There are two kinds of unlocking, carrier unlocking which lets you use the
phone on any carrier, this is free providing you have paid for your phone
your carrier will provide you with a code or an app to unlock it. this has
nothing to do with using your phone as a mobile hotspot.

the other unlocking involves unlocking the bootloader which lets you
replace the roms or root your phone. most manufacturers don't want you
doing this because it makes your phone unsecure.

rooting the phone usually involves running an exploit that gives you root
and allows you to install su (superuser) so you can grant those permissions
to other apps.

You want to root your phone and run some other app that will let you run a
mobile hotspot app that hopefully your carrier won't be able to detect it.
You should google your phone and carrier to see if anyone has accomplished
this before you spend the money.

These things don't always work.


On Mon, Dec 31, 2018, 10:42 AM Jim <azanorak@gmail.com wrote:

> My current phone is from cricket.  I don't like their idea of blocking a
> feature the manufacturer built into the phone (sharing the internet
> connection) and charging to restore it.  The LG X charge I had when I
> was with comcast enables  the sharing of the phone's internet
> connection.  I think i'll pay the $20 to get it unlocked then put the
> cricket sim card in it.
>
> On 12/31/18 10:15 AM, Matt Graham wrote:
> >> On 12/30/18 10:57 PM, Herminio Hernandez, Jr. wrote:
> >>> If it is a AT&T device then you are dead in the water. There is no
> >>> way to unlock the bootloader on those deives.
> > On 2018-12-31 04:55, Jim wrote:
> >> Thanks Alexander, Stephen and Herminio. I've learned a lesson here.
> >> Make sure the device can be rooted before buying it.
> >
> > Also note that things can be more complicated than that.  The Samsung
> > Galaxy S7 was listed on lineageos.org as working.  This is only
> > half-correct.  The Galaxy S7s that are sold in Europe and Asia can
> > have their bootloaders unlocked.  The Galaxy S7s that are sold in the
> > USA cannot.  So check very carefully before buying anything.  I
> > *think* the best bet right now is an LG phone; many are supposed to be
> > unlockable.  None of the LG phones my carrier is selling are listed on
> > https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ though.
> >
> > The other thing casual users may not know is that it's possible to
> > uninstall some things that appear to be stuck forever.  "adb shell"
> > then "pm list packages | sort | more" and find the thing you want to
> > get rid of (com.facebook.evil or whatever).  Then "pm uninstall
> > com.facebook.app" or whatever and you will bypass that "can't
> > uninstall this from the settings->apps menu" problem. NOTE:  Back up
> > your phone before doing this, in case you accidentally uninstall
> > something you find you need later.
> >
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