Unlock question

[HavasuMike]

I have a Galaxy s10. I have requested an unlock from AT&T. The only thing I received was a photo saying it was unlocked. It also said that they would send a text or email. I didn't receive either. Reading other unlock posts, I noticed talk of an unlock code. Do I need one to finalize the unlock? Is there any way I can tell if the phone is unlocked?

 

[mikedt]

I have a Galaxy s10. I have requested an unlock from AT&T. The only thing I received was a photo saying it was unlocked. It also said that they would send a text or email. I didn't receive either. Reading other unlock posts, I noticed talk of an unlock code. Do I need one to finalize the unlock? Is there any way I can tell if the phone is unlocked?

I've never had to deal with SIM-locked phones myself, as they're not a thing here, but I believe the easiest way to tell, is to try it with a SIM that's NOT from the carrier the phone is locked to. And if it works, can make calls etc. then it isn't SIM-locked. And as I understand in the US, the unlock code has to come from the carrier, e.g. AT&T.

 

[nickdalzell]

I've only dealt with SIM-locks on phones that are the wrong carrier for the SIM. Example, I got a supposedly 'unlocked' Galaxy Note 8.0 LTE tablet on Amazon. I put a T-Mobile SIM and was asked for 'unlock code' before it'd boot up completely. If I cancelled it just shut down. The carrier wasn't very happy when I asked about the code, and in fact got quite hostile as if I were trying something illegal and hung up on me. I swapped the line to an AT&T SIM and it worked fine. So the tablet was still locked to AT&T and the listing was in error.

I've never gotten any success from asking for any unlock code, only hostile reactions. Same thing happened in the dawn of GSM regarding PUK codes. They outright assumed I was doing something illegal and never bothered, or pretended such things didn't exist.

 

[Hadron]

My understanding is that carriers will only give the unlock code to the account holder, so if you buy a phone from someone else who tells you it is unlocked when it isn't you are out of luck. That was probably your situation when you called asking for a code - though of course they could have explained that without hostility (though I can imagine many ways in which that can be a crappy job).

But yeah, normally you need a code. I suggest you test it with a non-ATT SIM (to be sure don't use one from a virtual operator who use ATT's network either), and if it doesn't work get back to them and tell them you never received the text/email. Whatever you do, make sure it is unlocked while you are still a customer with them, because if you end a contract there is no guarantee they'll give you the code after that.