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Galaxy S8 Sim region lock

(Topic created on: 11-05-2018 06:11 PM)
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rajkmohan
Apprentice
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Hi, 

 

I am staying in Switzerland. I am planning to buy S8 for my wife. But I came to know that S8 which I buy in Swiss will work only with European sim alone. but my wife will be travelling back to India in a some time so she need to use with indian Sim also. can someone sugges an option to buy S8 in switzerland that can work with any sim irrespective of region or suggest me options to overcoem this problem. 

69 REPLIES 69
ozanb
Apprentice
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but does it matter if its switzerland or germany for example


also how do you know, the regionlock is unlocked?

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HansComps
First Poster
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Hi,

Bought my phone in KSA (Jarir), did the 5min call and took it back to South Africa.

This week, after months of successful use with South African SIM the phone says "no service, strikeout-circle icon" and both SIM trays say "Unknown" SIM.  This is true for 2 different providers in RSA.

 

As others also asked before on this thread;  how do I check if this is a region lock issue or hardware issue;  is there a *# code I can use to check the "lock status"?

 

Regards

Hans

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Dka1
First Poster
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I don't understand. My s8 is unlocked to any network. I'm with o2 in UK. I went to Burma and put Burmese sim in and it didn't work. I'm back in UK but don't have Burmese sim with me so how can I unlock region. I am confused about people saying use my o2 sim for a 10 min call or something to deactivate region lock. I always use my UK sim so shouldn't it be unlocked.  I'm off to Burma again soon and need the Burmese sim to work urgently. I don't want to risk being over there again and it not working w/o is there anything I can do to fix this from UK. If I have to make a call in Burma from my UK sim  it'll cost a fortune and probably won't work anyway 

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Dka1
First Poster
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So I must use my UK sim in the country overseas I'm in for 5 mins then I need to put that country's sim back in and it should work? Can't I do anything in the UK to make it work before I go abroad and try there?

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AndrewL
Moderator
Moderator
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Hi @Dka1

To successfully unlock your phone for use outside its intended region you are required to make a 5-10 minute cumulative call from the region the phone was purchased, in this case the UK, to a local number using a SIM card from that region. If you're unsure whether the process has worked we'd recommend contacting O2 directly to see if they're able to shed any light on the situation.
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Dka1
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Thanks Andrew. This is what doesnt make sense because I've owned the phone since October spine definitely used it for calls with the UK since then.

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AndrewL
Moderator
Moderator
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@Dka1, yes that is a bit odd. Where did you purchase the phone from?
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Dka1
First Poster
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From Car phone warehouse who confirmed their phones aren't networked locked. That can't help with region unlock. Samsung told me what you said and o2 can't help. All I want to do is use my phone abroad with an overseas sim. Surelybit shouldn't be this difficult.
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AndrewL
Moderator
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@Dka1, I was just making sure that you hadn't purchased it from Amazon or another online retailer as this would not have guaranteed that the phone was a UK model. It may be the case that your phone was network locked rather than region locked and that is why it wouldn't work with your Burmese SIM. With this in mind it would be useful to obtain a network unlock code from your UK network prior to travelling to be sure you have all the bases covered. ^AL
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Dka1
First Poster
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You'd think it would be that easy. Carphonewarehouse say their phones are unlocked o2 are saying that I need to talk to Car phone warehouse and they are saying only manufacturer can help. Spoke to samsung and they can only help with region not network and they can only help in same way as you've said. I'm going round in circles and just need resolve before my next trip as I'll be away indefinitely.

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