Unlocking Nokia 7610 on Vodafone

I've had it with my new Windows Mobile dumbphone and decided to go back to my old 7610 from ages past so that I can make decent phone calls again (my 6680 suffered a bad fall down the stairs and decided to retire from active service a little while ago.) Anyway, I'd forgotten that the 7610 was still locked to Vodafone and, instead of going through Vodafone's help desk, I decided to have a little fun and unlock it myself.

The first thing you notice when trying to find information on unlocking a cell phone is that there's quite an industry built around making this possible for you for a couple of pounds. Ignoring this, you notice that there's also a lot of information out there -- mostly of it conflicting with each other.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, here's what worked for me for the 7610. Your milage may vary and I'm not responsible if you mess up your phone. Warning, etc., and all that.

  1. I removed the SIM card and restarted the phone.
  2. Download the Ultimate Unlock Code Calculator by Unique. It's a Windows app so I ran it under Parallels.
  3. I used the following settings based on this forum post (the default ones didn't work).

    • Model: DCT4
    • IMEI: Enter your IMEI number here. You can get it by entering *#06# on your phone.
    • Network code: Find yours in the text file that comes with the app. For Vodafone UK, it's: 23415
    • ASIC type: 5 (manually change this)
    • Key code: 32801 (manually change this)
    • Click the Get Codes button and use Code #1 from the list of generated codes.
    • To enter the code, press the * key several times to create the p, w and + characters.

Reportedly, if you enter the wrong code five times the sky may fall or something. Contacting Vodafone for your unlock codes is probably the safer option but I'll take any chance I get not to talk to customer support! :)

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