Help Can I still get OTA updates after unlocking my phone?

[jjossie]

Hi,
I have an old AT&T Sony Xperia Ion (LT28at) that I'm now using as my everyday phone, mostly because I'm poor. Anyways, normally I'd root it, unlock the bootloader and find a good KitKat rom out there to flash on it, but the bootloader is not unlockable on my specific device. Right now it's stuck on 4.0.4 ICS, and I'm about to jump off a bridge from the annoying lack of project butter (it's so freaking choppy) and lack of app support. Anyways, I've heard that there's an OTA update available for the lt28at to 4.1, which isn't great but is better than ICS. However, the phone is currently completely inactive and has no sim card or service plan. I got an unlock code from AT&T, so as soon as I buy a SIM card from PlatinumTel (can anyone tell me how good they are?), I'll enter the code and my phone will be officially unlocked. I've tried to do the OTA update a couple of times now, but it always says unable to establish session, because I have no signal strength (lack of SIM card).
My question is, once I unlock the phone and pop in a different SIM card, will I be able to still get the OTA update to Jellybean?
Thanks in advance

 

[HTC Tech]

Bump. I have the same question.

 

[scary alien]

Hmm, I have several very old devices that no longer have cell service for which I receive OTA update nags via wi-fi.

Don't know for sure that that's universal, though...

 

[funkylogik]

Far as I know its universal to get otas over wifi

 

[KOLIO]

From my experience,SIM unlocking has no effect on receiving updates.
However,I have had an AT&T Phone (SIM Unlocked) that was ready for an update,but,I had service w/T-Mobile.
With that phone,the only way I could get the update from AT&T was if I had service w/them,as the update wasn't available for downloading from the mfg (LG).
So,I ended up buying a months worth of service w/AT&T's pre-paid service & lo & behold,I popped in the SIM Card,checked for the update & voila',there it was,waiting for downloading.

So,in summary,scary alien is right,there is no universal answer,but,I'd say if you have a SIM Free phone (unlocked/not tied to a carrier) you should get updates from the mfg w/no problem.
Carrier-specific phones that are then subsequently SIM unlocked are likely gonna vary,depending upon the carrier,no clear cut yes/no.
Provided you have service with the same carrier that matches the phone,SIM unlocking will have no effect & you'll be able to get updates as they are published.
Hope this helps............

 

[funkylogik]

^^True. I've never owned a carrier branded phone tbh