popstar999 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi All, We leave for WA in a few weeks time (!) so busy sorting out all those mad last minute things. One thing I'm trying to find out about still, is UK mobile phones working in Australia. My husband and I have both have phone contracts here in the UK which we are cancelling/paying out this week. I have a Samsung and he has a Sony (I think) We've been told by Orange that it will be about £50 to unlock both phones for them to work abroad. But will they?? That's what I really want to know? Will we be able to buy a new sim card and put them straight into the phones? Or are we wasting our time and money? Has anyone actually had a phone unlocked and taken it over with them? Any advice welcomed....thanks!! :biggrin: C&J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joob joobs Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 When I went to Aus back in 2003 on a WHV I took my unlocked Sony Ericsson and it worked just fine. I'm hoping that it will be the same for the Sony Ericsson I'm using just now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartertucker Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Good thread ~ I'll be interested in the replies too :yes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sophi Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi yes my husband and myself both got our phones unlocked and and got sims out there and they worked just fine, i would check out places that unlock phones like the CEX shops as they will do it for around a tener or try the market stalls which sell mobile phones as a lot of them also unlock them for you. good luck:smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jazz3 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 My fiance went back in January of this year with his Nokia and that works ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest andybhoy Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi there were off to Brisbane in 2 months , does anyone know about an iPhone working , i got mine from o2 as that's who I'm with , can they be unlocked if needed ???? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tony4052 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 https://www.o2.co.uk/apps/help/help?qid=1&q1=2&route=unlocking&case=Handset%20Unlocking%20Form Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Have had many phones unlocked - but get them done in UK before you leave. There is usually a "little man in the market" who will do it for you for a few quid. Getting them unlocked here can be a nightmare so do it before you leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 We've just unlocked our IPhones in readiness of going to Oz in 2 weeks - evidently there is a trial on where your provider has to unlock it for you - I can rang 3 (our provider) and they said it is true - charged us £15 and they sent us an email to explain how to do it - it worked fine .... Might still have the email somewhere .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender776 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 You must have a lot of patience to ring 3! I tried to ring about unlocking the other day and had to hang up after what seemed like 5 hours. They drive me mad. I'll be glad to see the back of them. Is it easy to unlock then phone by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearRules Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi, we unlocked our Orange 3gs iPhones just over a week ago. Orange charged £20 per phone, and the guy actually recommended I get it done cheaper in town, but I just wanted it sorted, had far too much last minute stuff to get done. It took almost a week to receive the emails, which basically just said to reset your iPhone via iTunes. Didnt have any problems using a new sim (thou did have issues with the Telstra registration, so went with Virgin). Remember you dont need a contract any more, so you can try the prepaid sims to check out service providers for where you live. Can pick up the sims for $2 dollars in lots of different shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest andybhoy Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Thanks for the replies I'll get on the phone to o2 n see what they've got to say , i couldnt get the link posted above to work but cheers anyway Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steen1976 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 You must have a lot of patience to ring 3! I tried to ring about unlocking the other day and had to hang up after what seemed like 5 hours. They drive me mad. I'll be glad to see the back of them. Is it easy to unlock then phone by the way. I had no problems ending the contract and unlocking with 3. Orange on the other hand were a complete nightmare. They said it would take 2 weeks for a unlock code. Also had to send a new sim card out to make the contract into a payg??n why not just update the sim like 3 did?? We'll never use them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy Smirks Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Yep, easy peasy to get it unlocked by one of those random shops in town (I think my nearest guy also does a line in carpets and awful wooden furniture....). It's perfectly legal to unlock them (although it's not in the mobile phone companies interests to make this obvious). It's usually between £10 and £20 depending on the make of phone and where you go. You can probably download the software yourself and do it but for the sake of £15 I'd get someone else to do it. Mine was a sony ericcson which I got unlocked so I could call overseas on a lebara sim and was a little more complicated to do so I got charged an extra fiver but at least it means I can use it with any sim now :biggrin: Eddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 My OH unlocked them but he said it was fairly easy! Must admit - I hate call centres generally - of course there are occasional good and helpful staff but on the whole - they are a bloomin nightmare!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 It's perfectly legal to unlock them (although it's not in the mobile phone companies interests to make this obvious). It's usually between £10 and £20 depending on the make of phone and where you go. You can probably download the software yourself and do it but for the sake of £15 I'd get someone else to do it. Eddy I'm pretty sure it's only perfectly legal to unlock them once they're no longer under contract. So for example I used to be on a 12months contract with orange in the UK, that came with a free handset. once that 12months was up, I could get a new handset for another 12months contract. At this point, I could unlock the first handset, but not the second because it was still under contract. If you cancel the contract and pay off the rest of the handset, then you're free to unlock it. It is generally very easy to unlock them. I just got a code off the internet for that first handset, worked fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy Smirks Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I'm pretty sure it's only perfectly legal to unlock them once they're no longer under contract. So for example I used to be on a 12months contract with orange in the UK, that came with a free handset. once that 12months was up, I could get a new handset for another 12months contract. At this point, I could unlock the first handset, but not the second because it was still under contract. If you cancel the contract and pay off the rest of the handset, then you're free to unlock it. It is generally very easy to unlock them. I just got a code off the internet for that first handset, worked fine. It's legal but..... it'll probably void the warranty on the phone. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/unlock-mobile-phone Eddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Just had a read up on this issue. It's not illegal to unlock your phone while it is still under contract, but it does mean you void your warranty, and are in breach of the contract with your provider, so would be civilly liable for any damages linked to that breach of contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I thought there was a trial of some sort on so it's not illegal at present - our provider agreed there is a trial and had no problem unlocking our phones even thou we are mid contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest suziem Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 It's definitely worth unlocking your phone before you come out. I spent over 2 hours on the phone to orange calling from Australia trying to convince them to send me an unlocking code for my iphone 4 despite the fact that I had paid them over £400 to end my contract just before we flew out. 2 weeks later, the code still hasn't arrived! I'm with Optus on a PAYG contract and if you pay $10 on top of your top up, you get calls for 16 cents a minute to the UK (landlines and mobiles) for a month which has worked out really well and lasted ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest markysharky Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 if u dont get them unlocked they wont work over here.u can tunlock them once u cum over.pay as u go phones are fairly cheap tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepallis Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Hi AndybHoy, My son took his i-phone to Perth and it works fine, his brother jailbroke it for him before he left UK, I don't think he did anyhthing else but will ask when he next calls. s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest andybhoy Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Yeah there's a shop in Paisley where we live and he wanted £35 to do it , I'll see what O2 say , I don't use it at work as it would get wrecked so think I'll need to pick up a cheapo one in oz anyway , thanks for the help Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supa Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 We've got Blackerries at the moment on an Orange contract. I'm pretty sure one is unlocked but don't know which one and was wondering how you can tell if a phone is unlocked? Also, are we best doing a pay-as-you-go with them (is it easy to top up as I've never done this before) or sign up on a contract (and are these expensive). I can find info on contracts Telstra do (don't know if they are any good but looked at them as we would be getting a bundle for internet and TV) but can't work out if you can use your own moby. Any ideas? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepallis Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Supa, have you or can you borrow sim card from another network, that's what my son did with his Blackberry then went on http://www.fonesunlock.co.uk paid £12 and got a code sent with-in 24 hours. Really easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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