How can I tell if my phone is unlocked?

[Damion Chaplin]

So I bought my SMT5600 from a guy on ebay who said it was a Cingular store return and that all they had done to it was unlock it.

I already use Cingular, so is there any way that I can verify that my phone is actually unlocked? Without borrowing a TMobile customer's SIM?

As I said, I already use Cingular, so it's a moot point for me, but I am still curious. Also, I may sell it in the future, and it may make a difference whether I can sell it as unlocked or not...

[Damion Chaplin]

OK then, let's look at the question from different angles:

What is the process for unlocking a phone? Is it a ROM flash? Some code you enter in somewhere? How do they know if it was successful? Maybe there's a clue there that might lead to a way to verify it's unlocked-ness.

If I borrowed a TMo customer's SIM and stuck it in my phone, and it worked (got a signal), would that be verification that it was unlocked? That's probably a duh question, but I need second-party verification...

[Sven Johannsen]

If I borrowed a TMo customer's SIM and stuck it in my phone, and it worked (got a signal), would that be verification that it was unlocked?..
Yes, but your original post asked for other than that option. I don't know of another good way, off-hand.

It's not a full ROM reflash but it is a flash process. Easy to get unlock stuff on the internet. Got the stuff from Unlockitnow.com for my T610.

Personnally I think it's silly of the carriers to lock the phones in the first place. Most folks get their phones with a 1 or two year contract anyway, so you are stuck paying the montly charge, or a termination fee if you want to switch and put a different SIM in there. It's really just an annoyance, rather than a deterrance to switching. Keeping customer loyalty by providing decent service at a reasonable price just hasn't crossed their minds.

[phoenixag]

It's very simple to know if your phone is unlocked. Does it give a warning when you try and install software? Or doesn't let you at all? If it doesn't, then its most probably unlocked.

Of course, that particular software could already be signed. So to make sure, try installing and running some software which NEEDS an unlocked phone.
Something like Smartfilter. Try it. If it works, its unlocked.

[Mike Temporale]

It's very simple to know if your phone is unlocked. Does it give a warning when you try and install software? Or doesn't let you at all? If it doesn't, then its most probably unlocked.

Application lock is differnet than carrier/device lock. ;) Your phone could have any combination of the 2 different locking states.

[Damion Chaplin]

It's not a full ROM reflash but it is a flash process. Easy to get unlock stuff on the internet. Got the stuff from Unlockitnow.com for my T610.

From this statement, I assume you unlocked your phone yourself... How did you know it was successful and that they didn't scam you? I'm guessing your answer will be "because I stuck my TMo SIM in an AT&T phone and it worked". Let me know if that's not the case.

In search of a TMo subscriber I go...

Thanks!

[Sven Johannsen]

It's not a full ROM reflash but it is a flash process. Easy to get unlock stuff on the internet. Got the stuff from Unlockitnow.com for my T610.

From this statement, I assume you unlocked your phone yourself... How did you know it was successful and that they didn't scam you? I'm guessing your answer will be "because I stuck my TMo SIM in an AT&T phone and it worked". Let me know if that's not the case.

In search of a TMo subscriber I go...

Thanks!Actually I stuck my Cingular SIM from my locked SMT5600 into the T-Mobile T610 which I unlocked. It worked fine, and it didn't work before the process.