Can I Register A Locked Sprint Phone On T Mobile Network

How to Unlock Your Sprint Phone

Managing Editor, Home Security & Smart Home

Concluding Updated: several months agone

T-Mobile acquired Sprint in Apr 2020. As such, nosotros won't go on to update this article, but you can read our full review of T-Mobile hither.

So you lot want to ditch Sprint and have your phone far, far away? We get it. And luckily, information technology'southward not likewise hard to go your phone unlocked so you can switch to some other network (or sell it, if that's what you're going for).

Before you unlock your telephone

Make sure you meet Sprint's eligibility requirements earlier you get too hyped about popping in a new SIM menu. Sprint makes you check off a few details kickoff.

Sprint unlock eligibility requirements

Your phone'southward spent more than 50 days on the Dart network.
You lot've paid off your phone (if it was on a charter agreement).
Y'all've paid all your bills and don't accept an outstanding residuum.
Your phone hasn't been reported stolen (awkward).

Your telephone also has to be able to be "SIM unlocked." If your phone is just a couple years old, so don't worry about it. Just if you lot're even so belongings on to that iPhone 5 from 2013, yous might run into some bug.

SIM unlock means your telephone carrier (in this case, Sprint) can program your phone to work with another carrier'due south SIM cards. Any phone made after 2015 should exist able to do this, simply you'll have to double-check if older devices accept the capability.

How to unlock your Dart phone

Skillful news! Your Sprint phone might already be unlocked. If you have a postpaid Sprint programme (where you pay your bill at the end of the month), and then Dart automatically unlocks your telephone once it'due south eligible.

If you're non sure if it'due south unlocked, you lot can telephone call Sprint's Customer Care squad. You'll need to give them a few pieces of information and so they can stop the procedure.

Info to have on hand before you call Sprint

Your full name (should exist an easy one)
Your account number
Your account password
The last 4 digits of your social security number
Your phone'south IMEI or MEID number. (You can observe it on the body of your phone, ordinarily on the dorsum.)

You might also need to call Client Intendance if you bought a Sprint telephone from someone else and want to have information technology to a unlike carrier. Keep in mind, you lot'll still need all that detailed info, so make certain yous get information technology from the heir-apparent earlier yous close that Craigslist deal.

Can I apply my Dart telephone with some other carrier?

Short reply: yes. Simply not all carriers and non all your telephone's features volition piece of work with every carrier.

Cell phone carriers use two types of technology to connect your phone to their network: GSM and CDMA. Dart phones employ CDMA technology, which means they sometimes don't play as well with GSM networks.

Which phone carrier uses which connexion type?

Sprint – CDMA
Verizon – CDMA
AT&T – GSM
T-Mobile – GSM

Sprint phones transfer most easily to Verizon since they both utilise the same technology to connect your phone. Simply just because both carriers use CDMA technology doesn't mean every phone volition be a perfect fit. Always double-cheque your phone'south ID number with the carrier y'all want.

Not sure which carrier to choose?

FAQs

What's the departure between a prepaid plan and a postpaid plan?

With a postpaid programme, you pay your pecker at the terminate of the month after you lot've used the telephone service. Before yous can get a postpaid plan, the phone company volition unremarkably run a credit check.

But if you lot want to skip that credit check (or you simply want to control how many calls yous make or how much data y'all employ), and so a prepaid plan might work better for y'all. With prepaid plans, you pay for your telephone service before y'all use it. No surprise mega-bills.

How do I unlock my Dart phone if I have a prepaid program?

The biggest deviation with a prepaid plan is that Sprint won't unlock your telephone automatically. You'll have to call them (wamp wamp). The eligibility requirements are also a piddling bit different.

Sprint prepaid programme unlock eligibility requirements

Your phone'southward been on the Dart network for over 12 months.
Your phone has not been reported lost or stolen.

If yous run into the eligibility requirements, then just give Sprint'southward Customer Care team a call and have them start the unlocking process.

Is unlocking the same as jailbreaking?

No. Unlocking just lets your phone be used with other cell telephone carriers. Jailbreaking is where y'all override all the handy security protections on your telephone then that you can download apps that you tin't normally access.

For instance, if you jailbreak your iPhone, so you lot tin download apps that you can't detect on the Apple App Store.

Written by

Mindy Woodall

Mindy has been writing about applied science for seven years. She covers all things smart domicile for Reviews.org, and keeps track of the latest robot gadgets. Mindy attended the University of Utah and her piece of work has been featured on the likes of Parents.com, Digital Care, Hostfully, and more.