cell phone question

Chau

Senior member
May 23, 2001
712
4
71
i have an old nokia 8290 that i don't use anymore...im not too clear on the "locked or unlocked" thing..but the service i had on that cell phone was cingular and it used a SIM card..

i got a new service plan and new SIM card and new cell phone around december, and i was messing around and tried to put my new SIM card into my old nokia 8290. and it says "SIM card not accepted", anyone know why this is?

thanks
 

Chau

Senior member
May 23, 2001
712
4
71
it stores all your phone numbers, and basically your phone account on it, so that u can take the SIM card out and put it in another cell phone and use it
 

Semidevil

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2002
3,017
0
76
dont' you need some unlocking tools to unlock your phone before you use your new sim card?? I always thought that the hardware inside a phone is locked to it's provider, so if you change providers, you'll need to unlock it.

I"m not helping, but I bet that www.howardchui.com can help you. they have a very active discussion forum there.
 

MoJoichiban

Member
Jan 22, 2001
138
0
0
call cingular and ask them for the unlock code for your phone. after your contract with them as expired they give you a number to input into your phone and unlock it (3 screwups and your phone is permanently disabled).

you'll be able to stick in your new sim card and use that phone as a backup if you wish, i gave my old phone to my roomate. we're both on cingular so he didn't need to do anything. i should probably unlock it but it doesn't really matter since he's still using it with cingular.


 

Chau

Senior member
May 23, 2001
712
4
71
my old provider and current one is both cingular so i never switched providers..