Moving a SIM Card from One Cell Phone to Another - General Questions and Answers

I can make calls from my TCL flip phone. Can I take the SIM from it, put it in my Pixel 7 Pro phone, and then make a call on the Pixel phone without having to do anything else?

Sim holds all phone service info...ie; contacts some app info and most importantly it stores IMEI and cellphone tower info..so...if the phone that you are taking the sim card out of...lets say its tmobile...okay so your 1st phone...the one you have service thru has a tmobile sim card...if the phone that your asking about working with your sim outta the other phone has to be tmobile also.
Long story short...sim will only work in other phone if they are networked by the same carrier...make sense bud?
Have a gpod evenong

@Skuddle
3 scenarios:
Your TCL phone is on carrier A. Your new Google phone is on the same carrier. Simply put the SIM card into the new phone and you are ready to go!
Your TCL phone number is on carrier A. But your new Google phone is on carrier B. You need to call carrier B to move your old number to the SIM card that carrier B gave you.
Your TCL phone is on carrier A. You have a new unlocked Google phone. Just put the SIM card in the new phone and that’s all you need.

@xXx yYy
Thank you very much for your reply. Just to verify that I understand what you wrote regarding Scenario 3...
The carrier for my TCL phone is Boost. I can make a call on that phone and I still have $150 worth of credit on it. The Boost plan is for voice and text only.
I don't have a carrier or a SIM card for my new unlocked Pixel phone yet. So if I move the SIM from my TCL phone to my Pixel phone, I will be able to make calls on it until I use up my $150 credit.
Is that right? Thanks again for your help!

Related

[Q] HELP Regarding the HD7S unlock problem

Hello, I brought a HTC HD7S unlocked version from Amazon. When I first got the phone, I put a AT&T prepaid sim card into the phone, it works well. However, because I need to modify the Live ID, I reset the phone to the factory setting. And then, bad things happened. When I put a AT&T prepaid sim card, it said, the SIM card is missing or invalid. When I put another AT&T prepaid sim card, it still did not work. However, when I put a AT&T family plan card into my phone, it works well. So what`s the problem and how can I use a AT&T prepaid sim instead of the family plan sim card ??
Best wishes for everyone
Help anyone who knows the answer . Thank you so much

[Q] Cut current LG G3 micro sim to nano or get new one - Verizon

My carrier is Verizon. I have an individual plan with a 2 year contract. My phone is an LG G3.
I recently just bought a Nexus 6 right off of the Google Store. The Nexus 6 takes a nano Sim card and unfortunately for me my current Verizon sim card in my LG G3 is a micro sim.
After going back and forth with Verizon I realized there is no official way of getting a nano sim card for a Nexus 6 IMEI bought directly from Google.
My unnoficial options:
1. Get a sim card cutter off of Amazon and cut my current sim card and put it in my Nexus 6. Then sell my LG G3 on EBay. When the next user gives the IMEI to a Verizon rep will this cause a problem since technically the IMEI / Sim number combo is still on my account?
2. An employee at a 3rd party Verizon reseller said he could just activate a new nano sim card using an IMEI number from a dummy iPhone that he has laying around. If I go this route my account will have an iPhone and a G3 on it I guess. Would I have to worry if the employee does the same thing for someone else? Does Verizon keep track of IMEIs or just device names on peoples accounts? If I go this route I will also be selling my G3 on EBay.
Can someone who has knowledge on this topic please tell me which path they would prefer and why? I would like to know the downsides of each method.
I'm on Verizon and I always buy my phones outside of Verizon store (just because used phones are cheaper).
Option 1: As long as you did not report your phone as being stolen or your account is getting blocked due to non-pay, your ESN is clean and can be activated with Verizon on other account. Once you put activated SIM card into your new phone, the old phone is getting removed from your account automatically because Verizon will get your new phone's information.
Option 2: Should not have any issues too, because you are getting the new SIM card assigned on your account and re-assigned with your phone, not the phone used to activate it. The same as above, you'll see the old iPhone on your account until you put the SIM card into your phone.
nochkin said:
I'm on Verizon and I always buy my phones outside of Verizon store (just because used phones are cheaper).
Option 1: As long as you did not report your phone as being stolen or your account is getting blocked due to non-pay, your ESN is clean and can be activated with Verizon on other account. Once you put activated SIM card into your new phone, the old phone is getting removed from your account automatically because Verizon will get your new phone's information.
Option 2: Should not have any issues too, because you are getting the new SIM card assigned on your account and re-assigned with your phone, not the phone used to activate it. The same as above, you'll see the old iPhone on your account until you put the SIM card into your phone.
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This is exactly the kind of response I was looking for!!! Thanks a lot!

Buying Unlocked Phone

I currently use a Motorola Atrix HD cell phone . The Android version is 4.1.1 and it will not update to a newer version. It is probably 4 years old at least. I want to get a newer phone but really was trying to avoid signing another 2 years contract with AT&T so wondered if I bought an unlocked phone that is AT&T compatible, can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and then use it as my new phone? I am older, 75, and need help with this decision. I don't need a phone with all the bells and whistles, just a basic smart phone to call, text, do email and other basic online functions. I did go to Best Buy and selected one of their unlocked phones but my SIM card would not fit the new phone so had to cancel that. Any help, comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
JosephDamien said:
I currently use a Motorola Atrix HD cell phone . The Android version is 4.1.1 and it will not update to a newer version. It is probably 4 years old at least. I want to get a newer phone but really was trying to avoid signing another 2 years contract with AT&T so wondered if I bought an unlocked phone that is AT&T compatible, can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and then use it as my new phone? I am older, 75, and need help with this decision. I don't need a phone with all the bells and whistles, just a basic smart phone to call, text, do email and other basic online functions. I did go to Best Buy and selected one of their unlocked phones but my SIM card would not fit the new phone so had to cancel that. Any help, comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
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Yes. Switching your current AT&T SIM card to another unlocked phone will work. There are a few things to watch out for:
1. Don't forger to somehow transfer your contacts to your new phone. This can be done with Google account sync or (easier) you could export your contacts from your phone to your SIM card.
2. There are multiple SIM card sizes (as you notices). There is standard size sim, micro sim and nano sim. Make sure your SIM size is compatible with your phone. If it's too big or too small go to AT&T and ask for a different size SIM card. Just don't ever use SIM adapters. They can break the phone's SIM tray permanently.
JosephDamien said:
I currently use a Motorola Atrix HD cell phone . The Android version is 4.1.1 and it will not update to a newer version. It is probably 4 years old at least. I want to get a newer phone but really was trying to avoid signing another 2 years contract with AT&T so wondered if I bought an unlocked phone that is AT&T compatible, can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and then use it as my new phone? I am older, 75, and need help with this decision. I don't need a phone with all the bells and whistles, just a basic smart phone to call, text, do email and other basic online functions. I did go to Best Buy and selected one of their unlocked phones but my SIM card would not fit the new phone so had to cancel that. Any help, comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
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see
What's your next smartphone / What should I buy by poseidon5213
and
**DEVICE SUGGESTION THREAD** -- Not sure what device to buy? Ask here! by KidCarter93
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Labs
janekmuric said:
Yes. Switching your current AT&T SIM card to another unlocked phone will work. There are a few things to watch out for:
1. Don't forger to somehow transfer your contacts to your new phone. This can be done with Google account sync or (easier) you could export your contacts from your phone to your SIM card.
2. There are multiple SIM card sizes (as you notices). There is standard size sim, micro sim and nano sim. Make sure your SIM size is compatible with your phone. If it's too big or too small go to AT&T and ask for a different size SIM card. Just don't ever use SIM adapters. They can break the phone's SIM tray permanently.
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Click to collapse
Thanks Janekmuric. I'll have to take out my SIM card and see what type it is. Also will try to see if there is a way on my phone to put my contacts on my SIM card. So moving my SIM card to a new phone (assuming it fits) will then enable me to begin to use that phone as my normal phone. I just can't believe it's that easy and that AT&T won't have their claws in there for some kind of fee or charge. I'll have to look for a phone then and want to try to get one that is at least version 6, I think that's Marshmallow. I've seen a number of these on Amazon that are unlocked and compatible with AT&T and not very expensive. I just need as I said earlier a basic smart phone to do calls, text, email and some basic internet. I do not do streaming or use my phone for music and all that.
JosephDamien said:
Thanks Janekmuric. I'll have to take out my SIM card and see what type it is. Also will try to see if there is a way on my phone to put my contacts on my SIM card. So moving my SIM card to a new phone (assuming it fits) will then enable me to begin to use that phone as my normal phone. I just can't believe it's that easy and that AT&T won't have their claws in there for some kind of fee or charge. I'll have to look for a phone then and want to try to get one that is at least version 6, I think that's Marshmallow. I've seen a number of these on Amazon that are unlocked and compatible with AT&T and not very expensive. I just need as I said earlier a basic smart phone to do calls, text, email and some basic internet. I do not do streaming or use my phone for music and all that.
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Good luck with finding a new phone. You can use GSMArena Phone Finder to find a phone you need. You put in what you want from the phone, what android version you want, what battery capacity, price, size and so on, and it returns a list of phones that fall into that category.
Samsung Galaxy J7 is good for what you need. It's responsive, fast, stylish and costs 220 USD on Amazon.com

Testing Unlocked Sprint Note 5 with at&t sim

I'm heading to Europe in a month and plan on using a European sim as I don't want to deal with Sprints free slow internet and $25 a week is more than I want to spend. Sprint is telling me my phone is unlocked (and I was under that impression years ago) but I want to be absolutely sure before I leave due to issues I've heard people have with Sprint phones. When I do the UICC unlock (with the Sprint sim still in), the phone tells me it can only be used with Sprint and to contact them. I called Sprint and they told me it is saying that because the Sprint sim is in the phone and the phone will work when another sim is added. I want to test my phone with my friend's at&t sim card. I really don't know squat about sim cards considering I've been a Sprint user my entire life. Therefore, I'm wondering:
1. Can I just turn off my phone, put the at&t sim in, reboot, and see if things work to test that the phone is truly unlocked?
2. After I'm done testing, can I put the at&t sim back in my friend's phone, and my Sprint sim back in mine, and have things go back to normal, or will this somehow screw things up with his phone or mine?

T-Mobile converted to international dual sim single imei question

As the title states, I have a T-Mobile OP 7 pro thats been converted to international. I already have the dual sim tray in it and have used it with a verizon sim in slot one and google fi in slot two. Only verizon required the imei to be attached to the sim. Google fi was pop it in and go.
Both lines worked perfectly with that set up.
I'm about to be using a verizon sim and a red pocket sim on att network in it. Thats going to require me to report the imei to redpocket to activate the sim sim same as verizon.
Will only haveing the one imei reported to both carriers be an issue? and is there a way to retrieve the second imei from the phone?+
I tried searching the forums and couldn't really find an answer.
As long as your 2 sims are on different networks for example one on AT&T and one on T-mobile you should be ok. The only time you might run into an issue is if you are using an mvno's sim that uses the same network as your primary. I'm doing that right now (also on a t-mobile op7 converted to international with dual sim tray) with T-mobile as my 2ndary and soon to be gone sim and Ultra Mobile as my Primary (which also uses t-mobile's network)......T-Mobile has been reported multiple times not to pay attention to this. Other networks may not be so forgiving. To answer your last questions...there IS no second imei to retrieve. The device was intended to be a single sim device so no 2nd one was allocated. The fact it works with the same imei in both is luck more than anything else.
famewolf said:
As long as your 2 sims are on different networks for example one on AT&T and one on T-mobile you should be ok. The only time you might run into an issue is if you are using an mvno's sim that uses the same network as your primary. I'm doing that right now (also on a t-mobile op7 converted to international with dual sim tray) with T-mobile as my 2ndary and soon to be gone sim and Ultra Mobile as my Primary (which also uses t-mobile's network)......T-Mobile has been reported multiple times not to pay attention to this. Other networks may not be so forgiving. To answer your last questions...there IS no second imei to retrieve. The device was intended to be a single sim device so no 2nd one was allocated. The fact it works with the same imei in both is luck more than anything else.
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Thanks for the reply, the second part is what I really wasn't sure of if the phone just hid the second IMEI or if it actually didn't have one.
I should be good then. I got the AT&T Redpocket sim and main will be Verizon.
blooddragon78 said:
Thanks for the reply, the second part is what I really wasn't sure of if the phone just hid the second IMEI or if it actually didn't have one.
I should be good then. I got the AT&T Redpocket sim and main will be Verizon.
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Don't quote me on this, but from days with the 6T, I'm pretty sure it's just not reported in the software correctly but on the network side there are actually two different IMEID.
You should be able to (at least on Verizon) to log in and see the IMEID that is attached to a SIM.
Try the VZW sim in slot 1 and check online for the imei. Log out and switch the sim to slot 2 and check again. Hopefully you should see a different imei. Please let us know what you find out.
Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk
blooddragon78 said:
As the title states, I have a T-Mobile OP 7 pro thats been converted to international. I already have the dual sim tray in it and have used it with a verizon sim in slot one and google fi in slot two. Only verizon required the imei to be attached to the sim. Google fi was pop it in and go.
Both lines worked perfectly with that set up.
I'm about to be using a verizon sim and a red pocket sim on att network in it. Thats going to require me to report the imei to redpocket to activate the sim sim same as verizon.
Will only haveing the one imei reported to both carriers be an issue? and is there a way to retrieve the second imei from the phone?+
I tried searching the forums and couldn't really find an answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@blooddragon78 couple questions for you, as I also have OP7P that I bought from t-mo and switched to international:
- Were you able to use the sim tray that came with the phone? Or did you buy an aftermarket tray? I've heard mixed messages about the tray from t-mo having physical space for 2 sim cards.
- Did you have to unlock your phone to make use of the dual SIM functionality? Or in other words, are you still making device payments to t-mo?
flick0416 said:
@blooddragon78 couple questions for you, as I also have OP7P that I bought from t-mo and switched to international:
- Were you able to use the sim tray that came with the phone? Or did you buy an aftermarket tray? I've heard mixed messages about the tray from t-mo having physical space for 2 sim cards.
- Did you have to unlock your phone to make use of the dual SIM functionality? Or in other words, are you still making device payments to t-mo?
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I purchased a dual Sim tray from Amazon. The Sim tray from T-mobile will not fit 2 Sim cards. I'm a t-mobile tech expert so I do know for sure aside from owning one and doing it. For dual Sim to work the device does need to be unlocked as it only has one imei. If you didn't unlock before the conversion you will need to convert back to get the unlock app to be able to unlock.
There were a couple of threads on xda to get unlocked in the system but you still have to run the app. Not sure if they are active still.
If you need some help dm me.
Help with Op 7 Pro Sprint Unlocked version
Hello, I sent you a private message @blooddragon78, but Imma post here as well to see if anyone else can help me out, I'll greatly appreciate it. I came across this thread on being able to convert a T-mobile OP 7 Pro to the international version and enabling dual sim functionality. I was hoping to do the same as well, but I havent made the purchase yet in case it's not doable. Im currently looking at this OP7 Pro (Sprint version) that was factory unlocked and sold on Amazon (it's the OP 7 Pro sold at USD 499 by the Farmug Store) (if will be great if you guys can check and see the product to know what I mean exactly).
My question is what is the difference and meaning between "factory unlock/ phone unlocked" vs "sim unlocked" vs "unlocked bootloader?" I know this phone is unlocked for use on different carriers (and I live in Malaysia even), but how do I convert the phone to the international version so that I can receive updates from OnePlus directly (and not through the carrier)?
And how do I enable the dual sim functionality? Do I need to unlock the bootloader? Am I able to do that myself? Because I got confused as some people say unlocking the sim can only be done by the carrier, but Im not sure what is the difference of that with unlocking the bootloader.
In addition, say if Im able to convert it to the international version and get updates from OnePlus directly, dual sim functionality is enabled and such. Will updating the OS of the phone automatically (not doing it manually) lock the network/ brick the phone?
xHayashi said:
Hello, I sent you a private message @blooddragon78, but Imma post here as well to see if anyone else can help me out, I'll greatly appreciate it. I came across this thread on being able to convert a T-mobile OP 7 Pro to the international version and enabling dual sim functionality. I was hoping to do the same as well, but I havent made the purchase yet in case it's not doable. Im currently looking at this OP7 Pro (Sprint version) that was factory unlocked and sold on Amazon (it's the OP 7 Pro sold at USD 499 by the Farmug Store) (if will be great if you guys can check and see the product to know what I mean exactly).
My question is what is the difference and meaning between "factory unlock/ phone unlocked" vs "sim unlocked" vs "unlocked bootloader?" I know this phone is unlocked for use on different carriers (and I live in Malaysia even), but how do I convert the phone to the international version so that I can receive updates from OnePlus directly (and not through the carrier)?
And how do I enable the dual sim functionality? Do I need to unlock the bootloader? Am I able to do that myself? Because I got confused as some people say unlocking the sim can only be done by the carrier, but Im not sure what is the difference of that with unlocking the bootloader.
In addition, say if Im able to convert it to the international version and get updates from OnePlus directly, dual sim functionality is enabled and such. Will updating the OS of the phone automatically (not doing it manually) lock the network/ brick the phone?
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I don't k ow about dual sim.but converting International will allow Ota updates. If it's sim unlocked it should stay. Mine is still sim locked to t-mobile and I'm on internatti fimware

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