Buying Samsung Unlocked Phone from ebay.

My advice :
Don't buy a phone off ebay nor trust the seller, ever....
You're going to get burned.

 

I really liked my S5, even bought a second one when the first died. I actually did buy my second off of eBay and really can't believe that there are as many as they are still on there.
You didn't indicate whether you got yours from an individual or a dealer. Mine was listed as open box. Seller said that it was opened only to unlock the phone.
Worked well for almost a year and a half.

 

You can't verify that it's unlocked using any website. The only way to verify is to insert a non AT&T SIM into the phone and see what it says. So since you don't have the phone in your possession, if you want proof that it's unlocked, you would need to ask the seller to send you a video of them inserting a non AT&T SIM and showing that it does NOT ask for the network unlock code.

PS. Don't EVER purchase any services from that site advertising the $44 paid unlock service. That costs more than the phone itself is worth and is nothing but a ripoff. If it needs to be unlocked, you can find reputable services for probably half of that cost

 

Which software update is this? The S5 is a 2014 handset and won't be getting any software updates now, so that part is only an issue if there is an old (like 6 years old or older) update that the previous owner didn't apply. If this is an ATT phone you won't know about updates unless you put an ATT SIM in it anyway (it will have ATT-modified firmware and will only be notified of updates when connected to ATT). If you tell us what software version it has (built number, not just Android version) someone can probably work out whether there are any further updates for it anyway.

I don't really understand what you are saying here. If the phone will work with another network's SIM then it is unlocked. And if it's unlocked it's unlocked, end of, because all that "unlocked" means is that it will accept any carrier's SIM. I don't understand why you think that this will be different if you put an ATT SIM in it.

Also nothing you've written tells me that ATT think it's locked. You've just said that they need more information, which you don't have, in order to tell you whether it was unlocked with them or not.

 

"it will be and it is listed as locked"?

This makes no sense whatsoever. Locked in what way?

Incorrect. Mobile devices aren't built that way - there's no phone in the world that can run on ANY wireless carrier, anywhere in the world. Just because a phone is unlocked doesn't mean that you can then use ANY carrier or SIM. In order to work, the phone and the carrier have to be compatible with each other. Some carriers will be compatible and others will not be

 

You are incorrect.

I have in my possession two devices that can work with any carrier in my country.
(Different countries use different frequencies.)

You can purchase phones that are unlocked, meaning that they have no carrier allegience built in- they will work with any carrier.

The other type of unlocked device come from a carrier, and once unlocked they will only work with carriers that use the same cellular system as the original carrier.

The two devices I own are capable of using both GSM and CDMA carriers, as well as all 2G, 3G, and 4GLTE frequencies.

The other kind would be limited to the system and frequencies that the original carrier used, but able to use any carrier that used the same setup.

 

This is the phone's listing.


It clearly states to check with your carrier before purchase.
Also, it appears that it was probably a Verizon phone to start with, based on the last note.

The seller can't give you a phone or account number either. Only a service provider can, that's what the sim card is for. My old phone required only a simple sim card swap to activate it, but I was on Verizon.

I only made my purchase after several messages back and forth as well as checking the sellers eBay ratings as well as ratings on the phone itself.

 

They can actually, with one exception, North America, i.e. the United States, and maybe Canada?

So we are just talking about the carriers in America, and no other country? Because from what I've read many times on AF, certain US carriers will only activate phones that they sell and/or approve for use their networks, e.g. a phone bought in Hong Kong can't be used with Verizon Wireless.

 

Yes, but that is nothing to do with SIM locking, which was the topic of the thread.

An unlocked phone will accept any SIM - whether the carrier whose SIM it is has any coverage in the region, or even uses any frequency bands that the phone is compatible with, doesn't matter for the purpose of verifying whether it is unlocked. Conversely if it rejects the SIM you know it is locked, which was the point under discussion. Given the mish-mash of standards in the US and that the S5 is an old phone, so supports a narrower range of bands than more modern handsets tend to, the OP would indeed be well-advised to check compatibility with whatever carrier they intend to use it on before buying a SIM though (don't bother with Sprint, for example, though even that would still tell you whether it was actually unlocked).