Walk in
- 4 Richmond Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 3
- No appointment needed during opening hours
- Same-day service on most phones, depending on device health
Unlocking
Phone unlocking, honestly.
Network unlocking on the models that allow it. The first thing we will tell you is that your own network can usually do it for nothing, and we would rather say that than take the money.
Mon to Sat 10 to 6
360-day warranty
Most phone repairs in 15 to 45 minutes
No fix, no fee
Data-safe repairs
What a network lock actually is.
A network lock is a setting held against your phone's IMEI on a database the manufacturer and the networks share. It is not a chip inside the phone and it is not something anybody removes with a screwdriver. Unlocking means that record being changed, and the only parties who can change it are the network the phone was sold by and the manufacturer.
That single fact explains everything else on this page, including why a shop that promises to unlock any phone on any network is telling you something that cannot be true.
You have a network lock if the phone shows a message asking for an unlock code when you put another network's SIM in, or if mobile data and calls simply do not work on a SIM that works fine in another handset.
- The lock lives on a database against your IMEI, not inside the phone
- Dial *#06# to see your IMEI, or find it in Settings, About
- Only the selling network or the manufacturer can change that record
- A phone bought outright, SIM free, was never locked in the first place
- Nothing about a network lock affects the repair we do to a device
Ask your network first. It is usually free.
Every Irish network unlocks phones for its own customers, and for most people it costs nothing. Three, Vodafone, Eir and the operators that run on their networks all publish a form or a request line for it, and the usual condition is that the phone is paid for and the contract or bill plan is up to date.
It normally takes a few working days rather than a few minutes, and you will need the IMEI. That is the entire process, and it is the right first call for the large majority of people who walk in here asking about unlocking.
We tell people this at the counter and we will tell you the same thing on the phone. A shop that takes forty euro for something your network would have done free is not a shop that keeps customers.
When it is worth paying somebody.
When the phone came from abroad and you have no relationship with the network that sold it. A handset bought second hand in another country, locked to a carrier who will not talk to you because you were never their customer, is the case a paid unlock exists for.
When the original owner is not contactable and the phone is genuinely yours. A phone inherited, or bought used from somebody who has since moved on, sometimes cannot be taken back to the network by anybody who has standing to ask.
When you need it today rather than in a week. Networks work to their own timescale and occasionally that is not fast enough for somebody flying tomorrow.
Bring the phone in and we will tell you honestly whether yours is one of those cases, whether it is possible on that model and network at all, and what it would cost. If the answer is that your network will do it free, that is the answer you get.
What we will not do, and why.
We do not remove Activation Lock, iCloud Lock or a Google account lock. Those are anti-theft features tied to the account of the person who owned the device, rather than network locks. They exist specifically so that a stolen phone is worth nothing, and anybody offering to remove one is offering to defeat that. Sign in with the original account, or ask the person you bought it from to remove it from their account remotely, which takes them about a minute.
We do not unlock a device somebody cannot show is theirs. A phone reported lost or stolen is blocked on the shared IMEI database, and that block is not something to be worked around.
And we do not promise an unlock before we have checked the model and the network. Some combinations simply cannot be done, and the honest version of that is said before you pay rather than afterwards.
None of this is us being difficult. It is the difference between a repair shop and a place the Gardai eventually visit.
- No Activation Lock or iCloud Lock removal, on any device
- No Google account or FRP lock removal
- Nothing on a device reported lost or stolen
- No promise of an unlock before we have checked your model and network
- Proof the device is yours, for anything we do take on
Buying a used phone? Check this first.
Before money changes hands, put your own SIM in it and make a call. That takes ten seconds and it settles the network lock question completely.
Then check the phone is signed out of the seller's account. On an iPhone that means Settings, your name, and no Apple Account signed in, and the phone should offer to set up from scratch rather than asking for somebody's password. On Android it means no Google account under Settings, Accounts. A phone that asks for a password you do not have is a phone you cannot use.
And take the IMEI. Dial *#06#, write it down, and check it is not reported lost or stolen before you hand over cash. Every phone we sell has been through exactly these checks, which is the reason we can put a warranty on it.
Asked all the time
Asked all the time.
No, and anybody who says they can is not being straight with you. A network lock is a record held against your IMEI by the network that sold the phone. Some model and network combinations cannot be unlocked by a third party at all, and we check yours before quoting rather than after.
Yes, and it is the first thing we say at the counter. Every Irish network unlocks phones for its own customers and for most people it is free once the handset is paid for. It usually takes a few working days and you will need your IMEI.
No. An account lock is an anti-theft feature tied to the previous owner's account rather than a network lock, and it exists so that a stolen phone is worth nothing. The fix is the original owner signing out or removing the device from their account, which takes them a minute.
Dial *#06# and it appears on screen. It is also in Settings, General, About on an iPhone, and Settings, About phone on Android, and printed on the SIM tray on several models.
No. Nothing is opened and nothing on the phone is touched. A network unlock changes a database record, not the handset.
Put another network's SIM in it and try a call. If it works, it was never locked. Phones bought outright and SIM free usually are not.
It lets you use a local SIM, which is usually what people mean. Whether a particular phone supports the bands a foreign network uses is a separate question and we will check it with you.
Two ways in
Walk in, or we collect it.
Collection and return
- Door to door across Dublin, Monday to Friday
- Usually 2 to 4 working days
- Tracked, with the same 360-day warranty
Related
Where to go next.
Bring it in and we will have a look.
Free diagnostic, a firm price before any work, and a 360-day warranty on every completed repair.
Book a repair 24/7 · No fix, no fee · 360-day warranty · Free diagnostic