iPhone unlock: partly or completely?

Question

Level 1

25 points

iPhone unlock: partly or completely?

I have an iPhone 5 running IOS 9.3.4

The phone was originally purchased through T-Mobile. After about a year I submitted a request to unlock my phone and they complied and I was able to use other sim cards overseas. No problems. I now have Consumer Cellular who provide my voice, text and data. The service that CC provides works very well in the California area where they have a presence and they are supposed to have data in all other areas with roaming included free. However, when I get to an area such as Wyoming, Montana or South Dakota, I am not able to use the data on roaming. My phone will show 4 dots of CC and LTE but I can not get my emails.

I have contacted Consumer Cellular on this and their response was, "You did not buy this iPhone from us so we can not guarantee that it will work in the roaming areas".

Now my questions:

1) Is it possible that my iPhone is not completely unlocked?

2) If I buy a new iPhone from Apple, how do I know that it will work on Consumer Cellular?

Thanks

gpKen

iPhone 5, iOS 8.2

Posted on Aug 18, 2016 6:39 PM

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Answer 1

000FFF

Level 3

523 points

Aug 18, 2016 6:43 PM in response to gpken

What areas of Wyoming, Montana or South Dakota are you in? Are they areas in big cities or out in the country? If your service works in the one area of California, but not the others, more than likely it is a coverage issue. Even if data roaming is on, if there is sparse cellular coverage in the other states it will not connect.

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Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

224,904 points

Aug 18, 2016 8:00 PM in response to gpken

1. No. It's unlocked. There is no such thing as a 'partial' unlock.

2. In theory, you should be able to use any unlocked phone that is compatible with their network. Indeed, it sounds like your phone works just fine with Consumer Cellular. your problem is with data when roaming on their partner networks. That's an issue you'll have to take up with them. This is one of the pitfalls of using a discount carrier.

That said, Check Settings>Cellular>Cellular Data Options. Data roaming is off by default as in most cases, it can generate excessive carrier charges. If CC is telling you data roaming is free, make sure it's turned on or you won't get data when you roam out of their network.

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Answer 3

gpken Author

Level 1

25 points

Aug 18, 2016 8:04 PM in response to KiltedTim

Thank you. Assuming that you are right, I will go forth and battle Consumer Cellular. I love their plans and the coverage for the most part, but get mighty frustrated in getting them to acknowledge that the problem is theirs and not Apple's.

Ken

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