Any help would be appreciated ...I got an unlock code from Cingular this week for my Motorola Razr and attempted to unlock today.. First, put in my new United Mobile SIM card - asked for PIN - then requested subsidy code - which i assumed was unlock code - input and seemed to accept. However, then tried ck balance function thru United Mobile - nothing - various msgs saying "number not allowed", then "please wait" then "network busy", then nothing... NEXT tried to call my home phone from the mobile -same messages as above - ANY IDEAS? Could it be network issues? Unlock issues?

Two possibilities:
1) Less likely, your phone needs to use menu dialling. Go into menu, choose dialling (or making calls), and follow instruction. United Mobile (and most other international SIMs) work on a callback system, and some phones don't work when you just dial in the usual way.
2) More likely, you need to have all your numbers (you input, as well as saved in your address book) in the GSM international format - e.g. if your number is (212)-123-4567, make it +12121234567, i.e. prefix every number with +1. The reason being that even if you are raoming on a US network, your call has to go through UM's home network in Liechtenstein and hence all numbers must be in the global format to be correctly recognised and routed.

Thanks Alec,

I read about menu dialing - but couldn't figure out how to do on my phone -- will ck again tonight. On dialing GSM - i dialed international acces plus Country code for US -- like this -- 00 + 1 + areacode and number...which should be the correct way to dial from Europe to US??/ I'm really frustrated!

try registering on a different network...the fact you were able to register on cingular is indicative the phone was sucessfully unlocked...if it were still locked you would get a message to that effect. Perhaps if you follow the menus to manually select a network and you select T Mobile USA it will work....

Don't fool around with making any calls other than to check your balance....calls on UM in the USA are prohibitively expensive.

You can also see if the card is active by dialing the +423 number and seeing if it rings....but do not answer the phone....rather hang up once the number you called rings. If the call goes through, the card is active.

Let us know what happens when you try these things.

i was able to successfully get my mobile to ring by calling the 423 #..so something is working. However, still cannot ck balance or make any calls to US home # (I realize it's very expensive to dial US Outbound calls -- but really want to make sure I've got all this working and understood BEFORE i leave for 1 mth for Europe!

How do i go about registering on another network? I have very little understanding of how all this works - even though I've done quite a bit of research -- enough to be dangerous I guess!

thanks again for the guidance..veebee

You'll have to check the phone manual to see how to manually select your carrier...somewhere it can be found in one of the settings menus.

I had a terrible time getting my new cingular phone unlocked. I have a United Mobile SIM which I have used last year with my old phone so I knew that wasn't the problem. But the first unlock code cingular gave me didn't work (people in the store couldn't get it to work either). So I had to start all over again, they gave me a new phone and put in for a new unlock code. That didn't work for me either, but eventually, at another store, the rep called customer service and after SEVERAL tries got it unlocked. I'm telling you all this because my guess is that the problem is with cingular and the phone and the unlock code, not the UM SIM. Once I got the phone successfully unlocked, when you put the UM SIM in all you have to enter is the 4 digit PIN.

Keep trying, once it works, it works beautifully (just came back from Spain where I used it with no trouble). But I'd head straight for a Cingular corporate store (not a kiiosk at a mall, or even one of the small stores, appararently cingular has several different levels of stores, only the guys in the "corporate" stores seem to really know much.

Once it was unlocked I put the UM SIM in, and then I used my home phone to call the cell phone to be sure it rang.

The probelem is not with cingular or the unlock code. The phone is already unlocked. If it were not, you will not be able to get past the "Enter subsidy code" prompt with the UM sim in it. I have SLVR L7, V551, and RAZR( for the wife), all cingular phones and all work woth my UM sim. It's either user issue, or you just have a UM sim that's not working corectly. The phone is already unlocked, so we should eliminate that as an issue. You were able to dial the number so, try dialing as already suggested, with the international format, using the + countrycodeCityCodeNumber format.

OK - I really appreciate you all trying to help.....it probably is a "user issue" as suggested- but i don't know what my issue is!! I also assume the phone must be unlocked or i wouldn't be able to actually ring the phone on the UM phone number - correct? My problem is dialing out..don't i have to dial 00 + 1 + area code + number to dial from UM SIM to US number? I will also try using "+" instead of "00"?

Also, to ck balance - i tried going to address book where balance 089 is option and selecting to dial- which didn't work - and also dialing 089 directly?? I've emailed UM - but no response yet.

I just checked my own phone with UM SIM, roaming on Orange network in UK. I did menu-dialling for 089 and I correctly received a callback with balance info.
To call a US number from UM SIM roaming in US, you have to use US international access code, which is 011, not 00 ('00' is for use in EU and some other countries). So try dialling your US number, by keying in either +1 area code & number (check your phone for how to get '+' sign) or 011 1 area code & number.

Thanks for suggestion Alec.. I'll have to wait until this evening after work to try dialing with 011 as in a normal US int'l call -- my assumption was since this is a Lichtenstein-based phone number that i would dial as if i was calling from Europe with a "00" prefix. You also mentioned that you used "menu-based" dialing of 089 to get your balance info... how exactly does this work on your phone?

Go into menu, choose dialling or making a call, and follow instructions.

You have dial using the international dialing code from whatever country you are using the phone from. This is one of the reasons why it's advisable and most international phone manuals do tell you to store all numbers using the +CountryCodeCityCodeNumber format. That will eliminate this dialing incorrectly issue. The function of the + on GSM phones is to prepend the number with whatever the international dialing out code is for the country you are in. So, with all numbers having the + in front you can use your phone from any country just by dialing from the phone book. All the numbers on my phones are stored in thsi format.

thanks again....I'm going upstairs now to change out my SIM to the new UM SIM and try dialing with the "+" -- however still not sure why the 089 check balance function wouldn't work ? Will let you know if this works..

It works! Finally,,, a little patience and perserverance... I changed out UM SIM again in mobile and low and behold - was able to ck balance. Then dialed my home phone using "+" and worked like a charm.. Appreciate the assistance in trying to work this out. Not sure what the trick was - but may have something to do with turning phone off and on again - changing out sim again AFTER completing unlock process...ready to go now! (but have to wait another month for my flight!)