In accordance with CTIA regulatory policy, Boost Mobile has announced its unlocking policy, and it is essentially the same as Virgin Mobile's unlocking policy which unfortunately for some could be rather limiting.
First off, Boost Mobile says that it will provide you with an MSL code and or domestic sim unlock code (DSU) under the following circumstances:
Conditions for Unlocking
- The device has not been previously reported as lost or stolen and thus flagged as ineligible to be unlocked
- The device has been kept active on your account for at least 12 months and your account is still active at the time you request an unlock.
- If you meet the above two conditions, you can contact Boost Mobile's customer support at 1-888-266-7848 to request your device to be unlocked.
Devices That Can be Unlocked
The following devices are what Boost Mobile considers to be its most popular and do not necessarily represent all the devices that Boost will unlock for you.
Devices That Require MSL Code Unlock
- Apple iPhone 4S
- Apple iPhone 5
- Samsung Galaxy S 3
- Samsung Galaxy S 4
- Samsung Galaxy S 5
- Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport
- Samsung Note 3
- Samsung Note 4
- Samsung Edge
- LG G3
- LG Flex
- HTC one
Devices That Require DSU
- Apple iPhone 5s
- Apple iPhone 5c
- Apple iPhone 6
- Apple iPhone 6 Plus
- Apple iPhone SE
- Apple iPhone 7
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
- Apple iPhone 8
- Apple iPhone 8 Plus
- Apple iPhone X
These DSU devices won't become unlock capable until 2/19/2015. Of course if you have an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus it appears you'll be waiting a bit longer to get those unlocked because with those devices being on the market for less than a year you won't meet prerequisite number 2 in the list above for conditions for unlocking.
Fine Print
MSL Unlocking
It's worth noting that even if you get your phone unlocked, you still may be unable to use it on other carriers according to Boost Mobile's faq page. What's of particular importance to some is that for "certain devices, not all functionality may be unlocked (e.g., for some smartphone devices, only the CDMA/voice functionality of the device may be able to be unlocked but not the GSM/UMTS/LTE portion of the device)." This seems rather bogus, and if you are truly unlocking a device, the GSM/UMTS/LTE portion should also be unlocked. I surmise though, a software update which you may or may not ever get may be needed to unlock that portion of the device. Boost also warns that
"Boost Mobile devices which the owner has attempted to reprogram or activate on another carrier's network or otherwise altered from its initial programming or settings may not be able to be reactivated on the Sprint network."
This seems like a rather generic warning, and likely means that if you want to reactivate on Boost/Sprint, you'd better know how to reprogram back to the phones default settings for the network.
DSU Unlocking
For those of you with a DSU device, if you can get Boost to actually unlock it, you should be free to take the device to any other network, as long as the carrier/network you are going to will allow you to use that device with them. Now I mention that if Boost will actually unlock it, because their fine print says:
" For domestic SIM unlock or DSU-capable devices launched after February 2015, the SIM locking has restrictions, and Boost Mobile's ability to unlock these devices or work with the manufacturer of the device to unlock the SIM slot vary."
Here it seems like Boost Mobile is trying to leave itself an out so that it does not have to unlock your device. Furthermore, I suppose the manufacturer could elect to block you from unlocking your device as well, to try and force you to upgrade to a new device from them. However, I think that such a policy would also be a quick way for that manufacturer to lose a customer's brand loyalty. So most likely here, Boost may claim they can't or won't unlock the device and blame it on the manufacturer as the reason, sending you into a calling circle between Boost and the manufacturer trying to get it unlocked. Hopefully though, these scenarios are more hypothetical rather than actual, and Boost will allow all devices to be unlocked that meet their preconditions for unlocking.
Bring Your Own Unlocked Device Policy
Unfortunately, Boost Mobile still wants to for some reason play hard ball here. The company says that it will generally only activate devices that have been certified to work with its network and services and will not activate unlocked devices from other carriers or service providers even if those devices were manufactured for Sprint, Virgin Mobile or Assurance Wireless. This also seems like a rather bogus policy, and if Sprint really wants to retain customers and maximize profit, it seems this policy should quickly be disposed of.
So what do you think of these new unlocking policies? Will you be trying to take advantage of them any time soon?
Do not ever buy a Android phone from boost. You pay df or it and the still will not unlock it. They hold you hostage! It’s a way to prevent you from switching providers. I was with them for 10 years, broke the screen on my phone in April of 2020 paid 200 for a replacement phone. Started getting sucky service and wanted to leave. They refused to unlock my S8 phone. So because I requested my account number and stated i wanted to leave to a new carrier rhe y disconnected my service 10 days later even though I paid for my monthly service while waiting for them to unlock my phone. So I was left, no service, no phone, no number. I contacted the FCC and an waiting???? Sprint has a 40 day most other’s have 60 day. Boost began to have horrible service choose another
Mi molestia es, duré más de 10 en boost mobile, tenía un plan ilimitado todo, cuando me refiero ilimitado todo, eran llamadas, textos e internet, en agosto del 2020, adquirimos 2 teléfonos nuevos, uno cash y otro financiado, pague el mes de los 2 teléfonos, en 13 días, me llegó un mensaje, que me había excedido el límite de mi plan, al cual me quedé, de que hablas, el chiste es que hablé con una asesora de boost y resulta que la persona que nos vendió los teléfonos nos cambió el plan viejo ilimitado por el nuevo que están ofreciendo, me enoje mucho, a lo que voy para poder cambiar de compañía tuve que liquidar el teléfono financiado, el teléfono es mío, pero ahora está guardados en un cajón, porque no quieren desbloquear, quieren que este 12 meses con la compañía para desbloquear mis teléfonos, que estúpido no, comprar algo que no vas a usar, porque te cambiaron de plan sin avisarte, se van a quedar sin clients. Boost mobile es una ????????????????. Solo robaron mi dinero al comprar teléfonos que ya no voy a usar, por su mal servicio de telefonía
I know that this is an old post here but this problem isn’t going away. I bought the LG stylo 6 with boost as my carrier and couldn’t get any network survive on it. I couldn’t even make a simple call! I thought it was something to do with my phone so I factory reset it and the problem persists. For three months I had a newly released phone and couldn’t make a call on it. Only the wifi function worked. I decided to just buy a cheap phone to make due because I was recently away for training on my new job and communication was essential to keep up with my family when I was away. My boost service was cancelled due from non payment. I called for the code to unlock my phone. That’s when I’ve been told that I have to wait a year with an active boost service to get the code. Why would I pay for a year of service for a phone that I can’t even use? I’ve called numerous times to get the problem fixed to no avail! I thought this was a contract free device! I can understand if there was a contract, but there isn’t. This phone is paid in full, so I should have rights to it!!!
Actually I don’t know the unlock system in the phone. Your article is innovative. I get lots of information about announces unlocking policy. Thanks for sharing your idea.
I had my previous carrier for 8 years. The last 4 years I had the LG Stylo 2. Although I needed an upgrade 2 & 1/2 years into that phone I waited another yr & a 1/2 waiting the Stylo 4 that was coming out with the bigger screen. Was hoping it was coming to my carrier but of course only to boost & I think Cricket.
When I first called & went to boost it was the $50 unlimited plan $130 or so for the phone. Now I was w/Sprint before years ago and it was a horrifying experience! It was so bad I bought my contract out before heading to Verizon.
I cannot be any clearer after my first experience with Sprint and knowing that boost Mobile was on their Network I asked every question that could possibly be asked and keep in mind my phone was still on and active where I was.
Question 1: If I’m not happy after the first month can I go back to the provider I am with now?
Answer: Absolutely, you have no contract they said, both customer service and again when I purchased.
Question 2: I work from my phone, my business depends on quality data and I have no Wi-Fi is your unlimited plan unlimited high-speed, in other words does it throttle down after so many gigabytes.
Answer: Again both on the phone and at time of purchase. No, it’s unlimited & high speed!
Question 3: Hopefully I won’t have to but if I do have to switch after the first month and I buy this new phone will I be able to take it and use it on another Network, in other words will I be stuck with it.
If so then I do not want to purchase it in the first place I will go with another phone and stay where I am.
Answer: Phone is yours to do with what you will and if you need to switch you would be able to.
Now since I was happy with the carrier I was with I was very very skeptical of switching especially to a carrier I had nothing but problems with in the past
These questions were asked over and over and over again and every time with the same replies.
Right off the bat when I switched and bought the new phone it took them two days to get my number switched over and even get my phone service on. Thenwell that was finally on the first thing I did was have them switch me over to technical support to make sure my phone was on all of the correct settings and that I was not the issue since I am not very tech-savvy. same problems other people are complaining of, Frozen videos, forever to switch from one page to another, forever to pull up anything. So now here I am again on day 3 calling back already trying to figure out what’s going on with the phone assuming it’s not damn it’s me. couldn’t have been more polite to them and to be honest there customer service people seem to be very polite and professional. About the only thing I can say for this company. Not that they ever fixed anything that I had a problem with.long story short I was on the phone with them at least 7 to 10 times the first 10 to 12 days I had this phone. By this time I was over it and I want it out and they promised they would fix it with something new they tried and offered to pay my second month so although I didn’t want to I still dead. It was not worth a free month to stay there but I was hoping for the best. When it didn’t change and I told them I was going back 2 mi previous carrier and asked what I needed to do that’s when they hit me with the truth, that the phone would only work on their Network. I flipped out on them at that point but what could I dooh, didn’t have enough money at the time for another phone and had just paid almost $200. So towards the end of the first month when I got a text saying that my speed was going to slow down that I had reached so many gigabytes I was ready to go postal on this company. I called them and they assured me it wasn’t because it slowed down after so many gigabytes it’s that it had something to do with peak times, blah blah blah. To this day I am still so mad I can’t see straight and on top of everything else the data is terrible. I told them look I’m not calling you because I want this super high-speed internet, I just want functional internet. Bottom line is they flat-out lied and deceived me and there is no other way to put it and there should be no legal way that they can get away with this kind of crap two people. Over and over again even with customer service although they sounded so professional, would lie to me just to get me off the phone and tell me what I wanted to hear. I had a gentleman that worked at electronics in Walmart which I guess that means as much as a mechanic at Walmart, LOL. Anyway he told me last week that after 6 months there was something about boost Mobile that I could get my phone unlocked as long as I hadn’t had it off or deactivated within that time. Bottom line, I would not recommend Boost to my worst enemy as a practical joke and I love practical jokes, lol. That’s how ripped off I feel!