We all love the feeling of a shiny new phone or router, but what should you do with your old devices? Maybe you want to gift it to a friend or relative? Who knows! No matter what your plans are, you might need to unlock your device, so here are some tips for unlocking.
Before requesting your unlock:
- Your phone/router may not be network locked. Try a non-Three SIM in your phone/router before submitting an unlock request. If you get a signal with this SIM, then you will not need to unlock your phone.
- Make sure that your phone/router is eligible to be unlocked. There are different criteria for Bill Pay and Prepay, and there are slightly different criteria for new and legacy plans too. For more information, click here.
- Back-up your data: This is extremely important, and often overlooked. If you have photos, videos, music, or other data saved on your phone, you won’t want to lose them once you give your phone away! The easiest way to avoid this is to use a cloud storage app such as iCloud, Google Drive or DropBox, Alternatively, you can easily back up your data by transferring it manually (using a USB cable or memory card) onto a laptop or PC.
How to unlock your phone/router
This couldn’t be easier 😊 Once you have made sure that your phone isn’t already unlocked and you meet the criteria, all you need to do is fill out our online unlocking form by clicking here.
You will need your IMEI. On a phone, dial *#006# to receive your IMEI. On a router, find your IMEI on the sticker under your router. For extra security, we will send you a verification text that you need to confirm before filling out the form. If you are unlocking a router, you will find the verification text in your router dashboard.
What’s next?
Our unlocking team will verify the details that you have submitted against your Three account and contact you via email, usually, within two days. This email is to confirm whether you are eligible to have your phone/router unlocked.
- Depending on the manufacturer, it might take up to 20 days before you can unlock your device, so please keep this in mind! Check the unlocking turnaround times by clicking here.
- There are occasions where Bill Pay customers move to Prepay and keep the same phone. This means your phone will automatically fall under Prepay criteria. Is this you? If so, contact us directly.
Unlocked successfully
So we have contacted you with the good news that your phone has been unlocked, or you have been provided with the unlock code. Super! The next step is important to get right because unlock codes can become void if used incorrectly too many times. The process is slightly different from each manufacturer but generally speaking, it can be divided into three categories: iPhone, all other phones, and routers.
Tip: You will need a non-Three SIM to fully unlock your device.
For iPhones: Insert a non-Three SIM and simply connect the phone to iTunes. Apple have unlocked your phone remotely so once you connect, you will see a message like ‘iPhone network unlocked’ – easy!
Other smartphones: Turn your phone off and insert a non-Three SIM. Turn it back on and you will be prompted to input a ‘Network Unlock Code’, or something similar. This is the code that we sent you. Pop it in and the phone should start as normal. Your job is done!
How to Unlock Huawei router: Follow the steps below to unlock Huawei modem/router. Note: It can take up to 20 working days to get your Huawei unlock code.
- Insert a SIM Card from another network into the modem.
- Connect the modem to your computer and type http://192.168.8.1 into the address bar.
- Log in as usual, and it should pop up a Simlock page.
- Enter unlock code where it says SIMLOCK Code, and the device should be unlocked.
- Note: If the popup doesn’t appear then go to: Settings > Advanced Settings > SIM Settings > Unlock Device
- Enter unlock code where it says SIMLOCK Code.
An extra tip
If you are gifting your phone to someone, you don’t want it to have all your information on it, plus it’s nicer to gift a clean phone that they can call their own! Double-check that all of your personal data is backed up and perform a manufacturer reset.
- Android: Go to Settings > About > Reset >Erase All Data (terms may differ slightly from phone to phone).
- iPhone: Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings
If you have any questions on phone unlocking, get in touch on our 3Community by clicking here or send a private message to a 3Community Moderator. If you need a new SIM for your new phone, you can order one by clicking here.
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