Telstra Mobile Wifi Unlock

Telstra Mobile Wifi UnlockA lot of people have been asking and looking for a Telstra portable wifi unlock. Some people aren’t even sure if it’s possible to do for free while other consumers are angry that they must pay an additional fee to Telstra after already purchasing the modem outright. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why people want to unlock this modem so soon after purchasing and how to do it.

The vast majority of people want to get a Telstra mobile wifi unlock because they want to use the device while overseas. The device provided by Telstra does not work on all networks around globe, so it’s important that you first find out if the device will be compatible with other networks in the country you plan to visit. The Telstra device is a UTMS one which functions on the 850 & 2100MHz spectrums. You can find a list of countries that provide wireless broadband in that spectrum here. The vast majority of American providers (except Verizon) operate with these frequencies.

Once you have confirmed the device can be used in the country you plan to visit, you will need to pay a fee to Telstra in order to unlock the device. According to the T-Life shop at Chadstone, there are 2 different fee schedules which is as follows.

1) If you have owned the Telstra Mobile Wifi for less than 6 months, there is a $100 unlocking fee.
2) If you have owned the device for more than 6 months, the Telstra mobile wifi unlock fee is $27.50

Unfortunately, Telstra’s own website is very scare on the details which is to be expected as the Telstra Mobile Wifi is a very new product offering. In addition to this, many people are angry and upset Telstra is charging them an unlocking fee for a device they have purchased outright. This applies to people who purchased the pre-paid package and had to front the cost of the modem upfront; unlike the post paid plans which have been launched in the past few days.

As a result of this, many pre-paid customers are petitioning Telstra to reduce or remove the unlock fee. Whether they will do this remains to be seen. At the current time, there is no known way to unlock the device yourself but technology enthusiasts are working hard to come up with a solution so that consumers can get a Telstra mobile wifi unlock for free via the Internet. This website will report it’s availability as soon as it is available so stay tuned for more information as these home made unlocks typically do not take very long to come up with.

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

Bruno Wassmer April 10, 2011 at 3:03 pm

Hi, bought one of the prepaid portable wifi devices from telstra some weeks ago in Tewantin close to Noosa. I asked the guy for the unlock code. He just replied “No problem, might be that you have to pay a fee” but was very surprised, that the system gave the code without a fee. Now I have a wifi router with unlock code to use around the world :-)

Reply

Mark April 13, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Same experience as Bruno in a Melbourne T shop. Take your device, they’ll scan the IMEI code and provide a free unlock code.

Reply

Peter Crane May 5, 2011 at 12:06 pm

Hi Bruno

Yes that worked got code from Telstra shop now how do I unlock it please?

Thanks your help – Peter

Reply

Andy Brunner May 10, 2011 at 8:57 pm

Hello everyone!

Thanks a lot for the hint! I did the same today with the new Telstra Wifi device. Bought it in the big Telstra shop in the city. He just gave me the unlock code.

Just put your sim-card from another provider than Telstra into the Wifi device & type in the unlock code – that’s it :-)

Cheers,
Andy

Reply

cornelius July 17, 2011 at 8:38 pm

Where do go to type in the code for the Wi-Fi device.

Reply

kaipower May 30, 2011 at 8:20 pm

Hmm… I have a Telstra Wifi device and got it unlocked for free from the Telstra shop; when I insert another provider’s SIM-card, it prompted for the unlock code which I keyed in successfully and get it unlocked.

But after this, I can’t get a successful connection to the other provider. Anybody has similar experience?

Reply

Edward huynh June 2, 2011 at 5:03 pm

Telstra has an unlocking fee because all the handsets/devices are heavily subsidised and telstra usually makes a loss on the prepaid handsets. To make a profit telstra charges a premium to get the handset unlocked to deter people from leaving the network. This way ppeople are more inclined to stick with telstra and buy their prepaid credits.

E.g the HTC wildfire costs 199 on prepaid, but 336 on a plan

Source – I’m telstra staff

Reply

cornelius July 17, 2011 at 8:35 pm

I recieved the unlocking code for my Wi-fi device from the Telstra shop. Now what? I’ve heard that you must insert a sim card from another carrier into the device. Where is it surpose to prompt me to enter the code?

Reply

Greg July 24, 2011 at 9:09 pm

Had the same problem myself. Found all the answers here.
http://sierrawireless.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/838/~/how-to-unlock-the-telstra-aircard-753s-%3F
Install the full Watcher program, and after install run the TRU-install to put the device in modem mode.

Reply

Jo November 4, 2011 at 6:52 pm

That link so not valid

Reply

Rob August 30, 2011 at 5:22 pm

No Luck here :(

I’m in Perth, went to T-Shop and told they have no idea how to unlock, and gave me number to phone. When I phoned was given the $100 run-around as specified in original article above.

Reply

Cancel reply

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: