So the other day I found a sweet-ass Samsung phone in East Hamilton. I contacted its operator (Fido), left my number and whatnot, when I finally got home to receive the message that the owner wants his phone back it was too late. I phoned them back and it turns out the owner already got a new one.

So now I am stuck with this phone locked to Fido, and since the owner couldn't wait a day without cashing in for a new one (must be that bad Canadian economy), I decided to leave it for myself.

So here's the question, what services can remove the SIM lock so I can use it with my Wind Mobile card?

I am actually looking for a service that you guys used, there's plenty of third party services, but I don't know how reliable they are. I don't really want to use it as a simple GPS for my car.

I already removed the password by hard-resetting it.

It may not be as easy as simply removing the SIM card or lock, it depends what frequency it can get as well. I didn't understand this until I wanted to switch to Virgin and found out that even if I removed the lock on my old phone, it didn't operate in the same frequency (as I had Telus) so I ended up buying a Nexus 4 outright because it could operate on every frequency in Canada.

The frequencies that wind uses are:
1710–1755 MHz, and receives at 2110–2155 MHz (wikipedia)

While Fido uses 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies.

Since you didn't say the specific model of the phone, you can't really tell just by calling it a Samsung phone but I would go to Wind to ask them if it is supported before you pay the money to unlock it.

Originally Posted by Snowman

It may not be as easy as simply removing the SIM card or lock, it depends what frequency it can get as well. I didn't understand this until I wanted to switch to Virgin and found out that even if I removed the lock on my old phone, it didn't operate in the same frequency (as I had Telus) so I ended up buying a Nexus 4 outright because it could operate on every frequency in Canada.

The frequencies that wind uses are:
1710–1755 MHz, and receives at 2110–2155 MHz (wikipedia)

While Fido uses 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies.

Since you didn't say the specific model of the phone, you can't really tell just by calling it a Samsung phone but I would go to Wind to ask them if it is supported before you pay the money to unlock it.

It's Samsung Ace IIx. I think it's missing the frequencies needed.

Should I use it as a GPS in my car, or should I just it for a quick buck?

He might have blocked the esn already, rendering thy phone useless. Be sure to check it first before you dump your cash to unlock it that might cost you more than the phone itself. And if you know a few tricks, you can unlock it from home for free!

Originally Posted by ralts40

He might have blocked the esn already, rendering thy phone useless. Be sure to check it first before you dump your cash to unlock it that might cost you more than the phone itself. And if you know a few tricks, you can unlock it from home for free!

How do I do that?

I could only find and check the IMEI number, it says it's not on blacklist, I guess it's all set.