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-   -   Uk IPhone with US prepay sim (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/uk-iphone-us-prepay-sim-926809/)

SaraB25 Jul 30th 2019 4:56 pm
Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Hi, so my husband and I both have a unlocked iPhones from the UK we have bought a prepaid sim card and plan with Total wireless we have been in the phone with them for the past 2 days as the we still don’t have any service. The phones have been locked to Tracphone and after another day on with them they have said there is nothing they can do. The guys at the Genius Bar in Bestbuy advised us that the phones have been locked to the network. Has anyone else had an issue and is it a case of we have to buy two new phones or do we have other options? Any help would be much appreciated. My phone was with EE and they have confirmed the phone is definitely unlocked with them.


civilservant Jul 30th 2019 5:36 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
What is the actual question that you're asking? Apparently it's been confirmed by Apple that they have been locked to the network, so it seems this is a signal issue?

Did you check the signal coverage for your area to confirm service levels?

SaraB25 Jul 30th 2019 5:43 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Hi, thanks for the reply!
it seems Tracfone have locked the phone to their network but they don’t have the right to do that and can’t seem to unlock it!! We arrived in the US on Friday with our UK unlocked phones and bought a pre paid sim with Total wireless paid for the data and calls $30 as advised this was the best coverage in our area from a relative. We registered the sim and it continues to say no service and to contact the provider. We called them and after numerous calls back and forth to try and resolve we haven’t got any further. We called back to bestbuy where we purchased the package and sim from and they told us to call Tracfone who should unlock the phone. After a 2 hour call to them they have said they can’t do it and that’s that. My question is has anyone else had an issue like this and how did they resolve it or do we have to go and purchase 2 new phones in order for them to work???

SaraB25 Jul 30th 2019 5:45 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Sorry and yes we have checked service issues. 😀

robtuck Jul 30th 2019 7:09 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
I'm a little confused on this - you say the phones came with you, so I am not sure how a USA Network provider would manage to lock them - they'd need the IMEInumber, which I don;t imagine you've handed to them? There is every chance they are locked by EE in the UK, and if you had the phones for more than 2 years it is likely they can be unlocked for free, but then you mention you believe EE claim they are not locked. Are we simply talking about a situation where your USA SIM is not compatible with the UK phone? This is possible - we couldn't use several netwokrs SIM cards with an unlocked phone when we first moved before getting a USA mobile. They run on slightly different signal bands here vs UK.

From memory, I think T-Mobile or Cricket might work in an EE phone- do you know anyone on those networks you could try?

SaraB25 Jul 30th 2019 7:28 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Originally Posted by robtuck (Post 12716955)
I'm a little confused on this - you say the phones came with you, so I am not sure how a USA Network provider would manage to lock them - they'd need the IMEInumber, which I don;t imagine you've handed to them? There is every chance they are locked by EE in the UK, and if you had the phones for more than 2 years it is likely they can be unlocked for free, but then you mention you believe EE claim they are not locked. Are we simply talking about a situation where your USA SIM is not compatible with the UK phone? This is possible - we couldn't use several netwokrs SIM cards with an unlocked phone when we first moved before getting a USA mobile. They run on slightly different signal bands here vs UK.

From memory, I think T-Mobile or Cricket might work in an EE phone- do you know anyone on those networks you could try?
Fantastic thank you, yes I’ve had the phone for 3 years and EE claim they have locked it. We are heading down to an AT and T store so they can try their sim. We are starting to think we either need to buy new phones or keep trying different sims till we find the right one. 🤔

lansbury Jul 30th 2019 8:17 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
I wonder if EE have in fact unlocked the phones. If it helps I have an unlocked T-mobile (US phone) which I've had connect to the EE service in the UK, so there is some compatibility between EE and T-Mobile.

ivanidea Jul 30th 2019 8:45 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
I know my UK iPhone (unlocked) works with T-Mobile. I did try a Verizon sim in it, which did not work.

T-Mobile is GSM (the same type as in the UK), whilst I believe Verizon is a different standard.

SaraB25 Jul 30th 2019 8:47 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Originally Posted by robtuck (Post 12716955)
I'm a little confused on this - you say the phones came with you, so I am not sure how a USA Network provider would manage to lock them - they'd need the IMEInumber, which I don;t imagine you've handed to them? There is every chance they are locked by EE in the UK, and if you had the phones for more than 2 years it is likely they can be unlocked for free, but then you mention you believe EE claim they are not locked. Are we simply talking about a situation where your USA SIM is not compatible with the UK phone? This is possible - we couldn't use several netwokrs SIM cards with an unlocked phone when we first moved before getting a USA mobile. They run on slightly different signal bands here vs UK.

From memory, I think T-Mobile or Cricket might work in an EE phone- do you know anyone on those networks you could try?
Originally Posted by ivanidea (Post 12716989)
I know my UK iPhone (unlocked) works with T-Mobile. I did try a Verizon sim in it, which did not work.

T-Mobile is GSM (the same type as in the UK), whilst I believe Verizon is a different standard.
fantastic I will give them a try just been down to AT&T but that didn’t work we will give T-Mobile a try. 😀

notaclue Jul 30th 2019 10:11 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Call EE and ask them to send the unlock code to the server again anyway. If you have no ties to them it shouldn't be an issue. It can take up to 7 days for the code to generate and get bounced to the Apple server.

robtuck Jul 30th 2019 10:52 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
https://uk.pcmag.com/news-analysis/1...the-difference

Here you go, this is most likely the issue if the phone isn't completely locked to the EE network (which is really T-Mobile and Orange in old speak). We had Virgin (which used T-Mobile) in the UK and we could use T-Mobile and Cricket over here, but not the others.

SaraB25 Jul 31st 2019 2:10 am
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Thank everyone it seems T-Mobile works 😀👍 you guys have come to our rescue once again.

SJDiamond Aug 4th 2019 8:26 pm
Re: Uk IPhone with US prepay sim
 
Hi there

I went to buy a new phone in the UK, while waiting for my visa to come through. Luckily I mentioned this to the lady at Carphone Warehouse, who advised me to wait and get one when I got there, or in duty free, as the UK ones aren't compatible with some of the US networks.

SJD


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