How to unlock phone

General
1

With the news about the RW => Boost change, I started looking at US Mobile, and will consider a couple of other MVNOs. (Not sure about US Mobile - they seem to push the WARP (Verizon) network, and I’m not sure I want that.)

My question: I never had to unlock a phone. US Mobile can’t/won’t do it. But I do have the “unlock” code, given to me by a very helpful person. So that should work, I think.

What are the actual steps in unlocking the phone?
Do I unlock it with the code, input the new SIM and activate, then cancel RW?

Thanks!

2

The way I had our phones unlocked just last week was call RW support and ask to have them unlocked. I was told it would take 2 days but I received a notification that the phone was unlocked the next morning.

You will need the IMEI which is usually found in the About area of your phone. It will also be the device ID if you sign into your RW account and look at your devices. Last I was asked for my PIN. It turned out to be quite easy and took about 15 minutes to complete for two phones.

Edit: After the phone is unlocked I think you will need to insert the new SIM and activate your phone with the new provider. If you are bringing your old number along you do not want to cancel RW until the number has been successfully ported to your new provider. If you got a new number but plan to port your old one later you do not want to cancel your RW account until you port the number. I would expect all of this to be explained by your new provider as they send the port request based on your input to RW. I expect it will also require your RW account number and PIN as part of the information.

If you cancel the RW without a successful port to your new provider you will lose the number.

3

My friend and I both had unlocked phones when we asked customer service for our port-out PINS. I have not heard of an unlock code (could that code be your port-out PIN), but I always get unlocked phones. Make sure you have your account PIN handy, however, as old_engineer mentioned.

4

I’m not a current US Mobile subscriber, however, I’ve done some research into them. US Mobile is among the highest rated providers on Trustpilot:

If my household weren’t already a satisfied Mobi and Tello subscriber in addition to Republic, US Mobile would be on my shortlist as a potential Republic replacement.

US Mobile SIM kits ship with two SIMs. The black SIM is “Warp 5G” (Verizon network). The white SIM is “GSM 5G” (T-Mobile network). One chooses the network they would like by activating the appropriate SIM. If you choose to activate on “Warp 5G” (Verizon network) and later prefer to move to “GSM 5G” (T-Mobile support) or vice versa, US Mobile support will facilitate that.

US Mobile’s 100-day free trial (if willing to port in a number) is currently “Warp 5G” only. That is supposed to be changing soon™. Otherwise, US Mobile’s plans are, for the most part, the same regardless of which network one chooses to activate on. Just as the 100-day free trial is currently “Warp 5G” only, international calling is currently “GSM 5G” only. US Mobile’s stated goal is feature parity on either of its network partners.

Only the provider to whom a phone is locked may authorize its unlock. How a phone is unlocked depends upon the provider to whom it’s locked and the phone’s manufacturer.

Specific to Republic, one must contact support to request their phone be unlocked. Support, generally, says it will take two days.

Samsung phones and Apple iPhones are unlocked over the air by the respective manufacturer once Republic asks them to do so. Typically, this takes less than the two days Republic support quotes.

Motorola phones require an unlock code. Sadly, though Republic support will indeed request the unlock, communicating the unlock code back to the member is haphazard. If one is unsuccessful in obtaining their Motorola phone’s unlock code from support, email executivecustomerservice@dish.com. This is DISH’s Executive Escalations Team.

To trigger a Motorola phone’s request for the unlock code, generally, all that’s required is to insert a non-Republic SIM. The alternate SIM may be activated or not activated, it just needs to be a SIM from a provider other than Republic. When prompted enter the unlock code. Since you mention already having your phone’s unlock code, you need not contact support to request your phone be unlocked.

Unlocking one’s phone and moving service to a new provider are separate things. When ready to activate with a new provider (after having unlocked your phone), follow the new provider’s instructions for activation. If transferring your phone number to the new provider; do not cancel Republic service. Doing so will cause the number transfer to fail and potentially risk losing your phone number. Transferring your number to the new provider will take care of service cancellation for you.

The need to unlock a phone purchased from Republic’s online store applies if you bought your phone at Republic’s store after December 1, 2021.

If you purchased your phone at Republic’s online store before December 1, 2021 or purchased your phone from a third party retailer, it is already factory unlocked and may be used with any provider willing to accept it.

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5

@rolandh You mentioned that the successful port out to a new provider will take care of the service cancellation. Since we are dealing with the New RW it brings up a question. I was thinking of transferring my phone to US Mobile first then adding my wife’s phone on later if my transfer went well. The account is in my name and my phone is in my name. It is our original number. My wife’s phone is listed as belonging to her. Do you know if my phone being canceled would result in RW cancelling the account or will it stay open as long as my wife’s phone is active on RW?

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Hi @old_engineer,

Transferring your number to US Mobile or elsewhere would cancel service only to your phone. Your wife’s service would not be impacted. If you are receiving multi-line discounts from Republic, you would lose those.

Republic accounts actually never close. The account itself remains open even after all lines of service are cancelled.

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7

I’m not worried about losing the discounts. My intent would be to migrate my phone and once it is successful move my wife’s. After the problems I’ve had between my RW move from 1.0 to 5.0 and Ooma to Spectrum Mobile I rather take more time to migrate and know I have at least one working phone than lose both.

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8

The last three numbers I ported to a new provider did not result in a cancellation at RW. I had to log into the account and cancel manually once I was sure the number had safely and successfully transferred to my new carrier. All three ports took place within the last month.

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14

Thanks for the info.

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15

When I contacted Republic by Dish to transfer my two numbers to MobileX last week, the very nice (credit where credit is due) customer care representative told me to call back after the transfers were complete to make sure my account is deleted.

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16

Decided to finally get our Samsung A32 5G phones we purchased from RW unlocked after the great suggestion from @rolandh

Called support at Republic Wireless by DISH this morning just after they opened. A nice customer care representative based in Wisconsin walked me through the process and had everything submitted within 15 minutes. Said it could take up to 2 days for the unlock codes to be sent OTA so we started the wait.

Received a notification on each phone about 12 hours later saying “Your phone has been unlocked” and under Setting>Connections>More connection settings>Network lock status shows Unlocked. Thought it was time to cheer.

But wait…about 30 minutes later each phone received another notification. The notification says “Please contact our customer service center to unlock your phone.” Went back to Setting>Connections>More connection settings and it still shows Network lock status – Unlocked. Now I’m not sure what to believe :thinking:

Rebooted the phones and checked Setting>Connections>More connection settings and they both still show Network lock status – Unlocked. All indications that I’m aware of seem to say they are unlocked. Planning to wait overnight and then try calling support again to see what they say. Both phones are 100% operational.

Have not received notification from RW by DISH about the Boost Infinite change. Agent did say they expected to have the last of the change notifications out soon. Wondering if the second notification has anything to do with the Boost change?

Has anyone else with the Samsung A32 5G phones purchased from RW had this happen? Any other words of wisdom to share :upside_down_face:

EDIT – noticed after posting here that this might have been a better fit under the " PSA: Get Your Phone Unlocked Before You Are Migrated from Republic to Boost Infinite" So here’s a link to that thread for those that want more background.

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When I unlocked my A32 5G I only received the one notification on each phone that told me the phone was unlocked and that is what my phone lock status reflects. I can’t say what your second notification indicates.

I still haven’t received any notice that we are going to be transferred to Boost Infinite either. It doesn’t bother me as I expect to be migrated to another provider by then.

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18

Thanks @old_engineer for sharing.

This might be an exercise in futility as we will probably just buy new phones and simply transfer the numbers. The only thing that will need to work is the port out process. Assume the Boost Infinite port out process will be similar; call and get port PIN and then have new carrier pick us up.

Will probably stay with RW by DISH for a few months while we research what fits us best since we have some change in travel coming up. Monitoring this site will give us some helpful ideas too!

Just sharing where we’re at in our unlock process hoping it might help others. It certainly looks like @rolandh hit the nail on the head when he noted that “no one person’s experience will necessarily be the same as the next person.”

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19

Since my transfer to MobileX was completed (successfully) yesterday, I called back Republic Wireless customer care to let them know that I am officially transferred. Good thing I did that because the RW rep found that my account was still active and I could have gotten billed…for nothing! He kept me on the line as he went through and deleted my account and two phone lines from the RW system, which took several minutes. Fingers crossed that I won’t get billed anyway.

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