For you Blackberry junkies and world travelers :)
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 5:01 pm
I have had a number of cell phones over the years and love Blackberries the best. I just recently purchased a new Bold 9700. I also love to travel as many of you may have guessed. For that, I use an international SIM card, and in order to use that with my cell phone, the cell phone must be unlocked. (see 1 below for definition of unlocked)
Most of the time, you can bs your carrier into giving you the code to unlock the phone. But in a lot of instances, such as having the phone less than 6 months, they will not allow you to unlock it yet. There are a bunch of places online that charge to unlock your phone for you, BUT I JUST found a FREE site that will do this. Just go to http://www.berrymods.com/ and register. Follow the directions they provide, and within a day or so, they will message you with the codes you need to unlock. I doubted it at first, but I can verify that they are legit.
If you are wondering what international SIM card I use: http://acetelecomstore.com/ They offer a few choices. The best part about it is that the money you put on the account for the SIM card never expires. All others I've found online expire after 6 months or so. You are also given a 1-800 number for USA people to call toll free, but it charges .35 per minute from your account. Incoming texts to your number are free, but you are given a European number. My number is an Estonian number, which, for the life of me, I cannot find a free online service to text with. I would recommend asking for a UK SIM card. They are the easiest to text online from.
I know this sounds like spam, but I assure you it isn't :)
1. Unlocked -- When you buy a cell phone from a carrier, they program it to only work with that carrier's SIM cards and will not allow you to use another carrier's service in that phone. A SIM card is the smartchip thing they give you with your ID numbers on it. Some carriers don't use SIM cards, such as Sprint.
Most of the time, you can bs your carrier into giving you the code to unlock the phone. But in a lot of instances, such as having the phone less than 6 months, they will not allow you to unlock it yet. There are a bunch of places online that charge to unlock your phone for you, BUT I JUST found a FREE site that will do this. Just go to http://www.berrymods.com/ and register. Follow the directions they provide, and within a day or so, they will message you with the codes you need to unlock. I doubted it at first, but I can verify that they are legit.
If you are wondering what international SIM card I use: http://acetelecomstore.com/ They offer a few choices. The best part about it is that the money you put on the account for the SIM card never expires. All others I've found online expire after 6 months or so. You are also given a 1-800 number for USA people to call toll free, but it charges .35 per minute from your account. Incoming texts to your number are free, but you are given a European number. My number is an Estonian number, which, for the life of me, I cannot find a free online service to text with. I would recommend asking for a UK SIM card. They are the easiest to text online from.
I know this sounds like spam, but I assure you it isn't :)
1. Unlocked -- When you buy a cell phone from a carrier, they program it to only work with that carrier's SIM cards and will not allow you to use another carrier's service in that phone. A SIM card is the smartchip thing they give you with your ID numbers on it. Some carriers don't use SIM cards, such as Sprint.