Originally Posted by mumpi

By cloned I mean a friend of mine copied my sim card using something that he bought off ebay (I don’t know much about it) and put the cloned sim card in an extra phone being that I have unlimited minutes. And yes it causes conflicts as only one of us can talk at the same time because of it but he rarely used it at first so I was fine with it. I was thinking that by buying a new sim card that that one would not work anymore, but you are saying I would need a completely new number? If this is true let me know.

Either get the sim card back from your friend, or get a new number and cancel the old one. That is the only way you can get away from the headaches. And by the way, your friend is not doing you any favors doing that. The cell company makes its’ money by selling service, and you are cheating them out of the service your friend is using. Cell companies take a dim view of that.

Originally Posted by BlkBear

When you say that your old sim card was "CLONED" what exactly do you mean when you use that word? And if it were indeed "CLONED" you would NOT want to keep the same phone number, since the "cloner" has it now and has been using it. But then I think you must mean something else, since two SIM cards with the same phone number can't be active at the same time on the same network.

By cloned I mean a friend of mine copied my sim card using something that he bought off ebay (I don't know much about it) and put the cloned sim card in an extra phone being that I have unlimited minutes. And yes it causes conflicts as only one of us can talk at the same time because of it but he rarely used it at first so I was fine with it. I was thinking that by buying a new sim card that that one would not work anymore, but you are saying I would need a completely new number? If this is true let me know.

As far as plans go I was going to keep mine and buy a new phone by "upgrading" it from my current one. I'de like some more info on if I have to get a completely new number rather then new sim card to stop the cloned card from working. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by mumpi

Here is my first question.. I want to purchase a new phone along with a new sim card (old one was cloned and its become a huge annoyance) but I want to keep the same number. I basically need as much information as possible here, what is the best way to go about purchasing the new phone and sim card, whether it be through a local cingular store or online and also how do I know if it is available in my area and with my current plan and why it would be or wouldn't be.

When you say that your old sim card was "CLONED" what exactly do you mean when you use that word? And if it were indeed "CLONED" you would NOT want to keep the same phone number, since the "cloner" has it now and has been using it. But then I think you must mean something else, since two SIM cards with the same phone number can't be active at the same time on the same network.

As for buying a new phone, what is your budget for buying a new phone? Are you going to depend on a new phone with plan discount? Or will you be paying retail for your phone and buying it outright? I see you say "around $200"... is that for a new or used phone?

As for Plans... how many mins are you using now? And will you be paying for the plan or is someone else is paying for it, how much are they willing to spend on your plan? Do you need text messaging? If so do you send more text messages than you receive? Will you be wanting to use the internet with your phone? If so that's something else you need to factor in to the plan.

Also are you planning on staying with your current carrier?
Are you planning on staying with a GSM phone and carrier? If not that's going to limit which phones you will want to look at.

Originally Posted by mumpi

EDIT-- After recently looking at phone auctions on ebay and clicking on "Check Service Coverage" on some of the auctions I found that when I put my zip code in I didn't have coverage for that phone. Could anyone explain why this is or what makes coverage with cingular work with some phones and not others.

Well if the phone was not made for Cingular or sold by them, that could be part of the reason (if the ad was for a phone not sold by them). You have to remember that people selling things on Ebay, may have bought them someplace OTHER than the US.

Example any phones made to work with Verizon, would not work with Cingular because the companies have totally different networks. Verizon being CDMA (no sim cards), and Cingular and T-Mobile which are both GSM.

So make certain that any phone that you are thinking about buying, can operate on the Frequencys that are used here in the US. 850 Mhz for Cingular's main band 1900 for some area and roaming. 1900 Mhz for T-Mobile's main band and 850 for roaming in some areas.

When in doubt and not sure go here to check out a phone and to see what carrier might be using it.
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/finder.php

You can get a replacement phone and sim card either way, online or in a local retailer. Most likely you will get out cheaper by going online though. If your considering the RAZR V3, I'd go ahead and get the V3i. It adds a megapixel camera and music player with expandable memory.

Originally Posted by mumpi

EDIT-- After recently looking at phone auctions on ebay and clicking on "Check Service Coverage" on some of the auctions I found that when I put my zip code in I didn't have coverage for that phone. Could anyone explain why this is or what makes coverage with cingular work with some phones and not others.

You will need to make sure that the phone you choose supports both the 850 and 1900mhz bands. If the phone is not a cingular branded phone, then it needs to be a unlocked phone. With a unlocked phone, you'll need to configure the Media Net and MMS settings.

Hello, first I would like to say I have no experience with purchasing phones or phone plans, and little knowledge on the subject so I will be needing detailed advice.

I have been using the same cingular phone for probably about two years, it came free with the plan (which I do not pay for).

Here is my first question.. I want to purchase a new phone along with a new sim card (old one was cloned and its become a huge annoyance) but I want to keep the same number. I basically need as much information as possible here, what is the best way to go about purchasing the new phone and sim card, whether it be through a local cingular store or online and also how do I know if it is available in my area and with my current plan and why it would be or wouldn't be.

Also I would like some advice on what phone to actually purchase, I am mainly interested in Motorola phones, I browsed through a few of the threads on this forum and what seems to stand out was the Motorola SLVR L7, as well as the ROKR, and I have heard good things about the Razr as well. I would like a little advice on a phone to choose if possible, what is most appealing to me in a phone is the camera and video recording options, I am looking to spend around $200 but money is not a huge issue.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read through this and help my out.

EDIT-- After recently looking at phone auctions on ebay and clicking on "Check Service Coverage" on some of the auctions I found that when I put my zip code in I didn't have coverage for that phone. Could anyone explain why this is or what makes coverage with cingular work with some phones and not others.