Can we unlock a locked Orange cell -phone
 

Hi all,

By mistake, last year in France, we bought a locked tri-band cell phone at a very busy Orange store in Avignon. Even though Larry, my husband, speaks French, somehow we realized several days later that we had purchased a phone locked to Orange.

My primary question is whether we can unlock the phone. Also, since we visit other countries, and if we cannot unlock the phone, can we buy an Orange SIM card for those countries? We are going to Italy in the fall, and would like to use the cell phone there, but without huge roaming charges.

We have started traveling for longer periods of time now that Larry is retired. Since we would eventually like to have 2 phones, perhaps there is another way to do this. Any thoughts?

Thanks you for helping with yet another cell-phone question.
-Margret

I should mention that the GSM cell phone is a French one:

Sagem MY401C

For the most parts, phone can be unlocked...there are many web sites that offer to unlock gsm phones for various amounts of money but there are some which haven't been cracked yet...also in some countries, the authorities support this disgusting activity aimed at breaking one of the big advantages of gsm phones over other technologies (Germany apparently is an example according to logos999)...I know when I walk down Oxford Street in London, there is store front after store front offering to unlock phones for as little as 5 quid...one thing for sure, Orange FR probably won't.

I just went on Ebay and found about a dozen listings for unlocking an Orange Sagem MY401C. Prices range from about $11.50 USD to $25.50 USD

Once it's unlocked, it looks like you'll just have to buy another SIM for VodaPhone or Telefonica or whatever (i.e., the Country you happen to be in at the time).

Good luck!

I went to ebay and just saw the one listing for about $25. Then, I tried Google and got lots of various sites.It looks quite complicated, but my husband is more technical than I. At this point, since we would like to have 2 GSM phones for our travels abroad (we often send one with one of our kids who tend to travel to more exotic places), is there another cheaper and easier way? How do global Phones compare? Thanks again for your quick responses.

-M

Just search eBay for unlocked GSM phones - there are a slew of them. Be sure you get tri- or quad-band for the best compatibility.

Ask your question over on http://www.howardforums.com/

Someone over there should be able to help you.

Ebay lists a new unlocked Motorola v195 for $77 and a used unlocked v195 for $45. Motorola

http://tinyurl.com/2d6qkb

sells a new unlocked Motorola v197 for $99 plus shipping. The v195 and v197 are virtually identical quadband phones with good ratings.

Just a word of advice...

If you are buying a tri band phone for use in Europe, make sure the three bands are 900/1800/1900 mhz...some of the American carriers sell tri band phones that are 850/1800/1900 and lacking the 900 band may put your European coverage back a good deal and make it non existant in some European countries.

Of course as noted the way to avoid this completely is with a quad band phone.

Your Sagem phone can be unlocked, but you need to take the phone to an unlocker (or mail it), as it needs to be connected by cable to a unlocking dongle and PC. It cannot be unlocked remotely, by just tapping in certain code into your phone (as some phones can be).

Thanks you all.

XYZ123, I know we need to buy quad bans. That much I've assimilated, but thank you for reminding me. Do you have any experience with world phones? We tend to visit France or Italy yearly, with added other countries along the way. Would a World phone be easier and/or cheaper, using country calling phone cards in addition to the World Phone SIM card or should we stick with a regular quad-band GSM phones using country SIM cards (and calling cards)? Our US dealer is Verizon which provides the best coverage in our area, so we are not going to switch to one of the carriers in the US that also can be used traveling. We decided on new phones for Europe several years ago.

Alec, the phone is an Orange Sagem and, in the Boston area, where would I go to unlock the phone or do you know a reputable mail-in dealer to do this?

Your help is appreciated as always.

-M

I do not know if this site will help your particular cell phone brand but it is worth a try:
http://www.gsmliberty.net/shop/

They have a toll free number and advertise that they can unlock phones connected to Orange.

When we were in Spain a few months ago I was told that it is fairly easy to find technicians who will unlock phones. However, we decided to buy an unlocked Nokia from the Vodafone dealer. We are happy with Vodafone as it seems to be recognized in many countries.

Whatever you do, don't take it to Ireland.

>Germany apparently is an example
It's a criminal offense. You can't change the law...

...of course in this regard, Germany is the exception rather than the rule.

For the savings I later enjoyed by purchasing SIM cards, I thought paying $25 on ebay for an unlock code was a bargain--and it was a snap. Ebay sellers are regulated by the ratings system, so I think it is trustworthy.
You can probably get it unlocked in a store when you arrive in most countries, but I would just buy the code off ebay and do it myself.

You have to see it that way: It's just like hacking Pay-TV. You get the phone for a much reduced price and in exchange, you sign a contract to use it only with this one company. There's no obligation to use the phone at all, but if you use it with another card, you're stealing from them. Sounds reasonable, since you would have paid 2 to 3 times as much, should you buy the same phone unlocked.

Actually, I paid full price for the phone and am not on a plan (it's pay as you go), so I feel no obligation to the company and I am not stealing from them. I just did not want to wait three months to have them unlock it. It's their stupid policy--and their choice to charge exorbitant rates for intl calls, and if they wanted to prevent it that badly, then I imagine they could.

You have to be comfortable with what you're doing. No need to explain yourself ;-)

I don't understand exactly why, but it appears that the particular phone we have cannot be unlocked with a code. Alec's comments were confirmed on a website that my husband found. So, the decision is whether we can find someone to unlock it here or in Italy (and it is an Orange phone) or to buy a new unlocked phone.

The phone was $100, and we did not buy it to save money. It wasn't the cheapest phone nor one with a lot of bells and whistles. We just forgot to check that it was an unlocked phone.

One of the issues we have had is our SIM card expiring if we do not use it within a 12 month period forcing us to buy a new card. This costs additional money and we lose our original number. We sometimes have lent it to family or friends and that keeps it activated, but we cannot activate it from here. I was wondering if the World phone might be better in this regard. Any thoughts? Has anyone figured this out?

Thanks,

-M