Just bought a second hand iPhone 4S

[1982ollie]

Hi Everyone,

Firstly I had my beloved iPhone 4 stolen a few days ago.

So I found an iPhone 4s for sale at a great price and it was advertised as unlocked.

When the seller showed me it working, it was working fine with no sim. But she said that she had it working on 3 network and t-mobile. Two totally different networks in the UK.

So I tried my Mum's Giff Gaff sim in it (which is the network I'm on, just waiting for replacement sim) and it went back to the activation screen, where it said please insert original sim, however it was showing signal and 3G. When I took the sim out, it just went back to the default springboard layout saying no sim. What I don't get is why was it showing signal and 3G.

Right, so I'm now guessing its not unlocked to any network. So I did the stupid thing of trying a restore via iTunes and now I can't even get into the phone like I did before. I get stuck at the very first activation screen. But I'm guessing even if I put the right sim in and it becomes activated, if it is locked to certain network I'm going to get the same activation screen come back up .

I'm posted in the jailbreak section, as I'd like to find out if it can be activated somehow or it used to be called??

Any idea guys bearing in mind that it is meant to be unlocked. I paid such a good price for it, I'll pay for a hardware unlock if I have to.

I'm going to try activating it via iTunes rather than off of wi-fi and see what happens there and I will report back.

But any ideas would be greatly appreciated. The Giff Gaff network in the UK runs off of the 02 network. So in a way Giff Gaff is basically 02 if that make sense to you guys outside of the UK.

Thanks peps.


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[3cit]

I don't know much (nothing at all) about networks outside of the us. But I do know you should NEVER EVER EVER update or activate over the air!
It just messes stuff up.
Also I think that the phone is probably on 6.0.1 now, so a hardware unlock is your only option at this point.
But I think doing anything over the air/ wifi will decrease your jailbreak opportunities.

 

[1982ollie]

I don't know much (nothing at all) about networks outside of the us. But I do know you should NEVER EVER EVER update or activate over the air!
It just messes stuff up.
Also I think that the phone is probably on 6.0.1 now, so a hardware unlock is your only option at this point.
But I think doing anything over the air/ wifi will decrease your jailbreak opportunities.

So when I find the correct sim (network), use iTunes?


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[Peligro911]

I would see if you can get a factory unlock on it


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[1982ollie]

I would see if you can get a factory unlock on it


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How do I do that buddy. I see there are loads of sites offering them for around 20-40 dollars. Any recommendations, as I have heard that some are scams. I found this one, anyone had any experience with these guys, as with a web address like that, they sound legit:

http://www.iphone5-unlockers.com/

I would happily pay $42 for a full factory unlock.

What do you reckon guys?

Thanks!!


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[Peligro911]

How do I do that buddy. I see there are loads of sites offering them for around 20-40 dollars. Any recommendations, as I have heard that some are scams. I found this one, anyone had any experience with these guys, as with a web address like that, they sound legit:

http://www.iphone5-unlockers.com/

I would happily pay $42 for a full factory unlock.

What do you reckon guys?

Thanks!!


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I know of one that I know is legit it's unlock fusion but I'm not sure if its for uk iPhones I know they do att iPhones and its like 4 to 8 bucks .. They might be worth giving your meid to so they can tell you of they can do it or atleast who it is locked too


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[iDonev]

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that you've been robbed.
As the others have said, IMEI unlock is your only option. Unfortunately I have no experience with that so I can't give recommendations. What I could recommend though is to go to the nearest/friendliest phone repair shop around you and ask them for recommendations on an unlocking service or ask them to do it themselves. I know this takes some extra time and money, but to me it's better than burning $40 on a scam site.

 

[1982ollie]

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that you've been robbed.
As the others have said, IMEI unlock is your only option. Unfortunately I have no experience with that so I can't give recommendations. What I could recommend though is to go to the nearest/friendliest phone repair shop around you and ask them for recommendations on an unlocking service or ask them to do it themselves. I know this takes some extra time and money, but to me it's better than burning $40 on a scam site.

I just can't even get past the activation screen. It's running 6.0.1. Any idea's on how I can get past the activate screen. If I put my sim in it shows signal and 3G, that's the weird thing.

Any ideas?


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[3cit]

I remember when I bought my phone, my carrier made some kind of error in their system, and I was unable to activate my device too...
Possibly this phone is still locked into a contract and now has a bad imei or esn?

 

[1982ollie]

I remember when I bought my phone, my carrier made some kind of error in their system, and I was unable to activate my device too...
Possibly this phone is still locked into a contract and now has a bad imei or esn?

Ok, I'm in and activated. But a guy did it for me in a t-mobile shop and he skipped pass the bit where you restore from iCloud.

Is there anyway of re running that part of the setup so that I can restore from iCloud. Checked in iTunes and you can only do a manual one and the last one I did was months ago.

Any idea or do I have to restore, use a t-mobile sim and then go through set up that way.

Either way, I'm going to have to get my phone unlocked now. But I would like to get it looking like my old iPhone ASAP.

Cheers


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[3cit]

well at least you have it activated, real shame it wasnt actually unlocked like the seller said... but it seems like you are on the right path...
hope it all comes up roses eventually

 

[vietalogy]

Ok, I'm in and activated. But a guy did it for me in a t-mobile shop and he skipped pass the bit where you restore from iCloud.

Is there anyway of re running that part of the setup so that I can restore from iCloud. Checked in iTunes and you can only do a manual one and the last one I did was months ago.

Any idea or do I have to restore, use a t-mobile sim and then go through set up that way.

Either way, I'm going to have to get my phone unlocked now. But I would like to get it looking like my old iPhone ASAP.

Cheers


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Think only way is restore and then do a backup from iCloud.


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[Laelipoo]

Well if its a true unlock and NOT jailbroken then erase all contents and settings which will then allow you to restore from iCloud but you MUST be running stock.


iPhone 5 ✲ iPad 3 WiFi ✲ Macbook Pro running Lion 10.8.2 ✲ Xbox 360 ✲ Nintendo 3DS ✲ PS3

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