ZTE F102 unlocked but not working on vodafone uk

[BLACKMETALLIC]

Hi, can anyone help with this one ? I paid £15 for online unlocking of my ZTE F102 which was locked to UK 3 Network. I wanted to use it with my contract Vodafone Sim card as Vodafone coverage is excellent here - better than 3.

I used the latest version of DC Unlocker to unlock. All looks good, it finds the phone, then unlocks. I close down the program, unplug the phone and power it down; put my Vodafone Sim card in. Power back up; initially it shows Voda and full signal. Encouraging so far. But try to make a call, any call, to anyone, and it just says operation fail. Then after 2 or 3 failed call attempts all signal bars vanish, and the thing just says Limited Service. Also, other features like accessing the phone book then make the phone just lock up. It never reaquires signal ( I drove to near the mast ! ). The only way to get it to show signal again is to redo the unlock procedure, put the vodafone Sim in again, and the whole scenario repeats itself; it shows Voda, full signal, but try to make a call and it fails. Then all signal strength vanishes again. My Vodafone sim card is a contract one and works great in my other Nokia phones. This is NOT a vodafone signal strength issue, as vodafonce signal has always been perfect here, and continues to be so on my other mobiles and broadband dongle.

Does anybody have any suggestion as to why my unlock is not really unlocking properly ? I have tried both the latest vesrion of the unlocker software, and the previous 4, just in case it was a software issue.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks, BLACKMETALLIC

[Vincentas]

Hi, can anyone help with this one ? I paid £15 for online unlocking of my ZTE F102 which was locked to UK 3 Network. I wanted to use it with my contract Vodafone Sim card as Vodafone coverage is excellent here - better than 3.

I used the latest version of DC Unlocker to unlock. All looks good, it finds the phone, then unlocks. I close down the program, unplug the phone and power it down; put my Vodafone Sim card in. Power back up; initially it shows Voda and full signal. Encouraging so far. But try to make a call, any call, to anyone, and it just says operation fail. Then after 2 or 3 failed call attempts all signal bars vanish, and the thing just says Limited Service. Also, other features like accessing the phone book then make the phone just lock up. It never reaquires signal ( I drove to near the mast ! ). The only way to get it to show signal again is to redo the unlock procedure, put the vodafone Sim in again, and the whole scenario repeats itself; it shows Voda, full signal, but try to make a call and it fails. Then all signal strength vanishes again. My Vodafone sim card is a contract one and works great in my other Nokia phones. This is NOT a vodafone signal strength issue, as vodafonce signal has always been perfect here, and continues to be so on my other mobiles and broadband dongle.

Does anybody have any suggestion as to why my unlock is not really unlocking properly ? I have tried both the latest vesrion of the unlocker software, and the previous 4, just in case it was a software issue.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks, BLACKMETALLIC

Could you try other provider sim?

[BLACKMETALLIC]

why would I want to do that ?

I am not a phone geek with either access to, or desire to, swapping and changing sim cards or providers. I have been with codafone and intend to stay, so I have no desire to change. If I paid for an unlock to any network, surely I shouldn't have to mess about getting other sims - I have described the problem in detail.

[possum22]

why would I want to do that ?

I am not a phone geek with either access to, or desire to, swapping and changing sim cards or providers. I have been with codafone and intend to stay, so I have no desire to change. If I paid for an unlock to any network, surely I shouldn't have to mess about getting other sims - I have described the problem in detail.

Obviously you have a '3' sim seeing it was locked to '3' & a 'Vodafone' sim, does it still work on '3'?

[BLACKMETALLIC]

hi, yes it still works exactly as normal on 3 after unlocking. It is only when I put the vodafone sim card in that the trouble starts. But that was the point of unlocking - I don't want to use 3, because coverage is poor in the 2 areas I need it most (contrary to what their website said). If coverage was good, I wouldn't be needing/wanting to unlock at all.

thanks again and hoping for a solution...

[Vincentas]

why would I want to do that ?

I am not a phone geek with either access to, or desire to, swapping and changing sim cards or providers. I have been with codafone and intend to stay, so I have no desire to change. If I paid for an unlock to any network, surely I shouldn't have to mess about getting other sims - I have described the problem in detail.

After trying other provider sim cartd, you would see if it is not a sim card problem. If phone accept other provider sim card, then it is unlocked.

[BLACKMETALLIC]

Vincentas, I understand your point. But if my vodafone sim card works in 2 other phones perfectly well - actually 3 because I tried it in a friend's phone yesterday, then why would you suspect the sim card ? Additionally, I yesterday tried my friend's vodafone sim card in the F102, and exactly the same thing happened.

Whilst I am not an expert on phones, I do understand the basic concept of troubleshooting and fault-finding. Looking at the forums, I don't seem to be the only one to have had an unsuccesful unlocking experience with the F102, (or indeed any phone), but to me it makes no sense to suspect a perfectly working sim card.

If I do what you say, for example get an Orange or O2 sim card, and that works, I will still not have a resolution to the problem, which is that I paid for an unlock so I could use a vodafone sim, and it doesn't work. The unlock I paid for did not say that it would not work for Vodafone. I am not interested in another provider, only vodafone.

My analogy is this: say I have a music CD. It plays well in 3 cd players. I get another, better CD player with more features, but it won't play my CD. Do I suspect the new CD player or the CD ?

Today I will try to contact tech support directly to see if they can help.

Thanks for all input so far !