Best way to unlock att iPhone 4s

[vshah]

This is for my brother in law... Its still under contract. Will att unlock under contract devices? If not, is there a safe online service? I've used cellunlocker for other devices but never for an iPhone.

 

[tonie]

You can buy an unlock from ebay for about $3-5.

 

[ImDonly1]

You can buy an unlock from ebay for about $3-5.

This. Lots of people have used those and they are cheap/fast.

 

[zerogear]

Huh? Why are you going to eBay? AT&T Provides these:

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

Or just tell them you need to travel overseas and would like to use an oversea SIM card. They've done it for multiple phones that I've owned.

 

[Eug]

What's the difference between a carrier-sponsored unlock and eBay? Fido here in Canada wants $50 to unlock my iPhone 4, and the phone is off contract too.

EDIT:

I can't find any unlock codes for the Fido iPhone 4 on eBay, except one unlock service wanting $80 for it. :\

 

[foghorn67]

AT&T have laxed a bit on their unlocking policies. They just want you to be a customer in good standing.

 

[ImDonly1]

What's the difference between a carrier-sponsored unlock and eBay? Fido here in Canada wants $50 to unlock my iPhone 4, and the phone is off contract too.

EDIT:

I can't find any unlock codes for the Fido iPhone 4 on eBay, except one unlock service wanting $80 for it. :\

eBay ones are only for ATT versions. Otherwise, I think no difference really. The eBay unlockers have a source that adds the IMEIs to Apple's servers directly.

Huh? Why are you going to eBay? AT&T Provides these:

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

Or just tell them you need to travel overseas and would like to use an oversea SIM card. They've done it for multiple phones that I've owned.

From that website:

General Eligibility Requirements for Unlocking iPhone
AT&T will unlock an iPhone under the following circumstances:
The person requesting the unlock is:
a current AT&T customer or
a former AT&T customer who can provide the phone number or account number for the account
The iPhone was designed for use on AT&T's network;
All contract obligations, including any term commitment, associated with the device to be unlocked have been fully satisfied; and
The iPhone has not been reported lost or stolen.

If the contract was fulfilled, then you could use that. I used it and got my unlock. It was a hassle since I was a former customer and they couldn't find my info or something. OP is still under contract though.

 

[vshah]

Interesting. Gave att a shot. They said they had marked it as unlocked and that the next time we backed up and restored via iTunes, it would be unlocked. So I did and tried my Tmobile sim and was able to make calls. I didn't get a "you are now unlocked" message as their instructions said I would, but it seems to have worked.
Thanks all

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

That's awesome. Did you just go through the online form?

 

[mpitts]

Just an FYI.. I did the same thing through AT&T and their website, even though I was still under contract for another three months. They unlocked the phone with no issues. It took about two days for the request to be processed and approved and unlocking it was successful about an hour after I received the approval.

 

[cheezy321]

I did the same thing with verizon. Called to unlock it and they did it for me. Happened immediately

 

[bearxor]

Interesting. Gave att a shot. They said they had marked it as unlocked and that the next time we backed up and restored via iTunes, it would be unlocked. So I did and tried my Tmobile sim and was able to make calls. I didn't get a "you are now unlocked" message as their instructions said I would, but it seems to have worked.
Thanks all

I've unlocked three different iPhones (4, 4S and 5) and only the 5 gave me the "unlock success" screen in iTunes. Actually, on the 4S, I just went to General > Reset > Reset Network Settings and then popped in a TMo SIM and it worked fine.

 

[AkumaX]

I did the same thing with verizon. Called to unlock it and they did it for me. Happened immediately

does your 4S work w/ at&t?

 

[cheezy321]

does your 4S work w/ at&t?

It works out of the country. IN the states you can never get a verizon phone to work with AT&T or Tmobile.

It sucks because its not 'truly' unlocked but it will work with any service outside of the US

 

[SAWYER]

Verizon Blackberries used to work unless they changed something since the last time I tried and the Verizon iPhone 5 works on AT&T with no issue

 

[amdhunter]

Damn. I didn't know you can purchase unlocks on eBay until I saw this thread yesterday.
Just plugged in my phone a few minutes ago and was happy to see this.

 

[hong304]

Huh? Why are you going to eBay? AT&T Provides these:

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

Or just tell them you need to travel overseas and would like to use an oversea SIM card. They've done it for multiple phones that I've owned.

what if I lost the receipt...

 

[lopri]

Just do it through eBay. I unlocked one iPhone 4 through AT&T but it was so much hassle and waste of time (they ask so many silly questions). Did another iPhone 4 and an iPhone 4S for $1.98 each through eBay. No hassle.

 

[ImDonly1]

what if I lost the receipt...

You don't need a receipt for anything. As long as you are or were an att customer, you can get it unlocked.
You just have to give them your account number/phone number and the id of the iphone.

 

[bearxor]

I do them through a website i found on eBay but now I just go directly to it as opposed to through eBay. It costs $.99 and all I do is put in the IMEI and wait like 4 hours. I'd rather do that than to through the hassle of contacting AT&T CS, pleading my case, then waiting however long it takes for the unlock to to through. It's worth a dollar to circumvent all of that.

 

[eesco1]

I do them through a website i found on eBay but now I just go directly to it as opposed to through eBay. It costs $.99 and all I do is put in the IMEI and wait like 4 hours. I'd rather do that than to through the hassle of contacting AT&T CS, pleading my case, then waiting however long it takes for the unlock to to through. It's worth a dollar to circumvent all of that.

That sounds like a better option. Whats the website you use?

 

[kaerflog]

I do them through a website i found on eBay but now I just go directly to it as opposed to through eBay. It costs $.99 and all I do is put in the IMEI and wait like 4 hours. I'd rather do that than to through the hassle of contacting AT&T CS, pleading my case, then waiting however long it takes for the unlock to to through. It's worth a dollar to circumvent all of that.

This right here if you have an ATT iphone.
I paid $1.58 for mine.
What site do you use for .99 ??

 

[fstime]

Isn't the fine for unlocking cell phones now $500,000 and up to 5 years in prison?

Better be careful getting an unlock code from anyone except the carrier.

 

[eesco1]

Isn't the fine for unlocking cell phones now $500,000 and up to 5 years in prison?

Better be careful getting an unlock code from anyone except the carrier.

I think it applies to phones manufactured after January this year. If im not mistaken, older phones are still permitted to be unlocked.

 

[lolli]

Isn't the fine for unlocking cell phones now $500,000 and up to 5 years in prison?

Better be careful getting an unlock code from anyone except the carrier.

the fine applies only to those who bypass carrier to get the unlocks. If you go directly via At&t unlocking request form - you have nothing to worry about. Read more here http://digitaljournal.com/blog/21272