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Meteor / eMobile and unlocked phones

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  • 05-11-2012 2:00am
    #1
    Danger781
    Registered Users Posts: 5,687 ✭✭✭


    Wondering if anybody can help me out. In Carphone Warehouse, whenever they scan through a meteor phone on their system, they have the option of choosing meteor or emobile. Now I know the two are virtually the same network, but doesn't this theoretically mean that all meteor / eMobile are unlocked? Can a phone be sim locked to more than one network?


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    #2
    blaz
    Registered Users Posts: 590 ✭✭✭blaz


    Danger781 wrote: »
    Wondering if anybody can help me out. In Carphone Warehouse, whenever they scan through a meteor phone on their system, they have the option of choosing meteor or emobile. Now I know the two are virtually the same network, but doesn't this theoretically mean that all meteor / eMobile are unlocked? Can a phone be sim locked to more than one network?

    A phone is locked to the MNC (Mobile Network Code), which is unique to a physical network (and some MVNOs) and stored on the SIM. If Meteor and E-mobile have the same MNC, then phones locked to one can be used on the other. Wikipedia seems to indicate that Eircom have their own MNC, but I don't believe they actually use it.


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    #3
    Danger781
    Registered Users Posts: 5,687 ✭✭✭Danger781


    So it can only be locked to one MNC? In other words, it can only be locked to Meteor OR eMobile if it was locked?


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    #4
    chrislad
    Registered Users Posts: 8,324 ✭✭✭chrislad


    Meteor and eMobile sim cards are (currently) interchangeable. A Meteor sim will work in an eMobile phone and vice versa.


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    #5
    Danger781
    Registered Users Posts: 5,687 ✭✭✭Danger781


    chrislad wrote: »
    Meteor and eMobile sim cards are (currently) interchangeable. A Meteor sim will work in an eMobile phone and vice versa.

    But I dont understand how this is possible.. Do they have the same MNC or is the phone locked to two MNC's?


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    #6
    finnegan101
    Registered Users Posts: 197 ✭✭finnegan101


    Danger781 wrote: »
    But I dont understand how this is possible.. Do they have the same MNC or is the phone locked to two MNC's?

    my meteor phone works with emobile sim too... but doesnt with vodafone, so not unlocked but is interchangable emobile/meteor.

    Emobile technical department seem to differ on this area too.... two managers claiming that they are not interchangable, but others saying they are....
    Another manager said phones issued this year are interchangable but phones prior are not..... which doesnt tally either as one of my phones was issued when the samsung galaxy s was first launched...what 3 years ago??


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    #7
    blaz
    Registered Users Posts: 590 ✭✭✭blaz


    Danger781 wrote: »
    But I dont understand how this is possible.. Do they have the same MNC or is the phone locked to two MNC's?

    E-mobile and Meteor have the same MNC.


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    #8
    Danger781
    Registered Users Posts: 5,687 ✭✭✭Danger781


    But the Wiki article says Eircom have a seperate MNC to Meteor? So in other words if I bought a meteor phone my 3 sim will not work in the phone?

    Not sure if it matters, but the phone I'm considering is the Sony Xperia T. It is not yet available on 3, hence why I'm considering getting a Meteor one..


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    #9
    blaz
    Registered Users Posts: 590 ✭✭✭blaz


    Danger781 wrote: »
    But the Wiki article says Eircom have a seperate MNC to Meteor? So in other words if I bought a meteor phone my 3 sim will not work in the phone?

    The fact that Eircom have a separate MNC doesn't mean they actually use it.


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    #10
    Danger781
    Registered Users Posts: 5,687 ✭✭✭Danger781


    blaz wrote: »
    The fact that Eircom have a separate MNC doesn't mean they actually use it.

    So instead of using their own MNC, they basically use Meteor Sim Cards with a different colour on top?


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    #11
    blaz
    Registered Users Posts: 590 ✭✭✭blaz


    Danger781 wrote: »
    So instead of using their own MNC, they basically use Meteor Sim Cards with a different colour on top?

    They also change the mobile network name so it shows up as E-mobile on a phone. But other than that, they are the effectively the same as Meteor SIM cards. But do double check before you buy :-)


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    #12
    Danger781
    Registered Users Posts: 5,687 ✭✭✭Danger781


    blaz wrote: »
    They also change the mobile network name so it shows up as E-mobile on a phone. But other than that, they are the effectively the same as Meteor SIM cards. But do double check before you buy :-)

    That's unfortunate news. I thought I had found a loophole to my problem. I suppose I could always buy it on eMobile / Meteor and get my phone unlocked by them.


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    #13
    Kristopherus
    Registered Users Posts: 11,907 ✭✭✭✭Kristopherus


    What is the problem?


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    #14
    Danger781
    Registered Users Posts: 5,687 ✭✭✭Danger781


    Kristopherus wrote: »
    What is the problem?

    The problem is that the phone I want is not available on three. It is available on meteor and eMobile so I was wondering if I put my three sim card into the phone would it work. I was not sure if the meteor phone was going to be unlocked as it is available on two different networks despite being the same phone.


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