[Q] Paid as you go sim - General Questions and Answers

Hi, I am planning to pick up a AT&T paid as you go sim card to test my unlock phone. When the sim card expire, and I put it on my unlock phone, would I still get some kind of indication that it works for my phone (i.e. ATT carrier on phone option, signal bar, etc). thanks!

Related

SIM Card Missing (Locked?)

Ok - tearing my hair out here...
I have an AT&T Fuze I was given and am trying to get it going on Telstra NextG here in Australia.
I was fully expecting the device to be SIM locked, and am ok paying to get an unlock code, however I'm not sure exactly how to tell. When I boot the device up, it gives a missing SIM card message:
The SIM card is missing.
You can still make emergency calls if your service provider supports it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...not a "Your device is locked" message. Can someone tell me what the device should look like? I'm assuming that I should get something other than a missing SIM message?
I'm starting to think that there is a physical problem with the device I have tried two Telstra SIMs, an old Prepaid Vodafone, and four Optus ones...just for good measure. (Except for the Telstra ones they aren't in service, but I assume they should still be recognise)
I've also put HardSPL and TAELROM v4.23544, and the device functions beautifully, except for no network access :-/
I've also tried putting some sticky tape on the top of one of the SIMs to try and give it a better contact, as mentioned in one of the other threads.
Yes, I'm sure I'm putting it in the right way up (SIM works fine in my Touch Pro), and all the contacts appear clean etc.
If someone else has had such an error repaired, can they tell me if it's a major task? Or fairly cheap?
Weird and the previous owner took the AT&T SIM out in front of me, and apparently it has never given any issues before.
Looks like it is sim locked to me.
at&t have an unlock.exe included in their ROM which is used for unlocking via code, you could see if your friend can get unlock code from at&t (can get free code in most circumstances! ) If he can you could flash back to a at&t ROM & unlock.
Other option would be using IMEI unlock service or olipro unlock service.
Thanks for the reply!
Ok, so this is normal? The unlock.exe doesn't fire automatically and you get a SIM missing message until you run it manually? That would be awesome if it is the case.
I could probably get a free unlock, but for the effort of calling the US I'm happy to make a donation to Olipro if that's likely to work. (And he can fix his website - opened a ticket for that)
I'm assuming the IMEI unlock service option wouldn't work unless I flash back to an AT&T ROM to get unlock.exe back, as that will just give me an unlock code which I will have nowhere to type, yeah?
Thanks again.
So, you got an AT&T Fuze (US) and you're trying to get it working on your network Telstra? Now your SIM Card, its not working on the Fuze, but it does work on your old phone? Or on any phones on your network? Any of your family/buddies SIM card work on the Fuze? Im just trying to figure out if its the SIM card or the Card reader on the device that's not working. As far as why you are getting the "SIM card missing screen" I'm not too sure about. I've searched all over the net trying to find out what kind of screen is displayed when the phone is SIM Locked, but no luck!!! Anyhow, many times these devices are locked to their specific carriers for security purposes. I did come across a few threads where people from foreign countries that bought (US) spec phones needed to SIM unlock. So i would say if money is not an issue, try SIM unlocking for a fee. Narrow down the problem. You can try this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=556059&highlight=SIM or http://raphael.sim-unlocker.com/
Two other notes:
I have an AT&T Fuze and in the (US) we have 3g networks. Before I upgraded to the Fuze my old SIM Card was not 3g compatible. It was a 2g SIM, therefore it did not work on the Fuze. (this may not be applicable to you) But note your SIM might not be 3g or the device needs to be unlocked for access to other GSM networks.
Last, my girlfriend is from Hungary and she brought a GSM cell phone, i think it was Tmobile. Anyhow I tried my AT&T Sim Card on it and the phone did recognize it...hahaha I just concluded...If the SIM Card is not recognized, then it must be missing....wow!!!
SIM Unlock, give it a shot....
Yep - AT&T (US) on Telstra (Australia).
Mister B above has given me some hope that the HW is ok, and I just need to get it unlocked... but I was hoping someone could confirm that this is normal before I spend AU$25.
All the threads I read seemed to imply that it would just pop up and ask you for a code when it detects a SIM card from a different network, but that didn't happen to me.
Also, I think I have to wait for Olipro's site to come back on the air (http://raphael.htc-unlocks.com is down for me at the moment). I'm hoping his SW doesn't required me to type an unlock code on the device itself.
Otherwise I will need to reflash the AT&T ROM back to get the unlocker.exe app (unless someone can send it to me? Not even sure where that is stored on the standard ROM to be honest.
Yeah - been through the whole 2G vs 3G SIM card before. Pretty sure my current one is good, as it's not that old and I get 3G on my Touch Pro with it.
As far as i'm aware the at&t devices do not show the unlock code window, you have to run the unlock.exe.
If you are sure the device & your network have compatable radio bands I would put it down to sim lock.
As far as i'm aware IMEI check doesn't need code input, they have support line & when I used them they were cheaper than Olipro.
http://www.imei-check.co.uk/raphael_unlock.php
Thanks (didn't realise IMEI Check was a website!)
Umm...back to nasty AT&T ROM now. Any hints where I might find unlock.exe (or a shortcut to it?)
Meh - IMEI Check website might be cheap, but they tell you AFTER you have generated the source file etc, that all first time users must validate their PayPal sale by...get this...taking photo with their camera phone of some documentation proving their identity, and email it to them...which they will process in 8 hours or so. No thanks...
Hmmm... http://www.unlocking.com/HTC-Fuze-Unlocking.html says:
"How To Enter Your HTC Fuze Unlock Code
Once you have received your HTC Fuze unlocking code, it is very simple to enter it:
- Insert any Sim card into the handset
- Turn the phone on
- You will be prompted to enter and Unlock Code
- Enter the code we provided
- Your phone is unlocked"
Double Meh. That's the bit I'm having issues with...
Ok. Used sim-unlocker.com, and once the software had finished doing it's thing, it popped up a box on the phone asking me to input the code.
Trouble is, SIM still not recognised Guess I'm looking at a fraked phone... (What a waste of time and money that was)
That is a bummer, you saw it working with the at&t sim, yes !
The fuze supports the 850MHz UTMS band so it should work fine on next G.
You could try flashing a generic HTC ROM complete with radio & seeing if you get any luck with that.
Also try some more packing on the sim card just in case it is simply a contact issue.
Total bummer if the fuze has developed a fault.
Thanks for everyone's help. It's in getting a quote for repair. Looks like I stuffed one of the pins when I put the SIM card in for the very first time :/
you gotta go to comm manager and start gsm or phone service then it'll say your phone is locked and ask for an code
Zilch said:
Thanks for everyone's help. It's in getting a quote for repair. Looks like I stuffed one of the pins when I put the SIM card in for the very first time :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are the odds on doing that, total bad luck.
HTC Fuze is lock to AT&T
djteotancolis said:
you gotta go to comm manager and start gsm or phone service then it'll say your phone is locked and ask for an code
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way is use the simunlocker software ore buy it for $2.70 US dollar on ebay to get the unlock code from the guy name blowfish06 or get the code from AT&T. I unlock over some of them. It will automatic trigger the promt for unlock code if you put any sim that is not from AT&T in the phone.
Just as an update...
SIM slot contacts were stuffed. $150 to fix at the local repair shop in the mall. All working and unlocked now.
A SIM from a different network should pop up a message, but wasn't due to the HW fault. The unlocker software popped up this message when it was run however, so I was able to unlock it while the SIM slot was stuffed.
Thanks for everyones help.
Zilch said:
Just as an update...
SIM slot contacts were stuffed. $150 to fix at the local repair shop in the mall. All working and unlocked now.
A SIM from a different network should pop up a message, but wasn't due to the HW fault. The unlocker software popped up this message when it was run however, so I was able to unlock it while the SIM slot was stuffed.
Thanks for everyones help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could have just replace the hold sim stray just for $17 on ebay.
Yeah most likely. But I was a) lazy, b) in a hurry and c) it was a work phone so I claimed it

[Q] SIM CRASH on a Go Phone?

I bought a cheap ATT Go Phone for the SIM card for my iPhone. I've activated the phone and the SIM card but the crappy phone keeps saying SIM CRASH, and nothing beyond that. I put the SIM into the iphone and it just says "searching" in the area for the signal strength. Do I need to call ATT about this one
bottlecap said:
I bought a cheap ATT Go Phone for the SIM card for my iPhone. I've activated the phone and the SIM card but the crappy phone keeps saying SIM CRASH, and nothing beyond that. I put the SIM into the iphone and it just says "searching" in the area for the signal strength. Do I need to call ATT about this one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like most companies, AT&T provides specific SIM cards for their specific services...hence the Go Phone card not working the way you want it.
Get a card from AT&T for your IPhone.
Cheers,
I know this thread is quite old but I have the same issue when I insert my sim card in the gophone in came with or any other phone I tried an unlocked iphone 3G and an unlocked HTC HD7. The most surprising part is that my HTC Desire doesn't seem to have any problem with this card.
I would really liked to get it to work on my HD7 but I had no luck.

unlocked phone erased sim card?

I wanted to test the unlock i did on my phone yesterday, so i put my brothers tmobile sim card in my phone, but all it did was show a sim card icon at the top of the status bar, and i didn't have signal. so i just figured the unlock didn't work.
Then when my brother put his sim card back in his phone, his wasn't working. apparently the sim was reformatted or something, and now he has to get a new sim. anyone heard of this before? also should i try another sim card, or will it just destroy that one too?
drizzle67 said:
I wanted to test the unlock i did on my phone yesterday, so i put my brothers tmobile sim card in my phone, but all it did was show a sim card icon at the top of the status bar, and i didn't have signal. so i just figured the unlock didn't work.
Then when my brother put his sim card back in his phone, his wasn't working. apparently the sim was reformatted or something, and now he has to get a new sim. anyone heard of this before? also should i try another sim card, or will it just destroy that one too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you forgot to select network operators in the wireless settings. in the wireless and network setting select mobile network then select network operators your phone will then scan available network operators and show you at&t or t-mobile after the scan. since you want t-mobile simply select it.
gorgy76 said:
you forgot to select network operators in the wireless settings. in the wireless and network setting select mobile network then select network operators your phone will then scan available network operators and show you at&t or t-mobile after the scan. since you want t-mobile simply select it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would that have made his sim card work again if my phone recognized the network? or was that just something weird that happened. I am new to the whole unlocking deal.
Thanks for the help, I am a little nervous to try it now, as i dont want to mess up his card again! :/
you should be fine. is your contact actually stored on your sim? ,maybe your brother's sim is empty but his contacts are stored in his phone. contacts stored in sim card are not easily get deleted than contacts stored in phone simply import you phone contacts to your sim to be safe.
my contacts are fine, but his phone actually would not work when he put his sim card back in his phone. it's just a regular dumbphone, but he didn't have signal or anything. Do you know what would cause that?
there must be an option somewhere in his phone to select the wireless network he has. what phone he is using? maybe a simple reboot on his phone with his sim card already in place would do.
yea maybe, i think he was going to go to tmobile this morning.. i guess i can't really call him to have him try though!
anyway i'll see if he will be brave enough to let me try again! thanks for the help!
I may understand sim cards wrong but from what I understand the sim does not announce to the carrier hey this is eric shins phone. It instead just broad casts a number the carrier sees the number and associates it with eric shins number. That's why you can buy a prepaid att phone call the company up, give them the sim number and they can connect that with your phone.
More then likely the sim was physically damaged
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
hmm.. that does make sense. I thought i had heard of other people just popping in other people's sim cards and it wasn't a problem, but i don't know.
Just kinda strange that it was working before , and after i tried it, his phone no longer worked. Maybe it was damaged when he took it out or put it in, but from my experience they are pretty sturdy pieces of plastic!
i'll have to see what he says when he gets it fixed.
crystalhand said:
I may understand sim cards wrong but from what I understand the sim does not announce to the carrier hey this is eric shins phone. It instead just broad casts a number the carrier sees the number and associates it with eric shins number. That's why you can buy a prepaid att phone call the company up, give them the sim number and they can connect that with your phone.
More then likely the sim was physically damaged
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmnn... thats what I thought because the op post that somewhere in the process when putting back in the sim he see's it was reformatted. just like putting an sd card with my other phone that is not samsung it can't read/open files unless you format it that would surely delete the data in it. in his instance without a warning it automatically formatted the sim and deleted all the data in it which would make it useless. in his case the sim card before is associated with the network but somehow reformatted and the data in it was lost.
so he went to tmobile today and got a new sim card, and everything works again.
maybe it did get damaged in the process.. who knows now!

A different sim unlock question.

I have a T-Mobile sensation,S-off, xboarders CM7 rom... located in AZ. I do not have another sim card for another carrier, I obtained the unlock code from the terminal emulator method. I "THOUGHT" unlocking the sim card was enabling my current sim card/sensation for t-mobile, to work on other carriers.
However I obviously learned that the only way to enter the code was to insert a sim card from a different carrier, and enter the code. That being said, if I insert another sim card in my phone "like a friend with AT&T", will it affect his sim card at all? And when I put my sim card back in, will I be able to use different networks? Will it lock my sim card out of my phone or vise versa? I have been researching for a while now and I havent found too much defining what im looking for. Any one who can enlighten me would be appreciated!
all unlocking your phone does, is allows it to use different sim cards to run on different networks.
your available networks are controlled by your sim card, and any unlocking won't change that. No it won't effect your friend's att sim card, and not it won't hcange anything currently. However, if you were to get a different carrier that uses sim cards, then you could freely insert that sim card and then use their network with their sim card, provided you have the available frequencies supported (i.e. 3g/4g).
That makes sense. So people who have their phones sim unlocked usually sell the phone or have another sim card for a different network, which means they pay for two data plans? Well I feel like I wasted my time, I sure am glad I didnt pay to get my unlock code. On the bright side, the research I did find mentioned a higher resale value for the phone. However I dont see myself selling my sensation ANYTIME soon !
I appreciate the input, and thank you for your time sir!
ibmaxin said:
That makes sense. So people who have their phones sim unlocked usually sell the phone or have another sim card for a different network, which means they pay for two data plans? Well I feel like I wasted my time, I sure am glad I didnt pay to get my unlock code. On the bright side, the research I did find mentioned a higher resale value for the phone. However I dont see myself selling my sensation ANYTIME soon !
I appreciate the input, and thank you for your time sir!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a wasted of time when you are on a contract and do not planned to sell the phone, but if you travel inside or outside the country is a DAMN good advantage cus you just change or get a local SIM and you dont need to buy a new phone.. you see?
And also like you said "higher resale value for the phone"

Can I unlock a phone without a sim card?

I requested a unlock code from ATT for my Lumia 640, surprisingly it was approved in less than an hour, I have the code but I don't have any kind of sim card that fits the phone is there anyway to enter the unlock code without a sim-card, I read any sim card should work. anyone know?
Unlocking can only be done in the AT&T network coverage region. Without a SIM card in the phone, it is not possible to connect the phone to the mast.
ze7zez said:
Unlocking can only be done in the AT&T network coverage region. Without a SIM card in the phone, it is not possible to connect the phone to the mast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok but what I read is not to use the AT&T sim card only a non network sim card would trigger the entry for unlock code, but that doesn't add up if the phone needs to be connected to a ATT&T tower, which I assume there is one where I am. Actually a non network sim card is showing as valid but I get because the phone isn't unlocked yet it won't work. So it looks like I need a ATT&T sim card than, does that mean I would have to sign up for service with them? Or do I just buy a ATT&T sim card on ebay and unlock it to use on the network of my choice? Thanks
For specific questions, it is better to contact the mobile phone operator directly. Especially since you have an easy contact.

Categories

Resources