Where to buy unlock phone in US

[Desert Nomad]

I have lived overseas for many years and will be spending time in the US for a while. If something should happen to my GSM mobile phone, where in the US can I go to buy a 4-band unlocked GSM phone?

I gather all phones in the US are locked? Can you go into someplace like BestBuy and simply buy a phone with no contract as you can everywhere else in the world?

[Bambi Hassenpfeffer]

Other than eBay, the only places I have seen unlocked phones for sale were in Chinatowns -- DC and New York, specifically. I would assume that other cities' Chinatowns would have similar availability.

I only buy unlocked phones. All of them except for one came from eBay sellers and the other one came from a little shop on Canal St in New York.

[Derleth]

Bambi Hassenpfeffer: Are any of those phones legal?

[Bambi Hassenpfeffer]

Of course they're legal. Why would they not be?

[ParentalAdvisory]

When companies like Apple make a big deal of locking their phones, and turning them into bricks when they're hacked - it's easy to see how an uninformed person may get the perception that getting one is Evil and bad, and it must be illegal...

[Sunspace]

'Inconvenient for a particular profit model' does not equal 'illegal'. At the most, under specific circumstances, it might be breach of contract.

[Bambi Hassenpfeffer]

And not at all a breach of contract with my provider. T-Mobile openly states they don't care at all where the phone comes from; they're perfectly happy to sign you to a contract and provide you with just a SIM.

But I will also happily take whatever phone they're offering for free. I have used my free upgrades with a contract renewal as gifts in the past.

[Derleth]

Originally Posted by Sunspace

'Inconvenient for a particular profit model' does not equal 'illegal'.

At best, it means 'not illegal yet'. In the common case, it means 'illegal because doing it requires subverting a "copy protection mechanism" in contravention of the DMCA'.

[Bambi Hassenpfeffer]

Originally Posted by Derleth

At best, it means 'not illegal yet'. In the common case, it means 'illegal because doing it requires subverting a "copy protection mechanism" in contravention of the DMCA'.

Perhaps a better term than "unlocked phone" would be "never-locked phone". These are phones that you buy that have never been locked to any carrier. There's no law in the US preventing you from purchasing a cellphone that isn't (and never has been) subsidy-locked and then using it. The question is whether your provider will permit you.

If you use GSM (AT&T/Cingular and T-Mobile), then there isn't really much they can do to stop you from using any GSM phone on their network provided it is compatible with their radio frequencies. If you are on a CDMA (Verizon and Sprint) network, then they will need to activate your phone for you -- and they may or may not do so.

Unlocking a phone you bought from the carrier may or may not be illegal -- I'm nor current on the state of law with regards to that -- but using a phone that was never locked in the first place certainly isn't.

My current phone is a Nokia I bought via eBay from a reseller in Queens who bought it from a distributor in Europe. My last phone came from Hong Kong via Singapore, again from eBay. Before that it was from Hong Kong again, but via Malaysia.

[Desert Nomad]

So there is no way to walk into a shop and buy a phone with no lock? Here I can pop into any phone shop and get Sony, Nokia etc. phones in the original box with no lock so they can be used anywhere. In fact it is impossible to buy a phone WITH a lock.

Should I buy an extra phone here before going to the US for a few months? Surely some shops sell phones from the manufacturer in the original box without any carrier tampering/locking?

[Bambi Hassenpfeffer]

That question would be much easier to answer if you could let us know where you're going to be while you're in the States. Where I am, you'd probably not able to just walk into a phone store and buy one. When I was wandering around New York's Chinatown, I couldn't go ten feet without seeing a store selling them. It depends on where you are.

[neutron star]

Originally Posted by Derleth

At best, it means 'not illegal yet'. In the common case, it means 'illegal because doing it requires subverting a "copy protection mechanism" in contravention of the DMCA'.

It's legal. The practice of unlocking a cell phone is an explicitly stated exemption to the DMCA.

[mks57]

Originally Posted by Desert Nomad

So there is no way to walk into a shop and buy a phone with no lock? Here I can pop into any phone shop and get Sony, Nokia etc. phones in the original box with no lock so they can be used anywhere. In fact it is impossible to buy a phone WITH a lock.

The average shop doesn't want to sell you just a phone, they want to sign you up for a "free" phone and a two-year contract. My guess is that it's much more profitable for the shop.

The exception is prepaid phones, which are cheap and can be purchased without a contract. They are often so cheap that they can be considered disposable. They can be a good deal if you don't use the phone heavily. These phones are locked and often have been modified to only work on the carrier's network. This is to make it difficult for someone to buy large numbers of subsidized phones, unlock them, and resell them as unlocked phones.

One disadvantage of supplying your own unlocked phone is that the carriers will not give you a discount on the contract in recognition of the fact that you didn't receive a subsidized phone with the contract.

[Desert Nomad]

I am going to be in Reno, Nevada. I only use a T-Mobile pre-paid plan in the US as I do not live there. But if I am there for a few months I want to be able to replace my phone if I lose it or something happens to it. Here or in Europe I'd just go into any phone shop.

Are there any reputable mail order places in the US to get them? Locking a phone is a completely alien concept in most of the world - certainly I have not seen one in the last 5+ years.

[Desert Nomad]

Originally Posted by mks57

One disadvantage of supplying your own unlocked phone is that the carriers will not give you a discount on the contract in recognition of the fact that you didn't receive a subsidized phone with the contract.

I would think this would be the opposite - if I supply my own phone, the carrier is not out the real cost of the hardware.

[Bambi Hassenpfeffer]

Originally Posted by Desert Nomad

Are there any reputable mail order places in the US to get them?

I have (and have friends who have) used My World Phone successfully. They are resellers in Queens that sell through eBay and their own website.

These sites also come recommended by HowardForums, a cellphone bulletin board that is well-respected and trusted.

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