Unlocking phones

[Jan]

Does any1 know of some1 who can unlock mobile phones in the Chorrillos/barranco area, preferably who speaks English? Thanks Jan

[naturegirl]

What do you mean unlock? Take it to a movistar or claro shop

[cajun jamie]

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/nokiaunlocking.htm

[yeahdogg]

I know a guy!...he unlocked my ph when I first came to Peru and just did a second for me...cost me 30 s. Nice guy speaks a bit of english too!... Let me know if you still need the hook up...

YeahDogg

[curlyguy18]

What do y'all exactly mean by "unlock"?

[rgamarra]

Curly,

When you have a phone from another country and you want to use it with another carrier in Peru, then you have to unlock the phone. There is a code. Claro has an agreement with T-Mobile and you can go to any Claro store and get them to switch over the phone to their network. You normally have to buy a chip.

-OR- you can do it the one-eye-peg-leg matey way and go to Malvinas or the local market and they'll do the same thing for you at a lower price.

When I unlocked my phone, I already had a SIM card from Claro. I just needed my apparatus unlocked.

They can normally make the phones work on any network, you just have to buy the chip if you don't have one already.

[mammalu]

Curly,

I thought unlocking a phone was one step, but it is not.

I went to Claro (as my friends wanted me to buy the chip from the same carrier they use).

The Claro people told me my phone had to be 'unlocked' and that they did not offer that service (it was at a Metro supermarket). They also told me, that around the corner was a guy who could unlock the phone, then I could return to their Claro kiosk and buy the chip from Claro, and voila.

I went to the guy with my phone from the USA, and for that new type of phone he told me he needed a password to unlock it (password request showed on the phone screen) . He also had the software to unlock it (with a usb cable). Cost was 25 soles. But remember once you do that, your phone becomes part of the Claro network, in other words they 'naturalize' your phone (it becomes a Peruvian phone ).

That is not what I wanted, I only wanted an iternational chip to use in Peru. So I should have bought a chip for 30 dollars or more at the USA Airport. Then back in the USA, I could have replaced my original sym card and use my cellphone as usual.

The difference is price with the international chip, all phone calls are more expensive (don't know how much, as I did not pursue the matter).

[naturegirl]

I think it would be much cheaper just to BUY a phone here. They're really not that much and you usually get what you pay for it back in phone calls.

[mammalu]

I think it would be much cheaper just to BUY a phone here. They're really not that much and you usually get what you pay for it back in phone calls.

That is the second part of the story. I got a cell in Lima, which I left with somebody, prepaid, so they continue putting money and I do not lose number.

The USA phone I wanted to activate was to make it easier for my children or business people to reach me, as easier for them to call me.

[rgamarra]

I think it would be much cheaper just to BUY a phone here. They're really not that much and you usually get what you pay for it back in phone calls.

That is the second part of the story. I got a cell in Lima, which I left with somebody, prepaid, so they continue putting money and I do not lose number.

The USA phone I wanted to activate was to make it easier for my children or business people to reach me, as easier for them to call me.

That is why I have two cell phones, a Nextel from the U.S., which I use the walkie-talkie only to communicate with my husband, and a Claro phone to use in Peru.

Once my husband comes down we are going to arrange a way to keep our U.S. Nextels, since it's cheaper to have a Nextel from the States than to purchase one and keep putting minutes on it in Peru.

[Rakelex]

Does anyone know if you can unlock a phone from the states if it doesn't have a chip?

[NelsonSuarez]

What carrier is that phone on?

Locking/unlocking is usually something you find with GSM phones, because of the chip mechanism (common trick: ppl buying cheap subsidized phones from carrier under contract, then cancel contract and then taking the chip out and use the phone on another network losing the original carrier money). I've never heard of "unlocking" a Verizon phone for example, probably because it's also useless outside the Verizon network anyway.

If your phone is not T mobile or AT&T, it is most likely not a GSM phone and then you won't be able to use it outside the US, as the non GSM US phone standards are not common / do not exist outside the US. (Exception Nextel!!!)

Now if you're talking about an iPhone, that does have a SIM card, it's just hidden, so you can unlock it, though with the iphone that's not quite trivial.

[cab]

What do you mean unlock? Take it to a movistar or claro shop

I can help you

[inscop]

My wife and I travel to Peru fairly frequently. We keep an older flip phone that we had from AT&T, and when we bought an upgrade phone, we were allowed to unlock it via computer. We have a Peruvian chip (and thanks to loaning it to her son, we also have a Colombian chip), and just get them reactivated or replaced upon arrival.

It's not quite the same as having a smart phone, but it works. We also carry our smart phones in WIFI mode to use when WIFI is available (for Skype or whatever).

[Jalapenomel]

I unlocked my IPhone here for 100 soles, and it works perfectly fine with a Claro IPhone plan. This was two years ago.