Video: T-Mobile G1 gets unlocked, quirks still present

It was inevitable, was it not? T-Mobile's G1 lasted an entire week as the T-Mobile G1; now, it's really anyone's G1. Thanks to the kids over at Unlock T-Mobile G1, any owner with a few spare moments and $22.99 can open their handset up for use on AT&T or any other GSM network across the globe. Reportedly, prospective unlockers simply hand over the aforementioned cash and their IMEI code (scary, we know), and in return they receive an eight-digit unlock code that frees it from the bonds of T-Mobile. Initial tests have shown that calling and texting work just fine on non-native networks, but the inability to even login to Gmail (and thus, the Android Market, etc.) puts a real damper on things. No worries -- we're sure those minor hindrances will be worked out in short order. A video full of proof is waiting just beyond the break.

[Via Android Community]

[ILoveApple @ Oct 29th 2008 2:11PM]

HTC obviously didn't put much effort in making the G1 difficult to unlock. Nokia's BB5 devices have been around since ~2005 and yet there still isn't an easy unlock method.

[kjb434 @ Oct 29th 2008 5:14PM]

?

The software is what enables it to unlock......How is HTC involved in that?

[Joe @ Oct 30th 2008 11:02AM]

lol....this coming from a person whose screen name is ILOVEAPPLE. thats right the most widely hacked and unlocked phone in the world. apple made the hardware and software that made it that easy...no one else. htc made a hardware that cannot be locked on the hardware side. it looks for a specific frequency if it finds it. it uses it. plain and simple. its up to android to allow or not allow the sim to unlock that frequency and carrier for use.

ps. i have an iphone, unlocked and jailbroken. thanks for being so stupid apple. they made the best device on the planet ONLY because they were stupid. and then copied from the hacking community and made the appstore which we called installer and cydia. way to go!!

[Paul @ Oct 29th 2008 2:13PM]

The UK release of the G1 is tomorrow...exciting times ahead.

[Dan @ Oct 29th 2008 2:17PM]

Neat, but the 3G wont work on any other network than T-Mobile due to frequency differences between theirs and AT&T, for instance.

[Benson @ Oct 29th 2008 2:40PM]

Well, given the pending European release, it seems likely that it'll work on the European 2100MHz 3G band. Of course, it could just be two variants with different radios, but I've seen indications that one model handles both 1700/2100 and 2100.

[bachviet @ Oct 29th 2008 2:55PM]

@ Benson,

You are correct about the UMTS bands on the G1.

HTC only releases one model, which has both UMTS 2100 (for Europe/Asia) and AWS (for T-Mobile US) so as long as the phone unlocked, you could enjoy 3G in Europe with the correct APN.

[HOOPER @ Oct 29th 2008 3:09PM]

I high ranked you for your avatar. T-Rex ftw

[kjb434 @ Oct 29th 2008 5:16PM]

i can corroborate about the radios and HTC. HTC tries it's best to avoid making more than one variation of their phones in GSM bands. If you have a GSM HTC phone that is sold in more than one GSM flavor of bands, it'll work in all of them.

[paranoidandroid42 @ Oct 29th 2008 2:26PM]

I'm wondering whether it will work on Virgin Mobile UK, as a lot of T-Mobile handsets (and I've tried it as well) will work with Virgin SIM cards without unlocking because Virgin runs on T-Mobile's masts.

[Montusama @ Oct 29th 2008 2:31PM]

Even with all the little problems, in software since its not on a different network, at least its not like the "cool" Japanese cell phones which many of their internet related functions and MMS will only work in Japan.

[xman @ Oct 29th 2008 2:49PM]

Guess what??? Just wait 30 days and T-Mobile USA will unlock the phone for FREE.... I've called and unlocked every phone that I own. They will ask you why? But they still unlock the phone as a matter of policy.

[Seanross @ Oct 29th 2008 2:50PM]

Wow, didnt take long.

[happyface @ Oct 29th 2008 2:57PM]

Is it still possible to access the android market or gmail using wifi?

[T-MOBILE EMP @ Oct 29th 2008 3:15PM]

I CANT WAIT UNTIL THEY COME OUT WITH THE G2.... THEY HAD 2 YEARS AND THEY COME OUT WITH THIS UGLY THING{I LOVE THE ANDROID THO}

WE HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE COME INTO THE STORE ASKING FOR IT... I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE THIS POPULAR

[Hackettman @ Oct 29th 2008 3:21PM]

I think I have to change networks..... HTC diamond and the instinct are nice but I like the G1 alittle too much....... Unlock wont be for Sprint sadly.....

[Mads @ Oct 29th 2008 3:22PM]

I unlocked mine yesterday and didn't see the mentioned quirks.. Everything works fine for me - I am able to use the market, my gmail account and everything else. A really cool phone, I must say.. My iPhone will be in my drawer for quite a while, I think.

[Hackettman @ Oct 29th 2008 3:40PM]

What network?

[Taylor @ Oct 29th 2008 4:19PM]

Unlocking doesn't make it quirky, unlocking and then using a different carrier does. Thats what the article is saying anyway.
-Taylor

[fistpittingnork @ Oct 29th 2008 4:16PM]

Nice phone number.

[Craig McRae @ Oct 29th 2008 4:28PM]

Tmobile does it for free, just ask them for an unlock code.
http://search.t-mobile.com/inquiraapp/ui.jsp?ui_mode=question&question_box=unlock

[El Taco @ Oct 29th 2008 6:30PM]

Yes, but you have to wait 90 days. Some people aren't that impatient.

[austin @ Oct 29th 2008 8:30PM]

"arent that impatient"

that makes them patient.

[michael.labate @ Oct 29th 2008 5:03PM]

My G1 is up and running on AT&T just fine, gmail, web and mms all work after I changed the APN settings, I don't see what the quicks are?

[jake @ Oct 29th 2008 7:03PM]

Yeah, that's what I heard too. I think the login only fails if your sim card has no way to access data.

[michael.labate @ Oct 29th 2008 7:08PM]

ATT settings that work on the G1.

Under APN Settings create a new APN and enter the following:

name: AT&T
apn: wap.cingular
proxy blank
port blank
username:[e-mail]
password:CINGULAR1
server blank
mmsc: http://mmsc.cingular.com
mms proxy: wireless.cingular.com
mms port: 80
mcc:310
mnc:410
apn type blank

[Kevin McCalister @ Oct 29th 2008 5:07PM]

For a good time call 1-460-580-1439.

[dt3k @ Oct 29th 2008 5:50PM]

LOL @ people making money off something T-Mobile does for free.

Silly E-gullibals.

[edward @ Oct 29th 2008 6:16PM]

I have a question CAN ANYBODY HELP ME?!?!?!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Lets say i buy the Blackberry Bold, and purchase the unlock code.
If i upgrade the firmware, will it be re-locked again
(similiar to the iPhone ) ???

2. same question, but substitute the G1 in place of the Bold

[El Taco @ Oct 29th 2008 6:28PM]

So... iPhone owners didnt like AT&T so they unlocked their iphones to go to t-mobile

G1 owners didnt like t-mobile so they unlocked their G1's to go to AT&T



Make Up Your Minds!

[GhostDoggy @ Oct 30th 2008 5:10AM]

Its not about making up one's minds. I'd happily take an iPhone with T-mobile, but I'm not going to a) pay for an unlocked iPhone, b) subscriber to AT&T to get an iPhone to unlock only to cancel AT&T (penalty) and use it on T-mobile, and c) the iPhone cannot be had natively with my desired carrier to begin with. How is any of this an issue with people not making up their mind?

Now, if Apple slept with more devils than the one (AT&T) maybe life would be easier.

[Tom N. @ Oct 29th 2008 6:42PM]

A group of us went to chengdu china recently to see the panda's. out of all of us the only one who could get a signal was the guy with the unlocked iphone.

locked phones put us in danger, if we got in some kind of trouble his phone would have been the only one that could call out.

ban locked phones.

[filipszabluk @ Oct 29th 2008 7:00PM]

Yes, killer Panda's are very dangerous.

[Fant @ Oct 29th 2008 7:17PM]

So is there anything stopping someone from getting the phone for $179 + $30 first month service then cancelling and paying termination fee of $200 to get the phone for basically $410 for use on any network?

[noyp @ Oct 29th 2008 10:27PM]

Yes, $177.01

[michael.labate @ Oct 29th 2008 10:28PM]

You can buy them for $310 unlocked from eBay. Just use live.com and you can get 30% off your G1.

[kmoore @ Oct 29th 2008 8:00PM]

Tmobile will do this for you once your account is in good standing. This makes , if people want the phone that badly and want to sign 2 year agreement tmobile then that makes sence for tmobile...

[digital noah @ Oct 30th 2008 4:24PM]

I don't like T-Mobile at all, so I did some research on this. You can buy a full price G1 from the t-mobile website for $399 WITH NO CONTRACT. After you choose the G1 (which will initially say $179.00), it will ask you to pick a call plan. Just choose one of Flex pay plans. Flex pay means "no contract." As soon as a flex pay plan is selected, the phone price updates to $399. You do have to wait 3 months to get the phone unlocked for free and legitimately from T-mobile, but then it is perfectly legals and good to go. Personally, i think it will at least three months for the development community to tinker with the G1 and make it a better phone anyway.

[Jonas @ Oct 31st 2008 4:30PM]

I live in Sweden and i have unlocked my G1 using the aforementioned site and i can use Gmail, Market and everything else just fine. I have TeliaSonera as carrier.

[Fej @ Nov 1st 2008 4:01PM]

But what did you do with the APN ? Delete all the T-mobile ones and created one for TeliaSonera ? Or made it as default ? How did you setup of gmail ? I am unable to overcome it no matter what.

[americanmaster @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:27PM]

Yes, I am having the same problem? I deleted all the tmobile settings entered mine and do see the Edge icon but everytime the gmail activation fails, so cannot use the phone.

[Jason @ Nov 10th 2008 3:49PM]

i got the G1 in box and i have AT&T. it was new in box from ebay.

i cant seem to get past the screen where it says to sign into my google account. It keeps saying i dont have a data plan. i dont want a data plan, as soon as i put the unlock code in, will it bring me to the ACTUAL home screen? i just want to be able to use the phone...how do i get past this screen...i dont have a Tmobile accnt..

can any1 please help?