topic Re: Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone in Other phones & Devices

Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone

Dan_451 — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:40:28 GMT

Hello,

So I bought a phone recently which was unlocked when I bought it and received it so bought a new vodafone sim card and inserted it and everything was fine. The phone however started to play up and needing to send it back.

I bought another phone on Friday and arrived yesterday but the phone was locked and on EE. I want to keep my phone number and my Vodafone sim card but when I put the sim card in the new phone, I get a message saying " invalid sim card, Network locked sim card inserted".

I would like help with this as I want to keep the vodafone number and device that's not faulty.

Re: Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone

XRaySpeX — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:35:32 GMT

You can just apply for unlocking by using the Unlocking your device form and giving its IMEI no., which you can obtain be dialling *#06# into its keypad.

Re: Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone

Dan_451 — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:32:39 GMT

Thank you, I have just tried that and put in my IMEI number which then sent me to using a code which I then copied and clicked the "unlock device" link which just sent me back to the "help" homepage and now I'm stuck.

Re: Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone

XRaySpeX — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:36:48 GMT

"Unlock device" confusingly isn't a link but just an instruction. Present the unlocking code to your phone when it asks.

Re: Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone

Dan_451 — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:07:44 GMT

Thank you, this is where I am at now with the issue. I can't seem to go any further than that other than pressing that instruction link and sends me back to the beginning.

Re: Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone

Matt_124 — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:35:24 GMT

Try restarting the device with the 'other' network SIM inserted and enter the code when you get a prompt to "Enter network unlock code".

You may need to insert the last 8 digits followed by the first 8 digits if the full code is not accepted.

Re: Bought a 2nd hand 'locked' mobile phone

Dan_451 — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:56:44 GMT

Thanks Matt,

I put in half of the code and it worked. Thank you for your help.