Note 4 - Unlocked or Not?

ZzzLeeB

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I recently acquired a T-Mobile Note 4 with the intention of "unlocking" it and moving it to my Straight Talk account. I'd previously owned a Sprint Note 3 and was unsuccessful at doing so. T-Mo told me what I'd need to do in order to get the unlock code, I jumped thru all of the hoops and they released the code to me (FINALLY). I purchased a Straight Talk SIM especially for the phone, had it activated and waited patiently for the dialog to pop up for me to enter this very special number that I'd worked so hard to get. It never popped up. I changed the APN settings and was able to eventually get the phone to work for calls, texts, MMS, internet, and all the goodies...still nothing about the unlock code. It's a day later and I am resigning myself to the fact that it isn't ever going to come up. Now I'm thinking...was this phone unlocked ALL ALONG? I bought it directly from T-Mo. Or is it something I didn't even need to go through because T-Mo phones work on Straight Talk anyway? Did I waste my money and my time even bothering to have T-Mo service for 40 days?? Am I just imagining that the phone is actually unlocked?

Also: other issue - my speeds are pretty rotten. Am I stuck with that?
 

Rukbat

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If you got a Straight Talk TMobile SIM, it should work normally. If you got a Straight Talk AT&T SIM, your speeds will be slow. Since Straight Talk uses both carriers, you have to find out which one you're on. (A Straight Talk TMobile SIM in a TMobilephone doesn't need an unlocked phone - it's a TMobile SIM in a TMobile phone. Straight Talk is the people you're buying the connection from, but it's a TMobile connection.)
 

ZzzLeeB

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Thank you for replying!

Sooooo basically, my phone is NOT unlocked. It's just a T-Mo phone accessing T-Mo thru an alternative carrier. I did buy a ST/T-Mo SIM btw... I think the speeds are dismal because of my home area. When the phone was on T-Mo, I could not get a signal in my home AT ALL. I relied on the wifi features for voice calls and text and it looks like I probably still am. That can't be helped much. There are not too many options out here in the forest. Verizon works well, Sprint was okey dokey but I was unable to get any of their Notes on Straight Talk so I went with this one. Win some, lose some I guess...

If I get another type of SIM and put it in the phone, THEN I can unlock it? Since I have the code, I want to do it in the event that I sell the phone in the future.
 

Rukbat

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If I get another type of SIM and put it in the phone, THEN I can unlock it? Since I have the code, I want to do it in the event that I sell the phone in the future.
If you have the code, of course. Put in the SIM, turn on the phone and it'll ask for the code. Put in the code (carefully, because if you have to try too many times it locks and you'll have to get the PUK, which you can't unless the phone is on a current tmo account) and it'll be unlocked.

BTW, the FIRST thing you do when deciding on cell service is to pick the carrier that has coverage where you need it. The best phone made 10 years from now, shipped back by time machine, will be worthless if it has no signal, but a 10 year old $20 feature phone with 5 bars will work great. (And you didn't mention AT&T - how's their coverage? Their Samsung phones aren't too great, though - they're welded shut [firmware-wise] tighter than Fort Knox.)
 

ZzzLeeB

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I've lived out here for about 5 years and had AT&T the 1st year and didn't make it thru the contract year with them. I cancelled due to dropped calls, etc... The other 4 years I had Sprint and Sprint was OK+...not bad for the most part. I had a Note 3 on Sprint that I was unable to add to Straight Talk under their BYOP program so in the interim, I threw on an old Sprint iPhone 4S. I was mostly happy with the Straight Talk Coverage and did not hesitate to put a Note 4 on there withOUT reasoning thru the fact that there's no such thing as Straight Talk coverage - it was SPRINT all along. Since I could not add a Sprint or a Verizon Note 4, that left only T-Mo and AT&T to choose from. I read about the limitations AT&T had put on the phone and decided to go with T-Mo. I assumed my Straight Talk coverage would be about the same for me as it had been but I can now see where my thought process took a wrong turn. All in all, it isn't BAD in the house because I seem to still be able to make calls and text on WiFi but if I venture out in my home area, there isn't much coverage available at all. I do not spend much time outside of my home in this area because there's nothing out here except for a gas station and about 8 miles down the road, I get "E" coverage and about 15 miles and I am on 4G LTE so I'll quit my whining (and pray I never get a flat or anything close to home).

My kid has Verizon. She gets a signal out here and E V E R Y W H E R E else. After 20 years of contract phones though, I am determined to stick with Straight Talk. Not hopping on that bandwagon again.
 

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