message saying "Virgin Mobile welcomes you to United States of America. Calls cost £1.40 per min to make and £0.80 to receive. Texts cost £0.35. Mobile web/broadband is B£5 per MB. For help call 789."
Yippy! I'm good to go.
Though I must say, Virgin UK's pre-paid data prices in the US are pretty steep! £5 per megabyte. Ouch! (not that I'd actually use it like that in the US, but just sayin').
Popped in my pre-paid Virgin Mobile UK SIM card (cut down to fit the micro-SIM slot) and the phone did a brief self-activation via wifi (VZW phone support said it requires a wifi connection to authorize the non-VZW SIM). They said it requires either plugging in to iTunes or an available wifi network to verify the non-VZW SIM activation.
It then showed 4 bars of AT&T for a minute, then it changed the carrier name to "310-410" instead of "AT&T" and immediately after I received a text message saying "Virgin Mobile welcomes you to United States of America. Calls cost £1.40 per min to make and £0.80 to receive. Texts cost £0.35. Mobile web/broadband is B£5 per MB. For help call 789."
Yippy! I'm good to go.
Though I must say, Virgin UK's pre-paid data prices in the US are pretty steep! £5 per megabyte. Ouch! (not that I'd actually use it like that in the US, but just sayin').
Thanks to all but still a couple of questions
Hi all. First off thanks for all the info. It has been helpful so far and I plan to try to get unlocked later today. Even after reading though, I still have a few questions. FYI I plan to travel to Mexico next month which is why I'm looking into this.
1. A couple of posters mentioned that their phone had to be completely restored during the unlocking/activation process. Is this true? I certainly don't want to go through this process, arrive in Mexico, and try to activate and then have to restore my device. It would make this whole process pointless as I don't want to bring my laptop with me and I doubt restoring from iCloud would be practical with whatever wifi is down there.
2. People say that the best thing to do if you don't have a international SIM is to just get one once you get to your destination. Is this really the best way? I'd hate to go through all this, get to Mexico, buy a SIM, only to find out it does not work and have wasted all this time. Are there really no easy ways to buy an international SIM in the US for future travel.
Thanks again to all of you,
~Matty
Hi all. First off thanks for all the info. It has been helpful so far and I plan to try to get unlocked later today. Even after reading though, I still have a few questions. FYI I plan to travel to Mexico next month which is why I'm looking into this.
1. A couple of posters mentioned that their phone had to be completely restored during the unlocking/activation process. Is this true? I certainly don't want to go through this process, arrive in Mexico, and try to activate and then have to restore my device. It would make this whole process pointless as I don't want to bring my laptop with me and I doubt restoring from iCloud would be practical with whatever wifi is down there.
2. People say that the best thing to do if you don't have a international SIM is to just get one once you get to your destination. Is this really the best way? I'd hate to go through all this, get to Mexico, buy a SIM, only to find out it does not work and have wasted all this time. Are there really no easy ways to buy an international SIM in the US for future travel.
Thanks again to all of you,
~Matty
Called to unlock - Verizon said ok, rep transferred me to tech support & they said they had to send a request to Apple to have the phone unlocked then a minute later said it had been unlocked by Apple. I asked the tech rep if she was Global Support & she said yes. Doesn't sound like what happened to SGMD1 - hope it actually is unlocked.
Thanks for the quick reply, thinking of cutting a "Global Roaming" Sim card I
have down so it fits & seeing it that will work.
Tested it with the SIM card I have & got this message;
"Only compatible SIM cards from a supported carrier may be used to activate
iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came with your iPhone".
Does this mean that the phone is unlocked but the SIM card I am trying to use just won't work here? Tried using a "Global Roaming" SIM which is based out of England & also tried a TruPhone SIM. Got the same message on both.
By the way - both SIM cards when placed in my other cell phone use the T-Mobile network
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Hmm, it shouldn't do that. Doesn't sound like the unlock was applied correctly. Try calling back and speaking with a different rep. It's possible they didn't do it right the first time.