Droid 3 SIM unlock discussion

[STVA]

I felt i should share my experience.

I call the number in the 2 or 3rd post in this thread and state that i would like to unlock my D3 so i can use it with a prepaid SIM. The rep replys that verizon does not do that, after 5 minutes of arguing and reciting stories on this thread she still remains ignorant and that if i want to use my D3 on the other side of the Atlantic i have to use verizons GSM services. I hang up.

As i am 1.5 months away from a winter eurotrip i figured it was a good time to take care of this, so i smoked some medicine and call about 5 minutes later, i hear another rep pick up... I state to the rep im aggravated with the previous one and explain again, and he said well you can use vodaphone.... NO i want to use my own prepaid SIM i say. The guy puts me on hold, sends me to a different rep, stating that we are getting our terminology confused. This guy actually knows what i am saying. However the clown says i need my foreign SIM with me to provide me with this information to unlock.

After telling the rep how it works so he can by no means assume im an ill-witted fool, he states he can help me, provide me with an unlock code, that ill enter when i first slide in my new SIM.

Wait another kink, there's a 400 dollar balance on my family account.... As Im not yet the monetary provider of my family, i couldnt take that hit at the moment... I guess like a gangster, Verizon ('s Rep) told me to pay up for a form of freedom.... freedom aint free

But from another outlook: My family dumps 4800 dollars/year into Verizon's fatass belly... Verizon prevents Moto from unlocking my bootloader and using my own OS... Verizon bloats up my beautifully engineered phone with sh!*ware... This provider used to be so much better than ATT, now its just as worse... Fcuk Verizon

I need to be FREE,
Eric

Did you call the global services number? It is different than the normal customer service line and it is not surprising that the standard CS reps are clueless.

 

[jrtstinkfish]

I bought a Droid 3 to use on our upcoming Eurotrip with a non-Vodafone SIM, and was just going sell it when I got back. I'm not a Verizon customer, but a friend of mine is, and he called Verizon to get the unlock code and was told by Global that he would have to deactivate one of his current phones and activate the Droid 3 to get the code. This seems to go against everything I've read here. He is a longtime customer in good standing with 4 lines on the account. Am I just destined to use my dinky unlocked Motorola Pebl, or does anyone know of a way to sweet talk them into it? He told them he bought the phone just for the trip and did not want to deactivate his Thunderbolt, but to no avail.

 

[KuddlKat]

Called Verizon's tech support number today for my D3's unlock code. Took a while and some explaining to be transferred to a Global Service rep. This is my 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] attempt to get the code. Both attempts I was told I had to read through the standard T&C which they would send to my e-mail address on the account. Still never received the T&C, but this time she gave me the 8-digit unlock code.

I'll try it tonight if I can find my old T-Mobile SIM. Cross your fingers.

 

[KuddlKat]

Unlocked

I'll try it tonight if I can find my old T-Mobile SIM. Cross your fingers.

Found it in my old Motorola MING. Popped in the SIM and turned on the D3. It came up requesting the unlock code, so punched that in and it was "successful." I switched over to GSM/UTMS Only and it identified a T-Mobile network (locked, of course).

So, I'm ready for my trip to London next month. All I'll need to do is find some place around Heathrow that sells a prepaid SIM with a decent data plan so I can use Google Navigation and Skype.

 

[silver6054]

I bought a Droid 3 to use on our upcoming Eurotrip with a non-Vodafone SIM, and was just going sell it when I got back. I'm not a Verizon customer, but a friend of mine is, and he called Verizon to get the unlock code and was told by Global that he would have to deactivate one of his current phones and activate the Droid 3 to get the code. This seems to go against everything I've read here. He is a longtime customer in good standing with 4 lines on the account. Am I just destined to use my dinky unlocked Motorola Pebl, or does anyone know of a way to sweet talk them into it? He told them he bought the phone just for the trip and did not want to deactivate his Thunderbolt, but to no avail.

Since this is a little old, may be you solved it by now, but anyway! This IS consistent with what has been said in many places, the phone to be unlocked has to be active on a Verizon line (along with the other conditions). But you can activate it, get it unlocked, and then activate the old phone without any waiting. However, I would be wary of doing this with a 3G-4G mix. Does he have a 3G phone on one of the other lines?

 

[silver6054]

Found it in my old Motorola MING. Popped in the SIM and turned on the D3. It came up requesting the unlock code, so punched that in and it was "successful." I switched over to GSM/UTMS Only and it identified a T-Mobile network (locked, of course).

So, I'm ready for my trip to London next month. All I'll need to do is find some place around Heathrow that sells a prepaid SIM with a decent data plan so I can use Google Navigation and Skype.

You can get them from vending machines at Heathrow, but of course that makes it hard to find out the rates. Check online first, look at say the UK sites for Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, "3", and then resellers such as Talkmobile (which I use), Tescos etc. Mobile stores are almost everywhere on high streets.

 

[KuddlKat]

Check online first, look at say the UK sites for Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, "3", and then resellers such as Talkmobile (which I use), Tescos etc. Mobile stores are almost everywhere on high streets.

Yep, been looking online and the consensus has been Orange, 3, or O2. I'll mainly be just hunting for one that does unlimited data or something close to that, but I'll be sure to get all the details before purchasing. We'll only be over there for 10 days.

Hope I can remember to call it a 'mobile' and not a cell. :wink:

 

[silver6054]

Yep, been looking online and the consensus has been Orange, 3, or O2. I'll mainly be just hunting for one that does unlimited data or something close to that, but I'll be sure to get all the details before purchasing. We'll onlyd be over there for 10 days.

Hope I can remember to call it a 'mobile' and not a cell. :wink:

Yes, forgot O2 for some reason. Unlimited or "big" on PAYG isn't easy, so the Dolphin SIM on orange offers "unlimited" internet, but that is really capped at 100MB per month, which isn't much! On the Talkmobile SIM, you get 25MB per day for 10p (~15c) and each MB above that is also 10p. That is enough for me for email and navigation without Wifi, but of course watching a movie would be expensive!

 

[BennyLecter]

Hello All,

I have a Droid 3 with Verizon; after spending around 1 hr, although I called since the very beginning to the Verizon Global Support, I was able to unlock my D3; As somebody else mentioned already, the standard CS have no clue on this to be even possible, so you need to dig on it for a while.

ok, this is my issue...

I have a SIM/Chip from Telcel MEXICO and I am planning to travel there soon; This chip as far as I know worked well in MX, it was purchased on Oct 2011. Before called Verizon I installed this chip, after turned on the D3 it prompted a message requesting the SIM unlock code; so I entered the code provided, and IT WORKED!!!; but... I have been trying to set up the GSM network (I am still in California, US), just to test that everything is ok, but I all the time get NO GSM signal, as if the SIM itself is not working at all; I've read in this discussion from some forum members, that as long as I am in the US, the GSM network won't work. Does anybody have tested unlocked D3 using TELCEL in Mexico? or I will have perhaps to test this when I am physically in MX?

Thank you!

 

[leobg]

While you are in USA you will not get service, this is normal. D3 has a restriction of using other USA carriers. Once it sees the Mexican operator it will connect and work fine.
You will need to define access points for the data connection or you will not get data via the cellular network. Google around for them. There are also few apps available on Android market such as APN Global which can do this for you.

 

[BennyLecter]

While you are in USA you will not get service, this is normal. D3 has a restriction of using other USA carriers. Once it sees the Mexican operator it will connect and work fine.
You will need to define access points for the data connection or you will not get data via the cellular network. Google around for them. There are also few apps available on Android market such as APN Global which can do this for you.

Thank you for your prompt answer!

I wil update my results.

Best Regards!

 

[haider]

Final Questions

Hey, I am from India and am planning to get a droid 3 through my cousin in NY city.I've got a few last questions though :

1) Il be paying the full retail price of 460$ , are there any additional taxes ?

2) Is subscribing to a data plan necessary ? How much will that add to the cost ? What happens to it when I get the phone to India ?

3) What are the requirements for asking Verizon for the unlock codes ? As in, will they just need the IMEI ?
(Basically with the phone here with me, can my cousin call up Verizon for the codes since he himself uses a Verizon contract phone ? )

4) Are 3rd party codes working now ?

 

[kanundrum]

Hi All

Have a few questions about providers abroad

Going to the following places if anyone can reccomoend a good provider and your normal locations I can pick up sim cards at :

1. Dublin/Shanon ireland (will need for 6 days)
2. Scottland (Only 2 days)
3. Italy 6 Days (Venice ancona and rome)


Any reccomendation on carriers?

Thanks! Will be calling up vzw in a bit to get my unlock code.

 

[robotbldmom]

Hello everyone,
I am very hopeful that someone much more knowledgeable than I will be able to answer these questions. I have a Droid 3, I know that there are two sim cards one of which s the global and the other is the "Verizon" card. If I travel to Germany and have my global sim turned on by Verizon, I can use my service in Germany however the rates are really high.
So my first question is this: can I take my Verizon sim and the Global sim out of my Droid 3 and just buy a prepaid sim?? Also second question: how do I use data like "google maps"? Is data include on the european prepaid sim card?? And finally: Are there different types of prepaid sims like phone only or phone/data?? I am sorry for all the questions but us "moms" who do not travel as much in Europe still need to learn all this new technology. Please bear with me and answer as simply as possible. Thanks in advance....all information is appreciated.

 

[silver6054]

I'm not sure what you mean by two SIMs. I believe that the Droid 3 just has the Verizon (Vodafone) SIM, is the other an SD card? That is not a SIM!

Yes, you can and should use a prepaid SIM. But first you need to get the phone unlocked. You call Verizon, and providing your account meets certain conditions (in good standing, been a customer something like 90 days or more, and haven't had another phone on that number unlocked in the past 10 months...) they will give you an unlock code. The first time you put in another SIM you will be asked to enter the code. Once the phone is unlocked it stays unlocked, i.e. there is no need to do this again for another SIM.

Verizon might tell you that you can only unlock while you are out of the country. But it's better to confirm that the unlock code works before you are abroad and then find out it doesn't. You can get prompted for the unlock by using a friends AT&T or T-Mobile SIM. (You won't get any service in the US doing this, but you can confirm that the phone is unlocked).


Re data: there are lots of different SIMs, with different data options. If you are just in Germany, you should get one for there, rather than a multi-country SIM, as the rates for a single country are usually much better. You can find Vodafone and T-mobile stores as well as others. You will probably need ID and a German address, such as your hotel. The right choice will depend on how long you will be there, how much data you think you will use, and coverage where you will be.

The one thing to be aware of: a prepaid SIM gives you a new phone number, people will no longer be able to reach you on your US number. If that is a problem, you should probably keep the Verizon SIM.

Hello everyone,
I am very hopeful that someone much more knowledgeable than I will be able to answer these questions. I have a Droid 3, I know that there are two sim cards one of which s the global and the other is the "Verizon" card. If I travel to Germany and have my global sim turned on by Verizon, I can use my service in Germany however the rates are really high.
So my first question is this: can I take my Verizon sim and the Global sim out of my Droid 3 and just buy a prepaid sim?? Also second question: how do I use data like "google maps"? Is data include on the european prepaid sim card?? And finally: Are there different types of prepaid sims like phone only or phone/data?? I am sorry for all the questions but us "moms" who do not travel as much in Europe still need to learn all this new technology. Please bear with me and answer as simply as possible. Thanks in advance....all information is appreciated.