Region lock question t-mobile

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newr

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2011
173
5
I've read about this region lock and hope someone can help clarify my situation.

I am getting a T-mobile from ebay (supposed to be clean IMEI)...I plan to sim unlock as I am using in Canada. I read about the region lock...and some say as long as you use it with the same region sim it's clear....so does it mean if I use a Canada SIM it will be ok since it's same region (North America)...or does it have to be T-mobile or US sim? Some of the unlock code providers says you need to unlock with original carrier...does it haev to be?

Also, is there anyway to tell if it's region lock if you're using in your original region...i.e. if sim unlocked and I use in Canada (assuming that's consider same region)...how can I tell if region lock has been disabled if I don't have a foreign sim to check? Is tehre a way to see?

Thanks
 

pete4k

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2014
975
288
I've read about this region lock and hope someone can help clarify my situation.

I am getting a T-mobile from ebay (supposed to be clean IMEI)...I plan to sim unlock as I am using in Canada. I read about the region lock...and some say as long as you use it with the same region sim it's clear....so does it mean if I use a Canada SIM it will be ok since it's same region (North America)...or does it have to be T-mobile or US sim? Some of the unlock code providers says you need to unlock with original carrier...does it haev to be?

Also, is there anyway to tell if it's region lock if you're using in your original region...i.e. if sim unlocked and I use in Canada (assuming that's consider same region)...how can I tell if region lock has been disabled if I don't have a foreign sim to check? Is tehre a way to see?

Thanks

T-mo phones are region locked, but not as much as some international phones, I think there were somewhere around 15 entries , where normally you would have around 40. If you root your phone, you can use Chainfire program to get rid of region lock if your phone is on Android 4.3, not sure about 4.4.2 update. You can see list of region codes that are locked on your phone inside customer.xml (network lock with numeric code), file is located inside /system/CSC directory, but you need root to see it. Your bigger problem may be a SIM lock (I don't think Canada is region locked on US phones anyhow), but some people claim Chainfire unlocks SIM as well, but I have no way to confirm it. Otherwise T-mo can unlock the phone if it was fully paid for or you can use paid service to unlock the SIM.
I hope you understand risks involved with buying phones on e-bay? If the phone was not fully paid for, it may not be locked in Canada, but if it was reported stolen, I think that info may be distributed to other carriers? Phone could have some defects or may even be a fake, so just be careful and understand the risks. And finally make sure frequencies are compatible , but I can't help you with that.
Anyway, good luck if you decide to go ahead with it, Note 3 is awesome phone.
 

newr

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2011
173
5
T-mo phones are region locked, but not as much as some international phones, I think there were somewhere around 15 entries , where normally you would have around 40. If you root your phone, you can use Chainfire program to get rid of region lock if your phone is on Android 4.3, not sure about 4.4.2 update. You can see list of region codes that are locked on your phone inside customer.xml (network lock with numeric code), file is located inside /system/CSC directory, but you need root to see it. Your bigger problem may be a SIM lock (I don't think Canada is region locked on US phones anyhow), but some people claim Chainfire unlocks SIM as well, but I have no way to confirm it. Otherwise T-mo can unlock the phone if it was fully paid for or you can use paid service to unlock the SIM.
I hope you understand risks involved with buying phones on e-bay? If the phone was not fully paid for, it may not be locked in Canada, but if it was reported stolen, I think that info may be distributed to other carriers? Phone could have some defects or may even be a fake, so just be careful and understand the risks. And finally make sure frequencies are compatible , but I can't help you with that.
Anyway, good luck if you decide to go ahead with it, Note 3 is awesome phone.

But the idea of region lock is if you use the sim from the same region the first time, it will not activate the lock anymore according to Samsung. So if a t-mobile (north america) phone is activated on a canadian sim..would that prevent the region lock? I am aware of the Sim lock issue...had bought t-mobile phones before for here....trying to see if I should root or get code this time. HOpefully won't be problem with the IMEI...seems like more problem nowadays than in the past..guess lots of people are scamming T-mobile by paying $200 and taking the phone and run.