We have just published a free guide to unlocking mobile phones.

We noticed that it is very hard to find a comprehensive source of information on this topic that explains all the terminology for normal users—so we decided to create one. In the guide, we introduce different unlocking processes and how they work and explain common technical issues. We also clarify the difference between unlocking and rooting or jailbreaking a phone.

Whether you are unlocking a phone for the first time or have some experience already, take a look at the guide to answer your questions.

FastGSM is offering three easy ways to get a refund of up to $20 USD on any of our unlocking services. That means the chance to get many of our services completely free!

How it works: we will refund the full cost of your service (if less than $20 USD) or $20 USD off more expensive services in exchange for you:

• Uploading a video of the phone unlocking process to YouTube, or
• Recommending FastGSM on your blog or website, or
• Recommending our services in public forums.

You can claim your refund by sending us an email at info@fastgsm.com with proof of participation (links, video files) and the email address you used to create your FastGSM account. We will verify your entry and reimburse you. More details here.

Exclusive offer from FastGSM! Make a purchase before December 15 and you will be automatically registered in the sweepstakes. The iPhone 5 makes a great gift to surprise your friends and family—order now while this offer lasts!

Every order before December 15 counts for 1 entry. Share on Facebook and earn additional entries for every friend you refer.

Win a free unlock!

10 additional winners will receive a full refund on an unlocking service credited to their account.

Did you know that when you unlock your Sony Ericsson Xperia at FastGSM by USB, you not only unlock the phone for use on other networks―you also unlock the bootloader? But what is a bootloader? You may ask. And what does unlocking it mean for me as a user?

The bootloader is the part of the phone’s software that is executed when the phone starts up (“boots up”). It starts running before the operating system, and it determines which programs will run as part of the startup process.

By default, the bootloader is usually programmed to accept only software from the manufacturer. All other programs are rejected. This ensures a consistent user experience with software that has been tested by the brand. But what it you wanted to customize the operating system or applications on your phone? Unlocking the bootloader will let you do that by disabling the manufacturer restrictions.

FastGSM supports bootloader unlocking with network unlocking for the following phone models:

E10a, E10i, E15, E15a, E15i, E16i, LT15a, LT15i, LT18, LT18a, LT18i, Live with Walkman, MK16, MT11, MT15a, MT15i, R800, R800a, R800at, R800i, SK17a, SK17i, ST15, ST17a, ST17i, ST18a, ST18i, U20, U20a, U20i, W8 Walkman, WT19a, WT19i, X10a, X10i, Xperia PLAY, Xperia SO-01B (DoCoMo), Xperia X8, Xperia X10, Xperia X10 mini, Xperia X10 mini pro, Xperia acro, Xperia acro SO-02C (DoCoMo), Xperia active, Xperia arc, Xperia arc S, Xperia arc SO-01C (DoCoMo), Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia neo, Xperia neo V, Xperia pro, Xperia ray, Xperia ray SO-03C (DoCoMo), Z1

Attention! From now until November 4 GMT we offer the biggest discount options in the history of our website! You can save loads of money with this special Halloween gift for our customers, so unlock your phone now and enjoy it on any network you wish. All discounted services are listed here:

USA AT&T iPhone Unlock $14.99 SALE $9.99 USD
USA AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 Unlock Code $59.99 SALE $29.99 USD
Alcatel Phone Unlock Code $9.99 SALE $4.99 USD
BlackBerry Unlock Code $9.99 SALE $4.99 USD
BlackBerry MSL Code (for CDMA phones) $19.99 SALE $9.99 USD
HTC Factory Unlock Code $14.99 SALE $9.99 USD
Huawei Factory Unlock Code $14.99 SALE $9.99 USD
Huawei 2012 Data/WiFi Modem Unlock Code $4.99 SALE $2.49 USD
Huawei SIMLOCK block unlock reset KEY $19.99 SALE $9.99 USD
Huawei G20, G3501, G5010, G6608, G6620, G7002, G7210, G7206, G7600 Unlock Code $4.99 SALE $2.49 USD
LG Factory Unlock Code $9.99 SALE $4.99 USD
Pantech Unlock Code $4.99 SALE $2.49 USD
Sony Ericsson Xperia Unlock by USB $12.99 SALE $5.99 USD

We offer cheap unlocking via USB for almost all Samsung models. But sometimes this method is not supported, data cable is not available, there’s a computer issue or another problem. Alternatively, if your phone is locked to a provider from Canada, you can unlock it easily via IMEI. All Samsung models are supported for this method!

In the past, it took several days to process this service but now it got much faster – the fastest possible! You can just submit your IMEI number in My Account after the purchase and you will get all available factory unlock codes (including the Unfreeze code) in several minutes at most! So if you have a network locked Canadian Samsung and you don’t want to wait long to unlock it, you don’t have to! FastGSM is insanely fast!

Do you have an iPhone locked to German O2? Do you you want to use use it with any provider worldwide? No problem with our unlocking service! Besides, it just got cheaper! From 89.99 USD to 39.99 USD!

Just purchase the service on our page for your iPhone model (iPhone 5, 4, 4S, 3G and 3GS are all supported) and submit your IMEI in My Account. After 2 – 5 working days the unlock will be granted directly by the network provider and Apple and you will be able to enjoy it with an carrier.

With our unlocking, you don’t have to worry about not being able to update your iPhone, all iTunes features are maintained. It’s the safest, easiest and the most comfortable unlocking method.

Do you want a free iPhone 5 just for Christmas? Who wouldn’t! Now you have a chance to win an unlocked iPhone 5 16 GB if you enter iPhone Sweepstakes on our Facebook page. If you’re a lucky winner, you will receive the iPhone before Christmas (shipping is free).

And what’s more, you will get an additional entry for each purchase of any service on our website between September 19 and December 15. You will also get an additional entry for each person who enters the Sweepstakes after your invitation on our Facebook page.

Not only you have a chance to win free iPhone 5 from us, we also already offer a possibility to unlock iPhone 5 with our official carrier authorized unlocking service! Check details on our page for iPhone 5.

It’s been a long road since unlocking iPhones that are locked to AT&T USA became possible. We were offering the service for $199 at the beginning, simply because there was no cheaper way. We were not happy about it, as not many people could afford such price. But since then we were getting better and better unlocking offers and the service has become more popular. And now we are proud to offer this service for just $19.99!

We provide a carrier authorized unlock for iPhones. It is permanent, it maintains a full functionality of the iPhone and it allows you to use your beloved phone with any compatible network worldwide. What’s not to love? Please note that the service don’t work if your iPhone is blacklisted or associated with an AT&T account in debt.

Remember that if you don’t know to what country and network you iPhone is locked to, you can use our iPhone network check service!

It’s possible to get a free unlock on our site in three different ways. If you want a 100% refund of your purchase of $20 or less, or a partial refund of a bigger purchase, there are three possibilities how to do it:

1. Record the unlocking of your phone, send us your video and post it on youtube
2. Create a blog/website post about our site
3. Post a recommendation to our site in 3 different forums

Before you use one of these three methods, please verify that your phone is eligible for a refund by sending an email with details about your phone model to info@fastgsm.com. Please read details and requirements for this interesting possibility on this page.

Even if none of these options is possible for you, you can check our weekly Sweepstakes on our Facebook page, where you have a chance to win a refund or a free unlock!

From now until the 1st September you can win a free Samsung unlock via data cable or win a refund if you used this service from July 1 to August 31.

Just go to http://www.facebook.com/FastGSM?v=app_143103275748075 and Like our Facebook page (if you already didn’t). Then enter your email address to the Sweepstakes. What’s more, for every friend that you invite who enter the lottery, you will be given and additional entry count! Five lucky winners will be announced on September 1.

Do you want to unlock your BlackBerry phone for FREE? From now until August 15 (including) it is possible for all our Facebook fans!

Just go to http://woobox.com/eehafk and click on “Get a Coupon” button. You will get a coupon that you can apply during Checkout or in My Account and you can use “Unlock BlackBerry” service for FREE.

With our service you can unlock all network locked BlackBerry models to use them on any network. Just find out your MEP number with the help our detailed guide for BlackBerry phones and submit your IMEI and MEP to get your unlock code.

What didn’t seem possible a few days ago is now a reality. So far we’ve been able to unlock Samsung models via IMEI only if they were locked to a provider from Europe, USA, Canada, Australia or Pacific. But now we have a brand new service working – the unlock via IMEI for Latin America! We can get the unique unlock codes for any Samsung model from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Peru, Guyana,  Mexico and  Venezuela. Hardlocked phones (for example those locked to Telcel Mexico) are not supported.

Delivery time of this service is 1-3 business days and the price has been set at 39.99 USD. Just submit your IMEI in My Account after purchasing credits and you will will get all available unique unlock codes for your Samsung model, including the Unfreeze code. When you unlock your phone, you can use it with any compatible network provider worldwide.

We provide an official permanent carrier authorized unlock for iPhones. We’ve been unlocking AT&T locked iPhones 4, 3G and 3GS for some time now but the service has always been a bit pricey and also slow. The issue has been addressed and the price is now more affordable than ever at 149 USD. The delivery time is also better, the order is usually processed in 1-10 business days. Please mind that the unlock is not possible if your iPhone is blacklisted or associated with an AT&T account in debt.

If you are not sure to which country and network your iPhone is locked to, you can use our iPhone Network Check service. If you want to get complete available information about your phone, you can use our Blacklist Check service that is available on our page for every supported phone model.

With our FastGSM Samsung Client it is possible to easily unlock many Samsung models. You will also get all available unique unlock codes for your phone, including the Unfreeze code. The only requirements are a data cable, Windows and Internet connection. Recently, we’ve just made available a new enhanced client, version 1.65. It adds several new Japanese models that are now possible to unlock exclusively with our service:

• Galaxy S II LTE NTT DoCoMo (SC-03D)

• Galaxy Note NTT DoCoMo (SC-05D)

• Galaxy S III NTT DoCoMo (SC-06D)

• Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE NTT DoCoMo (SC-01D)