Why Is My New Phone Suddenly Saying 8 Months Later It Is Network Locked?

LBiggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 07:14
Last edited 16/07/2018 - 10:01 by 1 other user

Hi, I bought a new, unlocked Samsung S6 from a reputable Hong Kong eBay store about 8 months ago. It's worked flawlessly. The other night I turned it off as usual at night and the next morning when I turned it on it said it can't access the sim card because it is network locked, so please enter an unlock code.

I tried the sim card in two other phones and it's all normal. I tried two other sim cards in my phone and they both gave the same message, so it's definitely an issue with the phone. I didn't update the phone, or do anything to it, I've never rooted it or tried to upgrade the android version. Everything else on the phone is working completely normally, apps and wifi etc. But no sim card access.

What could have caused this and what can I do?

Mobile Mobile Phone Samsung Android

Comments

  • No Username on 16/07/2018 - 07:28
    +9

    The phone could've been stolen and an IEMI block was issued to the device by the owner or manufacturer. My best guess.

    • Randxyz123 on 16/07/2018 - 10:05
      +1

      IMEI*

      I agree with this. It might have also accidentally been blocked. If it was a legit seller.

      Happens quite a bit when call center workers get the IMEI wrong.

      Do you still have the original invoice and box ? That way you can prove ownership and get it unblocked. Be prepared to get the run around though.

      • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 11:04

        I have the box and invoice. I've written to the eBay seller today to see what they say. Who do you think can get it unblocked - the eBay seller, or the carrier?

        Worst case, I could just try buying an unlock code for my model from online and see if it works. Do those things usually work? I don't know too much about phones.

        • Diji1 on 16/07/2018 - 11:08

          Yes, they work (always choose a vendor with high feedback count and ~99% positive rating).

        • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 11:12

          @Diji1: Will it work even if it was blocked for being stolen (for some reason)?

        • Randxyz123 on 16/07/2018 - 13:43

          It would be a carrier thing for IMEI.

          Ask the seller if it was originally locked and they organised the unlocking.

        • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 13:47

          @knick007: It was definitely listed as unlocked, and seemed to work unlocked till now (see comment below), but I am waiting for the seller to reply.

          Meanwhile, can I just check, carrier means the cell service company, like Amaysim, right? If the phone is not locked to the carrier (like I know many phones are locked to Telstra, Optus, etc), and in this case it's not, since it all of a sudden stopped working on my current carrier, then that means my current carrier Amaysim won't be able to do anything to unlock it, right?

        • Randxyz123 on 16/07/2018 - 16:05

          @Biggles266:

          Amaysim won’t help you.

          Yes carrier is the phone company. I still think it’s likely to be a IMEI issue. Just to check ,go to woolies, get a $2 Telstra sim and put it in the phone and test it.

          I’m assuming you’ve done things like a soft reset ?

        • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 17:12

          @knick007: See below, I've tried another sim in it, Optus. Same message. I don't know what a soft reset is, does it lose all your apps and settings?

        • Randxyz123 on 17/07/2018 - 13:44

          @Biggles266: See here https://www.technipages.com/galaxy-s6-how-to-soft-hard-reset to do a soft reset.

          What was the seller’s response?

        • Biggles266 on 17/07/2018 - 13:56

          @knick007: The seller says it is under warranty so if I send it back to them they will repair/fix the problem. That's nice of them, but if people here think me paying for an unlock code will solve the problem (around $25?), then it's worth me paying that rather than the expense of posting overseas, plus the hassle of no phone for a while, plus the risk of privacy issues with all my apps and logins and photos etc. all set up on the phone, I would have to take time to clear it off a bit first.

          A soft reset doesn't sound too risky, and they don't say it affects your apps/data, so I'm willing to give it a go. Do you think it's likely to fix the problem?

        • Randxyz123 on 17/07/2018 - 14:30

          @Biggles266: Worth a try.

          If you send it back you should wipe your entire phone to factory settings. I don’t know if paying $25 for a unlock code would work.

          I wouldn’t be paying to send the phone back. It’s faulty and I’d be insisting they send you a new one first.

        • Biggles266 on 17/07/2018 - 18:56

          @knick007: I know, sending it back would be a lot of hassle. Setting up the phone again would also be a hassle. I don't agree about them sending a new phone first though, standard procedure for all goods is you send in the faulty item, they confirm it and then repair or replace it.

          I think I'll ask the seller if they can give me an unlock code to save the hassle of a return, if they can't, then I'll try a soft reset, and then I'll try buying an unlock code online. I'll post the link on here first to get people to check I'm buying the right one.

    • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 11:07
      +1

      Seems odd for that to happen 8 months later though.

  • jimbobaus on 16/07/2018 - 07:37
    +3

    a lot of times the phone has customer software/firmware put on it to unlock it etc (which is why the box is usually open when you buy from OS)
    The phone most likely did a software update which reverted the software back to standard, removing the customer firmware etc and re-locking the device.
    You say you didn't update it though, so not sure if this is the case but from my exp almost always this is what re-locks phones so maybe an update did occur

    • chrisd262 on 16/07/2018 - 14:19

      I purchased an iPhone from a well know online store in Australia.
      All OK until a full restore to factory was done.

      Phone then locked to an overseas provider.

      After much hassling received new phone. But if you have access to provider in Australia there should be a free unlock after 6 months.

  • John Kimble on 16/07/2018 - 09:19
    +2

    Have you checked the imei status?

    Who turns their phone off at night these days?

    • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 11:02
      +1

      How do I check the imei status? Can I do that without accessing the sim?

      My sleep is poor, and if I wake up in the night, I find it hard to get back to sleep again. So I have my phone off so I'm not tempted to use it or even think about online things when I wake up in the night, or else I might end up staying awake for an hour or more.

      • John Kimble on 16/07/2018 - 11:23

        Google "what is my IMEI", then google "check my IMEI".

        • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 11:55

          OK I got my IMEI and checked it using multiple web sites and it gives "Your IMEI number is currently unblocked" or "Blacklist status: Clean"

        • trustnoone on 16/07/2018 - 12:00

          @Biggles266:

          Does it ask for a PUK code? Or does it say that telstra etc is blocked? Have you tried a different network sim? Also is your phone rom a specific network rom, or open?

        • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 12:38

          @trustnoone: It says: "Invalid SIM card. Network locked SIM card inserted." If I select that message, it goes to a screen that says "Enter SIM network unlock PIN" with an unlock button below.

          I just tried putting in an old Optus sim card (normally I use Amaysim), and it does the same message. The Optus sim card is old and so almost certainly expired, but it shows that a card from a different network does the same thing.

          The phone was bought new unlocked, and I originally used it with Optus, and then I switched to Amaysim and it was fine, so the phone seemed to be working unlocked just fine till now. I haven't done anything with custom roms.

        • Randxyz123 on 16/07/2018 - 13:45

          @Biggles266: Sounds to me like it’s done a auto software update and the phone was carrier locked when bought.

          Was it new in box or refurbished ?

        • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 13:48

          @knick007: It was new in box. Not shrink wrapped though.

        • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 13:53

          @knick007: In the About settings area it says Download updates automatically is turned off, and it says the last time Updates were checked manually was the 21/9/2017. It says Scheduled software updates is None. And the Android kernel and other OS versions are all dated early 2017. So I don't think any auto software update has occurred.

    • Diji1 on 16/07/2018 - 11:09

      Many firmwares have automatic shutdown and startup that you can use overnght.

  • hogwarts on 16/07/2018 - 09:43

    Maybe you turned on SIM Unlock. Try calling your carrier for your SIM PIN and see if that works.

    • Biggles266 on 16/07/2018 - 10:59

      I called my carrier and once they confirmed that the sim works in another phone they didn't want to know about it anymore. Said it was a phone problem.

      • mbck on 16/07/2018 - 11:04

        Yeh it's unlikely to be a sim card problem, seeing that it works on another phone. BUT other sim cards does not work on that original phone.

        I reckon the phone was bought on contract originally, and has been reported as missing. As a result, the provider has locked the phone, hence you are unable to use it's network features.

        If your phone is turned off at night, it won't have automatically updated, so i don't think that's an issue.

  • poohduck on 16/07/2018 - 10:19
    -2

    it looks like people don't really own their iphones. It seems a hastle - I would be angry. And, you should be able to turn your phone off at night, or any time, for whatever reason.

  • Strahany on 16/07/2018 - 17:19

    Given that you checked the IMEI and its unblocked, then it has to do with a local change on the phone, itself.

    I believe that 'carrier updates' may sometimes be downloaded via the Google Play store, as opposed to via the settings app (which is where you checked to verify that there wasn't a software update).

  • JLHC on 17/07/2018 - 12:37

    AFAIK Samsung phones are locked to the country that they are sold in order to prevent gray imports. The way to unlock it is to pop in a local SIM card and make the first phone call.

    You just need to pop in a Hong Kong SIM card and make a phone call (not sure if it'll work while roaming) and the phone should be unlocked for good.

    • Biggles266 on 17/07/2018 - 13:52

      How would I get a Hong Kong sim card?! Interesting idea though.

  • Biggles266 on 18/07/2018 - 12:32

    UPDATE: I talked to Samsung Australia, who passed me on to Samsung HK, who determined that it is actually a UK model of the phone even though bought via HK, so I am going to talk to Samsung UK tonight. Hopefully they will give me an unlock code and it will be sorted. Will post results here.

  • Biggles266 on 02/08/2018 - 12:12

    UPDATE: There's been a long delay because my health is not good. I've now talked to Samsung UK, and they can tell me that my IMEI says it was originally locked/assigned to Orange network, France. They can't do anything, they say talk to Orange. (The Hong Kong company says to this that they bought the phone originally unlocked, so don't know anything about Orange). I tried to contact Orange, they have now been taken over by EE network. I found a web page where EE says we will unlock Orange/EE phones, if you pay about A$15, and there is a live chat feature on their site, but it never works. The link has been dead for days. I called their help line internationally, but none of the menu options are for unlocking phones, and I expect it would take a long time on the phone, costing a good bit, to try and get to the right dept and sort it out.

    So I would be happy to just buy an unlock code off ebay if it would fix the problem, it won't cost any more than EE would anyway. I found this one: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/222786065304?ViewItem=&item=2227… does it look good? It's the exact model of phone I have, and it says for EE network. Problem is, I have no way of confirming that it is actually Orange (now EE) who my phone is locked to, only that it originally was locked to them at the start, according to Samsung UK.

    I've written to the eBay seller to see what they suggest. Does anyone have any other suggestions about how I can find out for sure who my phone is locked to, or how to get the information or fix out of EE UK?

    What a saga! :(

  • Biggles266 on 02/08/2018 - 19:51
    +3

    UPDATE: SUCCESS!

    I ended up calling EE UK, since I found a place on their web site that said call this direct number and press these exact options. Got straight through to a girl with an Irish accent so strong I could hardly understand her. She went and looked up on their system and said it wasn't locked to them after all. Then she mentioned that EE UK only took over Orange UK, not Orange from any other Euro countries. So that was all a dead end anyway, and I had to try and contact Orange France. So then I went to Orange France's web site (since Samsung UK said it had been originally locked to them), but it had no English version of their web site. I managed nevertheless, using google translate, to find the page for unlocking, and it said click here for live chat. I did, and it said invalid page, connection reset. I tried multiple times, from different web browsers, no different. Their live chat was broken. Being French, they probably would have refused to speak English in live chat with me anyway.

    So I went back to eBay and searched and found this seller (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Orange-France-Unlock-Code-Libera…) who said he could unlock Samsung phones locked to Orange France, for only 2.5 Euros! And would do it within a hour! And if he found the phone wasn't locked to Orange France, then he would refund your money! What a great deal. So I paid him the A$4, and about an hour later he sent me an unlock code for my S6 from Orange France, and it worked.

    What a time to be alive.

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