Unlocking Guide and FAQ: A quick guide of the obvious and not so obvious unlocking in's and out's

What is Unlocking?

When a phone is purchased from a carrier(Rogers, Bell, Telus etc) that phone is going to be "Locked" to the carrier it was purchased from. What that means is, that a phone purchased from Rogers, is going to be "Locked" to Rogers, you will only be able to use it with Rogers, and it will not work with any other carrier(Bell, Telus etc) unless you "Unlock" it from Rogers. An unlocked phone will work with any carrier, including carriers from different countries(Tmobile, Sprint, At&T etc)

What are the Benefits of Unlocking my Device?

There are several benefits to unlocking a device, including but not limited to:

1-Switching Carriers-For example, your contract is finished with Telus, and Virgin is offering you a better plan, you can unlock your phone so you can change from Telus to Virgin.

Also, there are a few carrier combinations that do not require you to unlock your device, this rule applies to majority of the phones on the market.

-Rogers phones will work on the Fido network and vice versa

-Bell Phones will work on the Virgin network and vice versa

-Telus phones will work on the Koodo network and vice versa

2-You can use Unlocked phones in different countries-Planning a vacation to another country but you don't want to pay Roaming or buy an expensive travel plan? Simply Unlock your device, and purchase a plan right from the country you're traveling to, it will be a lot more cost effective.

3-Resale Value-Unlocking a phone makes it much more attractive to buyers, it also opens up the sale to more potential customers. For example, if you were trying to sell a phone that was locked to Rogers, you will only attract people that are with Rogers and/or are planning to go with Rogers. If you were selling a phone that was unlocked, you are not limited to a certain carrier, so it will attract anyone who is interested in the model of phone regardless of carrier.

Are there any Exceptions to these Rules?

Yes, there are a few exceptions to the rules stated above, including:

Phone Exceptions-Certain phone models come stock Unlocked. The Google Nexus 4 and Google Nexus 5 are both Stock Factory Unlocked, which means they will work with all carriers, no matter what carrier they are purchased from.

Carrier Exceptions-There are certain carriers that will only work with their carrier designated devices, regardless if the device is unlocked. For example, WIND works on a different network, it requires the phone to be compatible with their frequencies, what this means is that the has to be compatible with WIND in order to pick up service. You can find out if your device is WIND compatible by bringing it into any WIND store.

I hope this guide has shed some light onto the subject of unlocking, at We-Lectronics, we unlock all phones from all Canadian carriers. If you have any questions, or if you need your device unlocked, we can help, please call us at 519-729-1372, thank you.