[Optimus 7 General] Talys:
I have successfully done the following:

1. Carrier Unlocked a Telus branded LG E900h Optimums 7

2. Connected the phone to Fido

3. Use 3G on Fido

4. Fixed broken Call Display problem

5. Tethered E900h to laptop

6. Set up Wireless Zune sync

I thought I would share my experience to reduce frustration that any others may encounter.

Unlocking the phone

Because my local phone unlock guy was closed the day I purchased the Optimus 7, I tried instantunlockcodes.com and purchased an unlock code for $10. I received 2 codes the next day, but neither worked. I recommend not using this website, as tech support responses were next day, and they were never able to get the code working (after 3 days).

I took the phone to my local unlock guy, who unlocked it successfully. He charged me $65.

For anyone who is trying to unlock the phone, when you insert a foreign SIM, the Optimus 7 asks you for a PIN. This is where you enter the service provider unlock code. When I tried either of the codes that instantunlockcodes.com gave to me, it said, "SIM ERROR". After looking around on the Internet, it seems that this is the message that comes up when it's the wrong code.

Getting Data on Fido

Telephone/voicemail automatically worked on Fido. To get Data to work (ie 3G) I had to change the APN setting.

Go to SETTINGS -> Cellular -> edit apn

"edit apn" is the button at the bottom of that screen. The settings should be:

APN: internet.fido.ca

User name: fido

Password: fido

Have Data connection ON and 3G connection ON.

Internet now worked for me, including browser and Outlook. Outlook connected to Exchange flawlessly.

Incidentally, the first time I set up my phone, I set up Windows Live immediately (startup wizard), and then Outlook Exchange. My appointments from Exchange were all in bright pink.

Because Windows Live was giving me a sync error, I did a factory reset, and set up Outlook first this time. Now, my Exchange appointments are in red. No idea how to change the color, but I prefer red. In both cases, the Windows Live account's appointments are in Blue.

Call Display and MMS

Call Display and MMS did not work. Frankly, I don't care about MMS (there is another thread on how to fix this), but Call Display is quite important.

Specifically, Call Display worked when land lines called me, but did not call when most cell phones called me. They would read, Unknown.

The solution to this was through Fido: I had to call them and change my Call Display from "Call Display with Name Display" to "Call Display WITHOUT Name Display". Evidently, this problem has manifested in other unlocked phones, such as some Blackberries as well.

A point of interest: when I put in the original Telus SIM, the call display also did not work properly. They must have given me Call Display with Name Display as well.

Tethering and Wireless Sync

Tethering is a really handy thing for me. I use it infrequently, but it's really invaluable when I need it.

I've modified the solution that's been posted around, to be specific to Fido, but to clarify a couple of the screens, as well:

1. If you haven't already, install Zune first. While tethering is enabled, Wired Sync on Zune won't work. But Zune has wireless synch, which is way cool anyhow.

2. Set up Wireless Sync on Zune. I won't go into all the details, but basically, make sure that the phone is connected to the WiFi network, that your PC has access to the same network (it can be hardwired, as long as it has access to the same IP subnet). If you have a guest/work router, make sure that both your phone and PC are on the same network. With your phone plugged in, run the Wireless Sync wizard on Zune. It's painless.

3. Unplug your phone.

4. Press Phone, and dial ##634#, then press the Call button. This makes visible a hidden app called "MFG". Go to the list of all your apps, and you'll see a new icon with a hammer, wrench and screwdriver lablelled MFG. Open it.

5. You'll be asked for a password. Enter 277634#*# -- you'll need to enter this password every time you want to go into MFG, which is a good thing, because I think you can seriously mess up your phone if you play around in there.

5. Go to Engineer -> Port Setting

6. Select the QC COMPOSITE and validate. The phone will automatically reboot.

7. VERY IMPORTANT STEP: This is totally counter-intuitive, but you must go to SETTINGS -> Cellular and turn OFF Data Connection.

Note that once you're done tethering, you need to turn it back ON in order to use Internet on the phone.

8. Connect the phone with a USB cable.

9. Windows will automatically detect the phone, and if you're using Windows 7, will prompt you with a popup with the download link for the LG driver. It says LG CDMA driver, but it works. The full file name is LGUSBModemDriver_Eng_WHQL_Ver_4.9.4_All.exe

10. Once the drivers are installed, click start, and type "Modem", click Phone and Modem.

11. Click Modems, double-click LGE CDMA USB MODEM, click the Advanced tab.

12. Under Extra Initialization Commands, enter:

+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.fido.ca"

Replace internet.fido.ca with a different provider APN, if you're not with Fido, obviously.

13. Close the Modems screen, click Start, type "Dial" and click Set up a Dial-up Connection.

14. Enter your home area code because Windows forces you to, and go to the next screen. Then enter as the dialing number:

*99#

Leave the login/password blank. Click connect -- and PRESTO! Tethered Optimus 7.

* IMPORTANT *

Once you're finished tethering, you need to turn Data Connection back on. For some reason, when Data Connection is on, tethering doesn't work. Fortunately, it's a pretty simple toggle to switch.

I hope that this is helpful!