Unlocking very old PAYG phone

[NokNok]

Hello,

I've read the replies to similar question, but these predate the obligation for network providers to facilitate "switching" of services.

I have an old Nokia 2310, that was purchased with a VM Sim, and was locked to the VM network.
It seems to work (battery charges, games work, the old address book and registers are readable) and I want to bring it back into use as an emergency phone.    I read that VM is ceasing the PAYG service early 2022, so want to have this device unlocked.

I have the IMEI, but entering it here:

https://devicesupport.virginmedia.com/customer/manufacturer/Motorola

results in "Sorry, your device isn't supported."

The original VM SIM is not recognised by either this phone, or other unlocked phones, other than it allowing access to the data on the Nokia in question.  Other network SIMS do not allow access when fitted to this Nokia.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/mobile-phone-locki...

suggests that VM must unlock this device, given the length of time that has passed since purchase, and the imminent closure of the PAYG service.

I can't find any useful official VM links or email addresses to take this further, and get this device unlocked. 

Has anyone been successful doing this with a "vintage" phone, and how did they do it? 

Many thanks,

"NokNok"

[NokNok]

Mistake in copying the address from the website, that should OF COURSE, have been:

https://devicesupport.virginmedia.com/customer/imeilookup

[enlli · Accepted solution]

Since that model was introduced Nokia was first sold to Microsoft and then closed before the name being licenced for use by a new company.

It's a 15 year old low end model and after that time the code simply may not be available. It may well end up being a case of Virgin not being able to unlock the phone rather than being unwilling.

[BenMcr]

As part of the recent Virgin Mobile SIM swap activity that anyone with a SIM issued before 2018 had to go through, there was a lot of problems with unlocking old Nokia devices as the version of Nokia that made the devices doesn't exist anymore.

So although Virgin Mobile may have unlock codes they can give you from their system, if they don't work or don't exist, then Virgin Mobile don't have another option as they don't have anyone to raise the issue with.

[NokNok]

Thanks for your response.

> a lot of problems with unlocking old Nokia devices

Do you know if the unlocking codes are programatically (?sp) derived from the IMEI (and perhaps some other hardware/firmware ID), or are they arbitrarily assigned during manufacture and "ticked off" some master list as they are applied, and the associated IMEI recorded ...

... I'm wondering if one of the many websites offering codes may actually be able to provide a valid code, that doesn't "brick" the device.

thanks for any insights

T

[Steven_L]

Hey @NokNok,

Welcome to the community and thanks for taking the time to post here on our forums.

I'm sorry to hear of the issues that you're having, I have spoken to the mobile and we can get this looked into further to see if there is anything that we can do but we would need to confirm a few details via private message to do this.

I will send the message over in a moment, please look out for it and we can get started.

Regards,

Steven_L

[Steven_L]

Thanks for coming back to us @NokNok.

I have been looking into this with the mobile team and we cannot find any unlock codes for this model of phone due to the time since it was released,we no longer have the codes.

Unfortunately the only way to obtain the unlock codes for this model would be from the manufacturer.

Regards,

Steven_L

[enlli]

---

@Steven_L wrote:

Unfortunately the only way to obtain the unlock codes for this model would be from the manufacturer.

Regards,

Steven_L

---

And as they no longer exist I would suggest one of the shops that do unlocking as they have a different way of doing things.

The online ones are OK, but unless you know what you are doing you can permanently lock the phone. It is not just entering a few numbers.

Outer frankly, you can get a new basic phone for  under £20, so paying for unlocking may not be economic.

[NokNok]

Thanks, Steven_L, for taking the time to check this out.  It would have been good to get this particular model working again, and "on line", but at least the battery can (and actually currently IS) being used in another device.

Cheers!

NokNok

[NokNok]

> I would suggest one of the shops that do unlocking as they have a different way of doing things.

My geeky, tinkering, interest has been aroused ...  is this some hardware hack?