Unlocking your Samsung SGH-T719 Blackberry Connect phone is not as simple as entering a few codes, at least not at first. In the end it will come down to that. You'll want this very utilitarian e-mail monster unlocked so you can keep in touch when you fall outside the realm of T-Mobile's network.

What is unlocking?

When T-Mobile sells you a phone at contract signing you frequently get it at a reduced price. In return for that price reduction and your two year commitment you get a phone which is inhibited from use on other networks, and frequently has a somewhat reduced feature set. Unlocking won't help to increase the feature set but will let you use it on other GSM networks. AT&T, Centennial Wireless, Unicel, SunCom, Choice Wireless, GreenFly, WestLink are examples of GSM carriers. Nextel, Sprint, US Cellular, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile US, and Verizon are examples of carriers that are not GSM. You will not be able to use the phone on those carriers.

If you look at the right hand column of this page you'll see several listings for unlock codes for this device. The day I am writing this the least expensive is $22.93, the most expensive is $39.97. This guide will show two ways to get your phone unlocked, safely, for free. One way requires hobbiest knowledge of computers. The other requires you to be able to follow simple instructions on level with those you needed to follow to get your new phone rebate.

You'll know if your phone is locked if you put a SIM from another provider in it and you get a message that says "Incorrect SIM" or "Wrong SIM". Unlocking will force you to have to look at a friend's Samsung to see that screen again.

On To The Unlock

Path 1 - Not For The Faint At Heart

• Go to your favorite search engine. Look for Lucifer Samsung unlocker. Version 1.00 will work.

• Download it. Be sure to have your virus sniffer on. This is a good general rule for downloading any file from the Internet. It is exceptionally true for downloading unlocking programs. There are virus free versions of this out there.

• Unzip, install and start the program.

• Hook up the phone to your computer with the USB data cable. No fancy "unlocker" cable required. Use a fully charged battery in the phone.  You may want to hook the phone up to a charger to ensure full charge during all operations.

• Select your phone in the left hand selection box of the software's user interface where it says "select phone".  In this instance you are unlocking your T719 so select T719.

• Select "Read Info" from the choices in the middle column. This will read the IMEI, the hardware level, the software level of your T719. If it reads this you have hooked up your phone correctly. The information may not show up in the right box. Don't worry about that. That is a programming glitch that doesn't matter here.

• Locate and select the "Read codes" button. This will give you the eight digit code you need  -the NCK. Copy down the eight digit NCK. Triple check to ensure you copied it correctly.

• Shut down the Lucifer Unlocking software, remove the USB cable from the T719, remove the battery from the T719.

Entering the NCK

• Remove the SIM from the phone.

• Reinstall the battery; ensure the battery is fully powered. 

• Power up the phone allowing it to finish it's start-up routine which should be an "Insert SIM " message.

• Enter #0111* then enter the eight digit NCK code you harvested in the above step followed by an *  for example : #0111*12345678*

• Phone will create message "Personalisation Removed"

Your phone is unlocked.  Phone will turn off and may reboot.

A note about this unlocking software - Lucifer Samsung Unlocking software has two functionalities.

1. The first, which is used in this guide, is to read information from the phone. This is very safe and is similar to sticking a floppy disk into a computer to see what is on it.

2. The second functionality is to change the information on the phone which can be less safe. This is like brain surgery for your phone.

This is not a "User's Guide" for Lucifer Samsung unlocking software, my knowledge of the software is limited to what I have put into this guide.You'll see a "Direct Unlock" button and opportunities to reset various areas of your phone with this software. These are all "Write" functions. If you are comfortable with letting a new piece of software fiddle around inside your phone you are more brave than I. My suggestion is to pick up an SGH-X495 or two here on eBay to play with first before letting it write to a more expensive device.

Path 2 - The Easy Way Out

• If you have been a subscriber to T-Mobile for more than 90 days and haven't had a device unlocked in the previous 90 days call 611 and request the unlock code.

• You will need the IMEI number which you can get by entering #*06# on the standby screen of the phone.

• Be sure to confirm the IMEI with the customer service representative.

• If you are on T-Mobile to Go you will need to have made a payment in the last 30 days.

• In 12 - 36 hours you will receive an e-mail with the code and instructions.

• Follow them.

• Your phone is unlocked

Either path your phone is unlocked.

By far path 2 is the easiest and, for most people, the correct path to unlockedness. If you choose Path 1 you will be on your own for figuring out how to get the progam to recognise your device. I had to re-assign my USB com port 80 to port 1 and disable my com port 1 to get it to work. That gives you some insight into how much fun phone unlocking can be when it is a hobby.

If you found this guide to be helpful please be sure to give it a vote. If you found it to be confusing, wrong or in serious need of help please contact me through eBay messaging. Several of my guides and a review or two I've written have benefitted from input from readers pointing out where I fell short. I enjoy the feedback. Re-writing to incorporate a reader's observations is one of the benefits of an open society.