We've been with sprint for 5 years and regretted every single day. Family of 5 all iPhones, 6 and up. Two of them are done with contract and 3 of them are not. So when we port over to T-Mobile and pay the ETF, will sprint agree to domestically unlock the iPhone? Or will they refuse because we left sprint? Does anyone have any experience with this? Also, I've heard sprint says they can domestically unlock but the phone still won't work with other carriers. There was this article I read. Is it true?
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Will sprint unlock my iphone after switching to T-Mobile?
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I left Sprint for T-Mobile back in December 2015. Contract wasn't up at the time but we paid the ETF so get out. The next day I contacted a Sprint rep via live chat and they unlocked all of the phones I had (1 iPhone 6, 4 iPhone 5S's) on the spot. Immediately popped in my T-Mo sim and they all worked.
I had to jump through a couple of hoops due to me leaving the plan early (I have a thread here on MR about it) but it's definitely possible to do. At first we were told we would have to wait until our contract was officially up before they could unlock, then they said we'd have to wait until the next billing cycle. That's all a load of BS- I was (politely) persistent and they agreed to unlock our phones the next day. Don't let them tell you that it's not possible!
EDIT: here's the link so you can take a look at my story of leaving Sprint:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/question-about-paying-sprints-etf.1940781/#post-22325872
I had to jump through a couple of hoops due to me leaving the plan early (I have a thread here on MR about it) but it's definitely possible to do. At first we were told we would have to wait until our contract was officially up before they could unlock, then they said we'd have to wait until the next billing cycle. That's all a load of BS- I was (politely) persistent and they agreed to unlock our phones the next day. Don't let them tell you that it's not possible!
EDIT: here's the link so you can take a look at my story of leaving Sprint:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/question-about-paying-sprints-etf.1940781/#post-22325872
There are a number of SAD stories on the Sprint page on Reddit where people ported out first then asked for an unlock later and were not successful.
The main problem is that once your device leaves Sprint's system there is no longer anything for them to unlock. Because the device is no longer on their network (service) they feel no obligation to submit an unlock.
I would suggest getting on unlock FIRST and then porting. Of course that means paying off the devices first, which means no credits from T-Mob, but you aren't getting credits from T-Mob anyway unless you're turning the device in. And for that you don't need it to be unlocked.
Thank you all! they unlocked all our phones even though three of them were on contract. Not sure how but I'm not complaining!
I would double check that before taking their word for it.
Find a different SIM (maybe one at a T-Mobile store) and put it in the phone. If you're asked for your Apple ID you will know it's unlocked. It not, it will tell you "Invalid SIM".
Thats the experience talking of a guy that got burned with many Sprint promises before
Always double check and verify what a Sprint Rep tells you.
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LOL. Yeah. But I only get burned once. After that I pull a Reagan, 'Trust but verify.'That the experience talking of a guy that got burned with many Sprint promises before
Always double check and verify what a Sprint Rep tells you.
Too many years, too many lies, too many sides to what should be one unified story. Sprint was great training for how to stay on top of the people in customer service no matter what the company.
LOL. Yeah. But I only get burned once. After that I pull a Reagan, 'Trust but verify.'
Too many years, too many lies, too many sides to what should be one unified story. Sprint was great training for how to stay on top of the people in customer service no matter what the company.
I like that, Trust but verify.
Reagan was the man
Probably because that would mean an upfront purchase and then waiting for the credit to be approved and the card to arrive.
Yeah I definitely checked haha. I didn't believe it when she said she submitted the request, but sure enough every phone worked with T-Mobile.
Awesome! Good to port then.
T-Mob will want your Sprint account number and pin. If they have that and it's all correct, your port will complete by the time you get up from the desk at the store.
Our port of four lines was done in less than three minutes. I was getting text messages on T-Mobile before I walked out of the store.
Good luck!
Man how times must have changed. I remember a time not so long ago where this would have been IMPOSSIBLE!!!
It's looking like T mobile may take over Sprint in the next year if the regulators approve it. If it happens it maybe tricky getting the networks working together.
I hope not.
The first time would have benefitted everyone. The second time only benefits Sprint, Masayoshi Son and Softbank's investors.
Sprint is carrying an awful amount of debt and they are having difficulty rolling out even small cells because they keep running into state and local regulators. All this will amount to is T-Mob bailing out Sprint and Son getting out from under the miscalculations he made when he bought Sprint.
Deutsch Telekom thinks differently about T-Mobile now as well.
On a personal note, I just left Sprint not even two years ago. I don't care to return.
Could not agree more. I think having 4 national carriers creates healthy competition. I am old enough to remember when the original phone companies were basically a monopoly and your choice of phones for your house were limited. Granted we have come a long way and I don't see that happening but having a least 4 choices are better than 3. I like John Legere a lot but what I fear is what happens after him if t mobile and sprint merged. I could foresee a situation whereby the phone plans in the remaining three companies become homogeneous and there is not much of a difference in plans offered. Just seeing what t mobile did with the concept of the uncarrier did to the cell phone company business is enough proof more can be better. It can help with innovation. I would hate to see that trend reversed. Keeping the big 4 on their toes to keep us the consumers happy is a good thing. I try to stay apolitical on things on the forums as that can cause arguments but I hope the government regulators take a long look at any proposed merger between these two companies carefully so as to protect our best interests as consumers.
Imagine if att had been able to buy T-Mobile years ago.. no uncarrier would have happened. But I think T-Mobile would like to get sprints spectrum to better compete with the other big 2.
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I must be lucky because in NYC sprint has been rolling out small cells like crazy, speeds even in busy manhattan are top notch.
Yes, you must. NYC is a large city and Mobilitie probably got approval.
But smaller places, like say the Phoenix Metro area Mobilitie has to deal with it city by city. Glendale, Phoenix, Avondale, Mesa, Tempe, Goodyear, Scottsdale, Tolleson, Sun City, etc. And that's just MY local area.
Mobilitie has registered itself as a business in every state in order to facilitate this and if you pay attention to local news you find that sometimes they don't wait for city authorities. They've been caught a few times installing unauthorized poles.
But in general, dealing with all that is slowing Sprint down.
Speaking of small cells…$173,305 to install 23 small cell sites in Houston alone just recently.
https://www.wirelessweek.com/blog/2...shares-insights-fees-small-cell-siting-debate
Considering that the cost for a macro tower averages around $6000 while a small cell averages somewhere around $500, Sprint could have built about 29 new macro sites.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/madden-yes-lte-small-cells-are-cheaper-than-macro
So, the red tape involved here is really hitting Sprint hard. I believe Sprint overestimated how easy it would be to get approval for installing small cells.
Which is typical. Sprint tends to just do stuff without thinking it through before hand. Except when it comes to research on technologies they only develop half way and never bring to market.
https://www.wirelessweek.com/blog/2...shares-insights-fees-small-cell-siting-debate
Considering that the cost for a macro tower averages around $6000 while a small cell averages somewhere around $500, Sprint could have built about 29 new macro sites.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/madden-yes-lte-small-cells-are-cheaper-than-macro
So, the red tape involved here is really hitting Sprint hard. I believe Sprint overestimated how easy it would be to get approval for installing small cells.
Which is typical. Sprint tends to just do stuff without thinking it through before hand. Except when it comes to research on technologies they only develop half way and never bring to market.
Well said.
There's still many parts of the country where people have only 1 option for broadband internet.
Those companies charge them whatever they want and provide them with terrible service, less options, expensive plan, charge them for data overages on home internet etc....
They give them the run around and take forever to make repairs if things break down. Because why you're going to cancel your service with us?
Where you will get internet from? Dialup?
Good joke, shut up and keep paying us.
Monopolies are only good for the greedy companies while the consumer gets the shaft.