reply to discussion
Results 1 to 11 of 11
  1. #1
    P.Schuman
    Guest
    Which types of phones have SIM cards ?
    I recall that initially the GSM phones had them,
    but don't know if they have also become mainstream
    for a lot more phones that are not on GSM networks ?

    I friend travelled to Egypt, and said he "bought" a SIM with prepaid calls,
    and loaded it onto his phone, and then used his normal SIM the rest of the
    time ??
    How did he do that.... did the prepay SIM get "copied" to some internal area
    ?

    What happens when you move a SIM from phone to phone ?

    Another friend just upgraded to a new BB on Sprint (I think),
    and when he was at BestBuy, the clerk "pocketed" the old SIM,
    until my friend caught him, and demanded the SIM be put back into the new
    BB.





    See More: SIM card - only for GSM or ??




  2. #2
    Gordon Huff
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    P.Schuman wrote:
    > Which types of phones have SIM cards ?
    > I recall that initially the GSM phones had them,
    > but don't know if they have also become mainstream
    > for a lot more phones that are not on GSM networks ?


    Only GSM phones have SIM cards. iDEN phones have a "RUIM" card that
    looks like a SIM card. Once upon a time, CDMA phones were going to get
    RUIM cards but it didn't happen.
    >
    > I friend travelled to Egypt, and said he "bought" a SIM with prepaid calls,


    You do that in the US and in Europe, too.

    > and loaded it onto his phone, and then used his normal SIM the rest of the
    > time ??
    > How did he do that.... did the prepay SIM get "copied" to some internal area
    > ?


    It's just as easy as it sounds. Nothing special happens.

    >
    > What happens when you move a SIM from phone to phone ?
    >


    If I put your SIM in my phone - I have your telephone number and phonebook.


    > Another friend just upgraded to a new BB on Sprint (I think),
    > and when he was at BestBuy, the clerk "pocketed" the old SIM,
    > until my friend caught him, and demanded the SIM be put back into the new
    > BB.


    Sprint does not use SIM cards. When an old number is moved to a new SIM,
    the old SIM is jewelry, I think. Someone will correct me, I'm sure.
    Regards



  3. #3
    Cellguy
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:13:20 -0600, P.Schuman wrote:

    > Which types of phones have SIM cards ?
    > I recall that initially the GSM phones had them,
    > but don't know if they have also become mainstream
    > for a lot more phones that are not on GSM networks ?


    Nope, only GSM phones.

    > I friend travelled to Egypt, and said he "bought" a SIM with prepaid calls,
    > and loaded it onto his phone, and then used his normal SIM the rest of the
    > time ??
    > How did he do that.... did the prepay SIM get "copied" to some internal area


    The SIM is just read by the phone and it responds, like switching USB
    drives between computers.

    > What happens when you move a SIM from phone to phone ?


    The new phone works on your network just like the old one.




  4. #4
    danny burstein
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    [snip]

    >> What happens when you move a SIM from phone to phone ?
    >>


    >If I put your SIM in my phone - I have your telephone number and phonebook.


    Not entirely. Numbers (and addresses...) that are stored
    in the _phone's_ memory aren't transferred over.

    And as I've discovered to my vast annoyance, SIM cards
    do _not_ hold the addresses, so those have to stay
    on the phone.


    --
    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    [email protected]
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]



  5. #5
    SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    P.Schuman wrote:
    > Which types of phones have SIM cards ?
    > I recall that initially the GSM phones had them,
    > but don't know if they have also become mainstream
    > for a lot more phones that are not on GSM networks ?


    The only time I've seen CDMA phones that could take SIM cards was in
    Korea during the FIFA World Cup. SK Telecom in Korea may still offer
    this service with rented phones (you use your own SIM in their CDMA phone).

    See
    "http://www.cellular.co.za/news_2002/012202-international_roaming_goes_globa.htm"

    There are also the combinations GSM/CDMA phones, but only the GSM part
    of it uses a SIM card.



  6. #6
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    At 31 Dec 2007 09:13:20 -0600 P.Schuman wrote:
    > Which types of phones have SIM cards ?
    > I recall that initially the GSM phones had them,
    > but don't know if they have also become mainstream
    > for a lot more phones that are not on GSM networks ?



    Some Asian CDMA phones use SIMs as do Nextel iDen phones. American CDMA
    phones do not use them.

    > I friend travelled to Egypt, and said he "bought" a SIM with prepaid
    > calls, and loaded it onto his phone, and then used his normal SIM
    > the rest of the time ??
    > How did he do that.... did the prepay SIM get "copied" to some
    > internal area ?


    No- it's one or the other. You take one out to insert the other. I assume
    your friend used the Egyptian prepaid SIM in Egypt then put his usual one
    back in the phone when he left.

    > What happens when you move a SIM from phone to phone ?



    Picture the SIM as like the ESN of your Verizon phone. In GSM the SIM is
    activated, not the phone. The phones are just "dumb" generic phones that
    belong to whatever account the currently inserted SIM belongs to.

    >
    > Another friend just upgraded to a new BB on Sprint (I think),
    > and when he was at BestBuy, the clerk "pocketed" the old SIM,
    > until my friend caught him, and demanded the SIM be put back into the new
    > BB.


    It must have been a Nextel BB (Sprint bought Nextel a few years ago and
    runs the two incompatible networks side by side.) Sprint's CDMA phones do
    not use SIMs, but the Nextel phones do.

    I'm not sure why the clerk was "pocketing" a old used SIM- they're
    essentially valueless. He MAY have been "pocketing" the NEW one- they have
    a small inventory value to a store, and upgraders don't need them since
    they move the old existing SIM from the old phone to the new. Most stores
    remove SIMs from upgrade handsets, since SIMs "belong" to the account
    rather than to the phone, and upgrade handsets don't start new accounts.

    I just replaced my T-Mobile SIM a few months ago (as a trobleshooting
    measure suggested by T-Mo technical support.) It was from 2001, still said
    "Voicestream" (T-Mo's predecessor) on it, and had been in at least a half-
    dozen different phones in my tenure with T-Mo, before I replaced it with a
    new one.






  7. #7
    Michael N. Paris
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    Right, some asian cdma phones use R-UIM cards which are compatable with SIM
    cards. So if you were from Korea and threw it into a GSM phone with a roam
    agreement with that carrier, would work. IDEN used SIM's.




  8. #8
    Peter Pan
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    Gordon Huff wrote:
    >> Another friend just upgraded to a new BB on Sprint (I think),
    >> and when he was at BestBuy, the clerk "pocketed" the old SIM,
    >> until my friend caught him, and demanded the SIM be put back into
    >> the new BB.

    >
    > Sprint does not use SIM cards. When an old number is moved to a new
    > SIM, the old SIM is jewelry, I think. Someone will correct me, I'm
    > sure. Regards


    As you said, sprint (and any other carriers CDMA phones do *NOT* use sim
    cards, many CDMA phones have memory cards, and on those you can not only
    store phone specific stuff but also store all sorts of personal information
    on.... Ergo, if it was a sprint phone, there was no way a sim card was
    involved in a number swap, and if he bought a new phone, that doesn't have a
    place for a memory card, what/how can he put the memory card in a phone that
    doesn't have a memory card slot?





  9. #9
    BruceR
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??



    Peter Pan wrote:
    > Gordon Huff wrote:
    >>> Another friend just upgraded to a new BB on Sprint (I think),
    >>> and when he was at BestBuy, the clerk "pocketed" the old SIM,
    >>> until my friend caught him, and demanded the SIM be put back into
    >>> the new BB.

    >>
    >> Sprint does not use SIM cards. When an old number is moved to a new
    >> SIM, the old SIM is jewelry, I think. Someone will correct me, I'm
    >> sure. Regards

    >
    > As you said, sprint (and any other carriers CDMA phones do *NOT* use
    > sim cards, many CDMA phones have memory cards, and on those you can
    > not only store phone specific stuff but also store all sorts of
    > personal information on.... Ergo, if it was a sprint phone, there was
    > no way a sim card was involved in a number swap, and if he bought a
    > new phone, that doesn't have a place for a memory card, what/how can
    > he put the memory card in a phone that doesn't have a memory card
    > slot?


    The same holds true for GSM phones. Many now sport slots foro microSD
    cards. I have 2gb card in my razr v6 plus a SIM.





  10. #10
    SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    Michael N. Paris wrote:
    > Right, some asian cdma phones use R-UIM cards which are compatable with
    > SIM cards. So if you were from Korea and threw it into a GSM phone with
    > a roam agreement with that carrier, would work. IDEN used SIM's.


    On the SK Telecom phones, you put your SIM card from your GSM phone into
    their CDMA phone. Whatever it's called, the SK Telecom phone took a SIM
    card.



  11. #11
    Miles
    Guest

    Re: SIM card - only for GSM or ??

    * danny burstein wrote:
    > [snip]
    >
    >>> What happens when you move a SIM from phone to phone ?
    >>>

    >
    >> If I put your SIM in my phone - I have your telephone number and phonebook.

    >
    > Not entirely. Numbers (and addresses...) that are stored
    > in the _phone's_ memory aren't transferred over.
    >
    > And as I've discovered to my vast annoyance, SIM cards
    > do _not_ hold the addresses, so those have to stay
    > on the phone.
    >
    >


    A huge annoyance. One time the Nokia shop in Hong Kong unbeknownst to
    me updated the software in my 6260 and I lost all addresses, etc., only
    had names and phone numbers. Guess that's the benefit of the software
    in that it could be downloaded to a computer, thence to a CD or thumb
    drive as backup.

    Also on the 6260 only one card's phone name and phone numbers can be
    copied to the sim at a time, hence it's quite a tedious effort for such
    a minimal amount of info!
    Miles



  • Similar Threads







  • Quick Reply Quick Reply

    If you are already a member, please login above.