What to use your Tracfone iPhone or Android phone with another wireless service? Well you may be able to. Check out the details below.
TracFone’s Unlocking Policy
When you buy an iPhone or Android phone from Tracfone, the phone is locked to Tracfone service and cannot be used with a different wireless service. However, Tracfone will unlock your phone for free if you meet the terms and conditions of their unlocking policy. At the time I am writing this, the policy says you need to have used the phone with Tracfone for twelve consecutive months.
Check out there Unlocking Policy page for full detains. See Tracfone Unlock Compliance
You can verify your phone’s eligibility for unlock at the bottom of the page by providing your phone number or phone’s serial number.
Your Phone Will Need To Be Compatible With Your New Wireless Service
Your unlocked phone will need to be compatible with the new phone service you want to use it with. iPhones purchased from Tracfone, usually use the Verizon towers. Technically, these phones are compatible with the AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint networks in the United States.
However with Samsung or Android phones this is not aways the case. Samsung and other manufacturers often make specific versions of their phones for each carrier. For example, while you may have a Samsung Galaxy S7, your model make only be compatible with the same network towers used by Tracfone. These different versions are sometime called “variants”.
Once your phone is unlocked, you can use it with an active SIM from a compatible network. However, some wireless companies that use the Sprint or Verizon network’s require you to provide your phone’s serial number, the IMEI or MEID, before you can sign up and activate your phone. Just because Tracfone unlocked your phone does not automatically mean your phone is eligible. Normally wireless companies won’t explain why they find a phone eligible or not, they will just tell you the phone is not compatible.
What About 3rd Party Unlocking Services?
I have not tried nor do I have experience with any of the third party locking services advertised on YouTube and the web. They may or may not work. I don’t know.
Will Tracfone Lock My Unlocked BYOP phone?
To date, I have not heard of any cases where Tracfone has locked a customer’s previously unlocked phone. I’ve heard reports of other wireless companies doing this, but not Tracfone.
What about you? Have you unlocked your Tracfone? How did it go? Leave a reply below and share your experience.