***NOTE: THERE ARE TWO POLICY GENERATIONS HERE: TFW 1 YEAR/PAID, OR VZW 60 DAYS.***
Pre-Verizon Tracfones suck to unlock. They have two classes:
* 2015-pre Verizon: They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less so you only have two choices: 1 year of service, or pay for the code through TracFone (similar to T-Mo prepaid where giving them $100 does the job within 30/40 days, but you can only do it 2x a year) and likely more then the street value of the phones they sell. Sadly, the 1-year window (without a get-out-of-jail card) is becoming the norm, even with AT&T you HAVE to wait 6 months; I can't just throw them the money for a code or unlock whitelisting and get it done :(.[br]
Even with the others, I have still run into problems with 3rd party unlock providers, especially AT&T who cracked down on it bc the FCC unlock exception cost them $1 too much in millions of dollars of profit at some point. T-Mobile has always been a PITA: Be a customer, or no 1st party unlock; then wait 1 year on prepaid, or pay a $100 troll toll. I had to pay the troll toll to free a P6a which was locked to them I bought for parts due to the "financed" status which never existed, it was free and clear.
* Pre-2015: ***THESE ARE VERY, VERY OFTEN PERMANENTLY LOCKED TO TFW: Either through the use of all code entries at the factory being removed, or it's just blocked -- BY DESIGN! For CDMA phones, they don't provide the MSL which is needed to get it done. VoLTE phones are unusable on anything but the TFW network and group of providers.***[br]
NOTE: Non-VoLTE phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA/3G shutdowns. This took these perma-locked phones out. This is a footnote for the subset of VoLTE phones which are permanently locked at this point. ***A NEW BOARD IS NEEDED TO REMOVE THE TFW SIM LOCK.***
* ***Verizon: 60 days, unless they accuse you of fraud; in which case, guilty until proven innocent.***
See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is a BYOD-only "carrier" (really, an MNVO who uses the big 3's network) which you take an unlocked phone to them, not buy a locked phone through. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support (and the ROM isn't available, but my unlocked phone has it available so I can "fix the TFW phone" and kill the SIM lock with a new board) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board (and SIM tray) into the "locked" TracFone. Bribery may be involved to get said phone, nudging them towards unlocked.[br]
Their dead-end status makes gutting them the best ending, or modifying it with a better mainboard when you can. This sadly works as their main market is low-income customers, who can't buy a $699 Pixel and truly own their phone. They do not become aware of the problem until it hits them from behind, whereas I know bc I'm willing to take them and either board swap or pull another part I need from them if it's not junk. I buy factory unlocked for a reason; it stays mine, and can never be locked like the 1U Samsung which is the opposite: Hardlocked to not accept a subsidy lock. Their horrible status is why I will usually make a deal for the TFW version if I need a transplant device; can't be unlocked easily=cheap. Just throw the branded parts and back out if you can.
NOTE: Pre-2015 Sprint phones share the same problem as the pre-2015 TFW phones; not designed to be unlocked properly, especially early 5G devices (T-Mo shut their band down for 5G on early phones with the Sprint sunset; nobody wanted it besides Sprint). The other class is phones that are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
-
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try and resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again. And yes, I will show up with a $700 Pixel or $1,500 iPhone paying scrap prices for them; it's better than nothing to these owners.***
+
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try and resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again. And yes, I will show up with a $700 Pixel or $1,500 iPhone paying scrap prices for them; it's better than nothing if you got screwed and need some quick cash to buy a phone that isn't locked to TFW.***
***NOTE: THERE ARE TWO POLICY GENERATIONS HERE: TFW 1 YEAR/PAID, OR VZW 60 DAYS.***
Pre-Verizon Tracfones suck to unlock. They have two classes:
* 2015-pre Verizon: They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less so you only have two choices: 1 year of service, or pay for the code through TracFone (similar to T-Mo prepaid where giving them $100 does the job within 30/40 days, but you can only do it 2x a year) and likely more then the street value of the phones they sell. Sadly, the 1-year window (without a get-out-of-jail card) is becoming the norm, even with AT&T you HAVE to wait 6 months; I can't just throw them the money for a code or unlock whitelisting and get it done :(.[br]
Even with the others, I have still run into problems with 3rd party unlock providers, especially AT&T who cracked down on it bc the FCC unlock exception cost them $1 too much in millions of dollars of profit at some point. T-Mobile has always been a PITA: Be a customer, or no 1st party unlock; then wait 1 year on prepaid, or pay a $100 troll toll. I had to pay the troll toll to free a P6a which was locked to them I bought for parts due to the "financed" status which never existed, it was free and clear.
* Pre-2015: ***THESE ARE VERY, VERY OFTEN PERMANENTLY LOCKED TO TFW: Either through the use of all code entries at the factory being removed, or it's just blocked -- BY DESIGN! For CDMA phones, they don't provide the MSL which is needed to get it done. VoLTE phones are unusable on anything but the TFW network and group of providers.***[br]
NOTE: Non-VoLTE phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA/3G shutdowns. This took these perma-locked phones out. This is a footnote for the subset of VoLTE phones which are permanently locked at this point. ***A NEW BOARD IS NEEDED TO REMOVE THE TFW SIM LOCK.***
* ***Verizon: 60 days, unless they accuse you of fraud; in which case, guilty until proven innocent.***
See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is a BYOD-only "carrier" (really, an MNVO who uses the big 3's network) which you take an unlocked phone to them, not buy a locked phone through. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support (and the ROM isn't available, but my unlocked phone has it available so I can "fix the TFW phone" and kill the SIM lock with a new board) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board (and SIM tray) into the "locked" TracFone. Bribery may be involved to get said phone, nudging them towards unlocked.[br]
Their dead-end status makes gutting them the best ending, or modifying it with a better mainboard when you can. This sadly works as their main market is low-income customers, who can't buy a $699 Pixel and truly own their phone. They do not become aware of the problem until it hits them from behind, whereas I know bc I'm willing to take them and either board swap or pull another part I need from them if it's not junk. I buy factory unlocked for a reason; it stays mine, and can never be locked like the 1U Samsung which is the opposite: Hardlocked to not accept a subsidy lock. Their horrible status is why I will usually make a deal for the TFW version if I need a transplant device; can't be unlocked easily=cheap. Just throw the branded parts and back out if you can.
NOTE: Pre-2015 Sprint phones share the same problem as the pre-2015 TFW phones; not designed to be unlocked properly, especially early 5G devices (T-Mo shut their band down for 5G on early phones with the Sprint sunset; nobody wanted it besides Sprint). The other class is phones that are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
-
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try and resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again. And yes, I will show up with a $700 pixel paying scrap prices for them; it's better than nothing to these owners.***
+
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try and resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again. And yes, I will show up with a $700 Pixel or $1,500 iPhone paying scrap prices for them; it's better than nothing to these owners.***
***NOTE: THERE ARE TWO POLICY GENERATIONS HERE: TFW 1 YEAR/PAID, OR VZW 60 DAYS.***
Pre-Verizon Tracfones suck to unlock. They have two classes:
* 2015-pre Verizon: They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less so you only have two choices: 1 year of service, or pay for the code through TracFone (similar to T-Mo prepaid where giving them $100 does the job within 30/40 days, but you can only do it 2x a year) and likely more then the street value of the phones they sell. Sadly, the 1-year window (without a get-out-of-jail card) is becoming the norm, even with AT&T you HAVE to wait 6 months; I can't just throw them the money for a code or unlock whitelisting and get it done :(.[br]
Even with the others, I have still run into problems with 3rd party unlock providers, especially AT&T who cracked down on it bc the FCC unlock exception cost them $1 too much in millions of dollars of profit at some point. T-Mobile has always been a PITA: Be a customer, or no 1st party unlock; then wait 1 year on prepaid, or pay a $100 troll toll. I had to pay the troll toll to free a P6a which was locked to them I bought for parts due to the "financed" status which never existed, it was free and clear.
* Pre-2015: ***THESE ARE VERY, VERY OFTEN PERMANENTLY LOCKED TO TFW: Either through the use of all code entries at the factory being removed, or it's just blocked -- BY DESIGN! For CDMA phones, they don't provide the MSL which is needed to get it done. VoLTE phones are unusable on anything but the TFW network and group of providers.***[br]
NOTE: Non-VoLTE phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA/3G shutdowns. This took these perma-locked phones out. This is a footnote for the subset of VoLTE phones which are permanently locked at this point. ***A NEW BOARD IS NEEDED TO REMOVE THE TFW SIM LOCK.***
* ***Verizon: 60 days, unless they accuse you of fraud; in which case, guilty until proven innocent.***
See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
-
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is a BYOD-only "carrier" (really, an MNVO who uses the big 3's network) which you take an unlocked phone to them, not buy a locked phone through. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support (and the ROM isn't available, but my unlocked phone has it available so I can "fix the TFW phone" and kill the SIM lock) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board (and SIM tray) into the "locked" TracFone. Bribery may be involved to get said phone, nudging them towards unlocked.[br]
+
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is a BYOD-only "carrier" (really, an MNVO who uses the big 3's network) which you take an unlocked phone to them, not buy a locked phone through. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support (and the ROM isn't available, but my unlocked phone has it available so I can "fix the TFW phone" and kill the SIM lock with a new board) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board (and SIM tray) into the "locked" TracFone. Bribery may be involved to get said phone, nudging them towards unlocked.[br]
Their dead-end status makes gutting them the best ending, or modifying it with a better mainboard when you can. This sadly works as their main market is low-income customers, who can't buy a $699 Pixel and truly own their phone. They do not become aware of the problem until it hits them from behind, whereas I know bc I'm willing to take them and either board swap or pull another part I need from them if it's not junk. I buy factory unlocked for a reason; it stays mine, and can never be locked like the 1U Samsung which is the opposite: Hardlocked to not accept a subsidy lock. Their horrible status is why I will usually make a deal for the TFW version if I need a transplant device; can't be unlocked easily=cheap. Just throw the branded parts and back out if you can.
NOTE: Pre-2015 Sprint phones share the same problem as the pre-2015 TFW phones; not designed to be unlocked properly, especially early 5G devices (T-Mo shut their band down for 5G on early phones with the Sprint sunset; nobody wanted it besides Sprint). The other class is phones that are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
-
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try an resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again.***
+
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try and resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again. And yes, I will show up with a $700 pixel paying scrap prices for them; it's better than nothing to these owners.***
***NOTE: THERE ARE TWO POLICY GENERATIONS HERE: TFW 1 YEAR/PAID, OR VZW 60 DAYS.***
Pre-Verizon Tracfones suck to unlock. They have two classes:
* 2015-pre Verizon: They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less so you only have two choices: 1 year of service, or pay for the code through TracFone (similar to T-Mo prepaid where giving them $100 does the job within 30/40 days, but you can only do it 2x a year) and likely more then the street value of the phones they sell. Sadly, the 1-year window (without a get-out-of-jail card) is becoming the norm, even with AT&T you HAVE to wait 6 months; I can't just throw them the money for a code or unlock whitelisting and get it done :(.[br]
Even with the others, I have still run into problems with 3rd party unlock providers, especially AT&T who cracked down on it bc the FCC unlock exception cost them $1 too much in millions of dollars of profit at some point. T-Mobile has always been a PITA: Be a customer, or no 1st party unlock; then wait 1 year on prepaid, or pay a $100 troll toll. I had to pay the troll toll to free a P6a which was locked to them I bought for parts due to the "financed" status which never existed, it was free and clear.
* Pre-2015: ***THESE ARE VERY, VERY OFTEN PERMANENTLY LOCKED TO TFW: Either through the use of all code entries at the factory being removed, or it's just blocked -- BY DESIGN! For CDMA phones, they don't provide the MSL which is needed to get it done. VoLTE phones are unusable on anything but the TFW network and group of providers.***[br]
NOTE: Non-VoLTE phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA/3G shutdowns. This took these perma-locked phones out. This is a footnote for the subset of VoLTE phones which are permanently locked at this point. ***A NEW BOARD IS NEEDED TO REMOVE THE TFW SIM LOCK.***
* ***Verizon: 60 days, unless they accuse you of fraud; in which case, guilty until proven innocent.***
See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is a BYOD-only "carrier" (really, an MNVO who uses the big 3's network) which you take an unlocked phone to them, not buy a locked phone through. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support (and the ROM isn't available, but my unlocked phone has it available so I can "fix the TFW phone" and kill the SIM lock) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board (and SIM tray) into the "locked" TracFone. Bribery may be involved to get said phone, nudging them towards unlocked.[br]
-
Their dead-end status makes gutting them the best ending, or modifying it with a better mainboard when you can. This sadly works as their main market is low-income customers, who can't buy a $699 Pixel and own their phone. They do not become aware of the problem until it hits them from behind, whereas I know bc I'm willing to take them and either board swap or pull another part I need from them if it's not junk. I buy factory unlocked for a reason; it stays mine, and can never be locked like the 1U Samsung which is the opposite: Hardlocked to not accept a subsidy lock. Their horrible status is why I will usually make a deal for the TFW version if I need a transplant device; can't be unlocked easily=cheap. Just throw the branded parts and back out if you can.
+
Their dead-end status makes gutting them the best ending, or modifying it with a better mainboard when you can. This sadly works as their main market is low-income customers, who can't buy a $699 Pixel and truly own their phone. They do not become aware of the problem until it hits them from behind, whereas I know bc I'm willing to take them and either board swap or pull another part I need from them if it's not junk. I buy factory unlocked for a reason; it stays mine, and can never be locked like the 1U Samsung which is the opposite: Hardlocked to not accept a subsidy lock. Their horrible status is why I will usually make a deal for the TFW version if I need a transplant device; can't be unlocked easily=cheap. Just throw the branded parts and back out if you can.
NOTE: Pre-2015 Sprint phones share the same problem as the pre-2015 TFW phones; not designed to be unlocked properly, especially early 5G devices (T-Mo shut their band down for 5G on early phones with the Sprint sunset; nobody wanted it besides Sprint). The other class is phones that are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try an resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again.***
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile, when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner, was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
-
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out), but note the CDMA dependency phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA sunset; the early phones with VoLTE but had the SIM hardlock issue work, but can never be unlocked. However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem due to the CTIA agreement but old phones are still often ineligible. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
+
***NOTE: THERE ARE TWO POLICY GENERATIONS HERE: TFW 1 YEAR/PAID, OR VZW 60 DAYS.***
-
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support and the ROM isn't available (but my unlocked phone has it available so I can improve it and fix one) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board into the "locked" TracFone, and moving the SIM tray so it's all matched. I also consider Sprint phones "parts bin specials" as well, especially early 5G devices. When T-Mobile changed the 5G band after the network sunset for Sprint as Sprint had to be special and use a band NOBODY ELSE USES, many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted. For old phones, they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
+
Pre-Verizon Tracfones suck to unlock. They have two classes:
-
Depending on how badly I needed the parts from these phones I may even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, with gas on me. As phones, they're often dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to be a pain to fix and reflash it yourself to sell them (and sadly, it works because the target market (read: low-income customers) doesn't know this is a problem until it breaks)... but if you have a factory unlocked phone/another carrier's phone you unlocked (preferably factory as these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like the 1U Samsung devices as these are hardlocked to never accept a subsidy lock, which is A GOOD THING). When they die, the best ending for most of them tends to be to cut a deal with the techy friend you know so they can use it for parts due to how tainted they are, or the cost to unlock makes zero sense :(. I'm that friend but I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped...
+
* 2015-pre Verizon: They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less so you only have two choices: 1 year of service, or pay for the code through TracFone (similar to T-Mo prepaid where giving them $100 does the job within 30/40 days, but you can only do it 2x a year) and likely more then the street value of the phones they sell. Sadly, the 1-year window (without a get-out-of-jail card) is becoming the norm, even with AT&T you HAVE to wait 6 months; I can't just throw them the money for a code or unlock whitelisting and get it done :(.[br]
+
Even with the others, I have still run into problems with 3rd party unlock providers, especially AT&T who cracked down on it bc the FCC unlock exception cost them $1 too much in millions of dollars of profit at some point. T-Mobile has always been a PITA: Be a customer, or no 1st party unlock; then wait 1 year on prepaid, or pay a $100 troll toll. I had to pay the troll toll to free a P6a which was locked to them I bought for parts due to the "financed" status which never existed, it was free and clear.
+
* Pre-2015: ***THESE ARE VERY, VERY OFTEN PERMANENTLY LOCKED TO TFW: Either through the use of all code entries at the factory being removed, or it's just blocked -- BY DESIGN! For CDMA phones, they don't provide the MSL which is needed to get it done. VoLTE phones are unusable on anything but the TFW network and group of providers.***[br]
+
NOTE: Non-VoLTE phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA/3G shutdowns. This took these perma-locked phones out. This is a footnote for the subset of VoLTE phones which are permanently locked at this point. ***A NEW BOARD IS NEEDED TO REMOVE THE TFW SIM LOCK.***
+
* ***Verizon: 60 days, unless they accuse you of fraud; in which case, guilty until proven innocent.***
+
See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
-
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is being put in the waste pile with a big TF label, DEAD OR ALIVE. I don't have the desire to wait 1 year, and pay up the nose for service again (so the phone gets paid off twice so TF gets even richer off that phone), only to find out they want to try and charge me more than it's worth used. I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new.
+
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is a BYOD-only "carrier" (really, an MNVO who uses the big 3's network) which you take an unlocked phone to them, not buy a locked phone through. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support (and the ROM isn't available, but my unlocked phone has it available so I can "fix the TFW phone" and kill the SIM lock) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board (and SIM tray) into the "locked" TracFone. Bribery may be involved to get said phone, nudging them towards unlocked.[br]
+
Their dead-end status makes gutting them the best ending, or modifying it with a better mainboard when you can. This sadly works as their main market is low-income customers, who can't buy a $699 Pixel and own their phone. They do not become aware of the problem until it hits them from behind, whereas I know bc I'm willing to take them and either board swap or pull another part I need from them if it's not junk. I buy factory unlocked for a reason; it stays mine, and can never be locked like the 1U Samsung which is the opposite: Hardlocked to not accept a subsidy lock. Their horrible status is why I will usually make a deal for the TFW version if I need a transplant device; can't be unlocked easily=cheap. Just throw the branded parts and back out if you can.
+
+
NOTE: Pre-2015 Sprint phones share the same problem as the pre-2015 TFW phones; not designed to be unlocked properly, especially early 5G devices (T-Mo shut their band down for 5G on early phones with the Sprint sunset; nobody wanted it besides Sprint). The other class is phones that are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
+
+
As much as I love cheap shells like TFW phones and I'm that friend who gets them, I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped... I don't even care if it has FRP protection, I'm paying "FRP assumed" pricing and replacing the board if I know it can be done. Otherwise, I do not want it, or I will just scrap it (however, it's nice to get it reset normally so I can try an resell the board). On the other hand, why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is "waste" to me because you can't put lipstick on the pig these pre-Verizon phones are. ***I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new. Never again.***
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile, when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner, was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out), but note the CDMA dependency phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA sunset; the early phones with VoLTE but had the SIM hardlock issue work, but can never be unlocked. However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem due to the CTIA agreement but old phones are still often ineligible. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support and the ROM isn't available (but my unlocked phone has it available so I can improve it and fix one) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board into the "locked" TracFone, and moving the SIM tray so it's all matched. I also consider Sprint phones "parts bin specials" as well, especially early 5G devices. When T-Mobile changed the 5G band after the network sunset for Sprint as Sprint had to be special and use a band NOBODY ELSE USES, many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted. For old phones, they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
Depending on how badly I needed the parts from these phones I may even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, with gas on me. As phones, they're often dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to be a pain to fix and reflash it yourself to sell them (and sadly, it works because the target market (read: low-income customers) doesn't know this is a problem until it breaks)... but if you have a factory unlocked phone/another carrier's phone you unlocked (preferably factory as these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like the 1U Samsung devices as these are hardlocked to never accept a subsidy lock, which is A GOOD THING). When they die, the best ending for most of them tends to be to cut a deal with the techy friend you know so they can use it for parts due to how tainted they are, or the cost to unlock makes zero sense :(. I'm that friend but I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped...
-
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is being put in the waste pile with a big TF label, DEAD OR ALIVE. I don't have the desire to wait 1 year, and pay up the nose for service again (so the phone gets paid off twice so TF gets even richer off that phone), only to find out they want to try and charge me more then it's worth used. I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new.
+
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is being put in the waste pile with a big TF label, DEAD OR ALIVE. I don't have the desire to wait 1 year, and pay up the nose for service again (so the phone gets paid off twice so TF gets even richer off that phone), only to find out they want to try and charge me more than it's worth used. I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile, when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner, was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out), but note the CDMA dependency phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA sunset; the early phones with VoLTE but had the SIM hardlock issue work, but can never be unlocked. However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem due to the CTIA agreement but old phones are still often ineligible. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support and the ROM isn't available (but my unlocked phone has it available so I can improve it and fix one) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board into the "locked" TracFone, and moving the SIM tray so it's all matched. I also consider Sprint phones "parts bin specials" as well, especially early 5G devices. When T-Mobile changed the 5G band after the network sunset for Sprint as Sprint had to be special and use a band NOBODY ELSE USES, many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted. For old phones, they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
Depending on how badly I needed the parts from these phones I may even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, with gas on me. As phones, they're often dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to be a pain to fix and reflash it yourself to sell them (and sadly, it works because the target market (read: low-income customers) doesn't know this is a problem until it breaks)... but if you have a factory unlocked phone/another carrier's phone you unlocked (preferably factory as these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like the 1U Samsung devices as these are hardlocked to never accept a subsidy lock, which is A GOOD THING). When they die, the best ending for most of them tends to be to cut a deal with the techy friend you know so they can use it for parts due to how tainted they are, or the cost to unlock makes zero sense :(. I'm that friend but I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped...
-
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is being put in the waste pile with a big TF label, DEAD OR ALIVE. I don't have the desire to wait 1 year, and pay up the nose for service again (so the phone gets paid off twice so TF gets even richer off that phone), only to find out they want to try and charge me more then it's worth used.
+
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is being put in the waste pile with a big TF label, DEAD OR ALIVE. I don't have the desire to wait 1 year, and pay up the nose for service again (so the phone gets paid off twice so TF gets even richer off that phone), only to find out they want to try and charge me more then it's worth used. I do see the hypocrisy in me saying this since I basically gave T-Mobile $100 to unlock the 6a, but that phone is still very new.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile, when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner, was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out), but note the CDMA dependency phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA sunset; the early phones with VoLTE but had the SIM hardlock issue work, but can never be unlocked. However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem due to the CTIA agreement but old phones are still often ineligible. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support and the ROM isn't available (but my unlocked phone has it available so I can improve it and fix one) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board into the "locked" TracFone, and moving the SIM tray so it's all matched. I also consider Sprint phones "parts bin specials" as well, especially early 5G devices. When T-Mobile changed the 5G band after the network sunset for Sprint as Sprint had to be special and use a band NOBODY ELSE USES, many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted. For old phones, they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
Depending on how badly I needed the parts from these phones I may even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, with gas on me. As phones, they're often dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to be a pain to fix and reflash it yourself to sell them (and sadly, it works because the target market (read: low-income customers) doesn't know this is a problem until it breaks)... but if you have a factory unlocked phone/another carrier's phone you unlocked (preferably factory as these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like the 1U Samsung devices as these are hardlocked to never accept a subsidy lock, which is A GOOD THING). When they die, the best ending for most of them tends to be to cut a deal with the techy friend you know so they can use it for parts due to how tainted they are, or the cost to unlock makes zero sense :(. I'm that friend but I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped...
-
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap?
+
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap? The old board is being put in the waste pile with a big TF label, DEAD OR ALIVE. I don't have the desire to wait 1 year, and pay up the nose for service again (so the phone gets paid off twice so TF gets even richer off that phone), only to find out they want to try and charge me more then it's worth used.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile, when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner, was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out), but note the CDMA dependency phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA sunset; the early phones with VoLTE but had the SIM hardlock issue work, but can never be unlocked. However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem due to the CTIA agreement but old phones are still often ineligible. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support and the ROM isn't available (but my unlocked phone has it available so I can improve it and fix one) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board into the "locked" TracFone, and moving the SIM tray so it's all matched. I also consider Sprint phones "parts bin specials" as well, especially early 5G devices. When T-Mobile changed the 5G band after the network sunset for Sprint as Sprint had to be special and use a band NOBODY ELSE USES, many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted. For old phones, they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
Depending on how badly I needed the parts from these phones I may even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, with gas on me. As phones, they're often dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to be a pain to fix and reflash it yourself to sell them (and sadly, it works because the target market (read: low-income customers) doesn't know this is a problem until it breaks)... but if you have a factory unlocked phone/another carrier's phone you unlocked (preferably factory as these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like the 1U Samsung devices as these are hardlocked to never accept a subsidy lock, which is A GOOD THING). When they die, the best ending for most of them tends to be to cut a deal with the techy friend you know so they can use it for parts due to how tainted they are, or the cost to unlock makes zero sense :(. I'm that friend but I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped...
+
+
No, I do not care if it FRP locks if I'm going to strip it for parts but it's nice to get it reset normally. Why would I care when I'm just going to open it up and put a superior unlocked board in from a dead phone I used until it was worth more in scrap?
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
-
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
+
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile, when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner, was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
+
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out), but note the CDMA dependency phones are no longer usable due to the US CDMA sunset; the early phones with VoLTE but had the SIM hardlock issue work, but can never be unlocked. However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem due to the CTIA agreement but old phones are still often ineligible. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
-
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray; Sprint phones go in the parts bin as well, T-Mobile changed the 5G band so many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted or they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are from 2015 (CTIA agreement) and are old enough the cost to do it vs street value makes zero sense.
+
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done. They sometimes love charging up to $300 if they do it under 1 year which tends to make it cost-prohibitive due to how cheap an IDENTICAL UNLOCKED PHONE COSTS NOW, even with 5G. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support and the ROM isn't available (but my unlocked phone has it available so I can improve it and fix one) I'm making a cash deal and swapping my unlocked board into the "locked" TracFone, and moving the SIM tray so it's all matched. I also consider Sprint phones "parts bin specials" as well, especially early 5G devices. When T-Mobile changed the 5G band after the network sunset for Sprint as Sprint had to be special and use a band NOBODY ELSE USES, many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted. For old phones, they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are too old to bother with vs. the cost to get it done.
-
I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked)and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone,you can take it and fix your good version; even if the phone works and you're wasting the original motherboard.
+
Depending on how badly I needed the parts from these phones I may even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, with gas on me. As phones, they're often dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to be a pain to fix and reflash it yourself to sell them (and sadly, it works because the target market (read: low-income customers) doesn't know this is a problem until it breaks)... but if you have a factory unlocked phone/another carrier's phone you unlocked (preferably factory as these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like the 1U Samsung devices as these are hardlocked to never accept a subsidy lock, which is A GOOD THING). When they die, the best ending for most of them tends to be to cut a deal with the techy friend you know so they can use it for parts due to how tainted they are, or the cost to unlock makes zero sense :(. I'm that friend but I hate the waste TracFone generates. I'd rather steer them toward an unlocked phone and lose the future donor phone when they can afford it! But if I got to keep the dead phone to make sure it gets erased and I have a phone which needs a new home due to something like a bad screen and charge port (and mine is clear due to being unlocked) take a guess how quickly it gets board swapped...
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
-
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty. See here for my experience with these new phones: [https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/702599/Anyone+know+a+company+that+can+unlock+these|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them|new_window=true]
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The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty. See here for my experience with these new phones: [post|702599|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them and had to revisit after researching the problem|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray; Sprint phones go in the parts bin as well, T-Mobile changed the 5G band so many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted or they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are from 2015 (CTIA agreement) and are old enough the cost to do it vs street value makes zero sense.
I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, you can take it and fix your good version; even if the phone works and you're wasting the original motherboard.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
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The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty.
+
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty. See here for my experience with these new phones: [https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/702599/Anyone+know+a+company+that+can+unlock+these|AT&T unlock nightmare I got so annoyed by I shelved them|new_window=true]
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray; Sprint phones go in the parts bin as well, T-Mobile changed the 5G band so many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted or they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are from 2015 (CTIA agreement) and are old enough the cost to do it vs street value makes zero sense.
I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, you can take it and fix your good version; even if the phone works and you're wasting the original motherboard.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty.
-
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray; Sprint phones go in the parts bin as well, T-Mobile changed the 5G band so any of the early ones are permanently stunted or they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are old enough the cost to do it vs street value makes sense.
+
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of devices if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray; Sprint phones go in the parts bin as well, T-Mobile changed the 5G band so many of the early 5G phones are permanently stunted or they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are from 2015 (CTIA agreement) and are old enough the cost to do it vs street value makes zero sense.
I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, you can take it and fix your good version; even if the phone works and you're wasting the original motherboard.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty.
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray; Sprint phones go in the parts bin as well, T-Mobile changed the 5G band so any of the early ones are permanently stunted or they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are old enough the cost to do it vs street value makes sense.
-
I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, take it and fix your good version.
+
I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, you can take it and fix your good version; even if the phone works and you're wasting the original motherboard.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty.
-
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them; they're the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray. I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, take it and fix your good version.
+
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them. These are the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft-bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray; Sprint phones go in the parts bin as well, T-Mobile changed the 5G band so any of the early ones are permanently stunted or they can never effectively be unlocked due to Sprint also using the SIM hardlock approach like Tracfone or the phones are old enough the cost to do it vs street value makes sense.
+
+
I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, take it and fix your good version.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty.
-
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them; they're the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray. I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have a unlocked phone and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, take it and fix your good version.
+
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them; they're the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray. I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have an unlocked phone (factory, these can NEVER BE LOCKED, especially with the right ones like 1U Samsungs; the cellular radio is permanently unlocked) and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, take it and fix your good version.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
+
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise, I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty.
-
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them; they're the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray.
+
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them; they're the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray. I'll even bribe them with a trip to Best Buy to buy their next phone unlocked, even if gas is $4/gallon; they're dead-end devices you can't easily find the ROM for as Tracfone loves to not make it easy for you to reflash it yourself, but if you have a unlocked phone and you can secure a deal to get one which is just tainted by TracFone, take it and fix your good version.
Tracfones suck to unlock. They don't allow 3rd parties to make it easier to suck less without paying them for the code if it's under 1 year of usage at the time you did it which is sadly becoming the norm; I have had trouble with AT&T in the past, and now T-Mobile when I got a "financed" 6a which had a clean bill of health the only way to get it done sooner was to put it on service through them, and put $100 down. I did it on that 6a because it was worth it on a Pixel, otherwise I'd just have tried another 3rd party service.[br]
The other problem is some of their phones can't be unlocked because they are permanently locked either due to a factory-programmed SIM hardlock or the use of a CDMA radio which requires an MSL code (which nobody gives out). However, phones from 2015-present tend to not have this problem, it was the older phones which were spotty.
Depending on how long you've owned it, you're basically stuck with no other option but to call TracFone to get this done who sometimes charges up to $300 if they do it under 1 year, which makes it a dead end because the cost to do it far exceeds what an unlocked phone or even the unlocked equivalent costs which makes it cost prohibitive. TracFone is the carrier you do a BYOD with a factory unlocked/other carrier's locked phone you already unlocked, you never want to buy an actual locked phone through them; they're the kind of device if say I needed a screen and charge port and I had a local connection with the Tracfone version willing to cut me a deal on a soft bricked phone that they will not support I'm making a cash deal and putting my unlocked board in their "locked" phone, and moving the SIM tray.