| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Finster
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
|
 Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:57 am Post subject: bringing your phone back home |
 |
|
Hi, sorry if this has been asked before many times, but I've tried searching and found nothing...I'm wondering if I buy a Korean mobile here, will it work if I bring it back home to Ireland? As in, could I use it to sign up to an Irish network if and when I move back home?
I know Korean mobiles don't use SIM cards but have also heard that some of them have SIM slots, so I'm hoping that if I buy a really good phone, it's one I could bring back home when my time here is done.
Thanks all and sorry again if this has been asked to death. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
vlhuynh
Joined: 25 Nov 2010
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
Pretty sure you can. A lot of people have posted about unlocking their iPhone and using them back home. I think the only restriction in terms of cell phone comes to bringing them INTO Korea, where you'd have to specially certify the phone.
Then again, I've never been to Korea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jhicks99
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
Location: Seoul, South Korea
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
If unlocked it should work.
If the phone has cdma and gsm receivers there's no reason why it wouldn't work (most smart phones do these days). You'll want to post the specific specs of the handset on howardforums in the section of your carrier back home to confirm that it will work on a particular network. Those guys will know their stuff.
If it's not a smart phone I see no reason to bring it back home since it can be replaced for almost nothing andmost korean phones have no predictive text and you'll get a bunch of useless korean apps preloaded you'll never use like the subway maps etc. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
s4yunkim
Joined: 28 Dec 2008
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Phones launched after September 2010 in Korea are required to be unlocked by default, although like the poster above, aside from how pretty it looks it'd be pretty useless in other countries (e.g. US phones cannot receive hangul texts, etc)
If you get an iPhone (or any other smartphone for that matter) from KT, you can get it unlocked so you can use it when you go back home. Just call the customer service center and they can do it for you. ^^ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tatertot
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:10 am Post subject: |
|
|
| s4yunkim wrote: |
| Phones launched after September 2010 in Korea are required to be unlocked by default, although like the poster above, aside from how pretty it looks it'd be pretty useless in other countries (e.g. US phones cannot receive hangul texts, etc) |
I don't see why you wouldn't be able to send and receive Hangul text messages in the United States. After all, you are only sending a series of bytes over the cellular network. Non-Latin characters are usually encoded according to a character set called unicode. The iPhone sold in Korea is no different from the iPhone sold in the United States or anywhere else. As a result, any iPhone should be able to send and receive text messages in any of the languages that are supported by the OS of the phone. Many Android phones too, should be able to display Korean and other non-Latin character languages. However, any old dumb-phone or free-on-contract phone might not be able to properly display non-Latin characters.
Regardless, that is probably not why the OP asked his question. Most likely the OP just wants to get a phone that is usable both here and back home. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
unplugged_boy
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
so is that a yes or a no?
has anybody tried it?
if i take my korean iphone 4... drop in an american sim card. will it work if the phone is unlocked? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vlhuynh
Joined: 25 Nov 2010
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| unplugged_boy wrote: |
so is that a yes or a no?
has anybody tried it?
if i take my korean iphone 4... drop in an american sim card. will it work if the phone is unlocked? |
I'm going by the numerous amounts of threads on this and shall expand my previous answer. The general consensus is, you will be able to use your Korean-purchased phone once you're outside.
However this depends on two factors:
1) If your home carrier supports the same network band (this means you will have to look into which network your phone operates on, check gsmarena.com and the likes)
2) Normally phones are locked to the carriers they are purchased from. I think I've read a lot of posts that phones being produced after 2010-Q2 in Korea are already unlocked by default. You can unlock most phones online (check ebay, type your phone model and unlock, ie "blackberry 9700 unlock" and you'll find plenty of results). It's an easy process.
There's only a problem if you bring a phone into Korea. In which you would have to make sure that the local carrier supports the network band and also have the carrier certify the phone (at least thats the case with the BlackBerry Smartphones). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Drew10
Joined: 31 Mar 2009
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
You have to have your carrier unlock your phone before you can use it in your home country, but it is possible to do.
usually getting it unlocked requires a phone call, either from you (if your Korean is good enough) or from a sales clerk at your local mobile store. There are certain contractual obligations that must be met (KT for sure and more than likely SK as well) before they will unlock it though. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
unplugged_boy
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
theory and actual practice are a lil different.
im wondering if has been done yet. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
