I have read through the info on using French sim cards and I have decided that is the way I am going. I have obtained my %26quot;unlock%26quot; code from cingular wireless and confirmed I have a GSM tri-band phone.
Has anyone ever purchased a %26quot;used%26quot; sim card ? I see one on e-bay I may bid on. I assume the procedure in activating it would be different because the phone number would already be pre-assigned.
If anyone has any tips it would be much appreciated. I just found out by reading on the internet that you need to switch the frequency in %26quot;settings%26quot; on your cell phone when you arrive in France to 1800 Europe. That info is a little late in coming (ok, I am technically challenged) because on my last trip to Paris, cingular said my phone would work and it did not. I expected I could just turn it on and it would work and did not know I had to change the settings !!
So, any more great advice on how to activate these cards, including used ones would be helpful !! For example, when do I enter my unlock code ? Will the phone ask me for this when I turn it on after inserting the new sim card ?
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there is vritually no benefit buying a used SIM card, except you get to know your phone number before you leave, if the SIM is still working. But hey, maybe it%26#39;s a number that gets prank calls day and night.
if it%26#39;s USED, it%26#39;s already activated. You switch on the phone, and hope that it works.
Only certain Motorola models require human intervention for switching frequencies. Instructions are in the manual, which can be downloaded from the motorola website.
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There is no code changing for frequency, your phone will do the job. If you speak littl;e French, I%26#39;d suggest you go into a SFR store or a Orange store and ask for the Mobicarte (if you go into SFR). They will gladly activate it for you and will give you your phone number. Remeber you have to refill your card at least once every 6 months in order to keep your number. Ask the clerk if you can refill it from the USA. If you can (I cannot from Canada...), buy a refill card just before leaving back to the States and recharge your phone at the limit of the 6 months period. Refill cards have a 1.5 yr period for validity.
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If you are not going to use your cell phone a lot or be in France more than 2 weeks, a great solution is to get a SIM card from fonquest: They will rent you the card free for up to 2 weeks (with a phone, from them the fee is 8 euros/day). You can get the number ahead online and pick up the card at the airport, then return it by mail in the postpaid envelope they give you. All your incoming calls are free and calls within France are .76 Euros/minute. That%26#39;s expensive if you are a constant chatter, but if you just want it for convenience and emergency use, this is a great deal. See their website for rates to other countries. They were very nice to deal with; I just returned yesterday from Paris.
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GSM frequencies used in North America are 850 and 1900 MHz. Frequencies used in the rest of the world are 900 and 1800 MHz. Some tri-band phone used either 1 North American frequency and both 900 and 1800 MHz or some other variation of 3 frequencies. With these (usually older phones) there is no setting to change.
With newer quad band phones (phone capable of using both complete frequency sets), you may have to select either the NA frequency set or the European set. This is menu selectable, the exact procedural steps vary by telephone but it is usually self explanatory.
A key element here is of course that the phone is not %26quot;locked%26quot; to a specific service provider (TMobile or Cingular for instance). This can be confirmed by borrowing someone else%26#39;s sim and putting it into your phone to see if you can make calls. If you can not call out with the borrowed sim, the phone is not successfully unlocked.
I recommend that you buy a sim from the company with which you will be doing business in France (SFR, Orange, Bouygues, and others). The costs vary depending upon the company and the number of original minutes included in the sim but the sims are widely available (cost 30 euros or less). The sims may be recharged various ways for additional minutes. If the sim is not used for a period of time (varies from company to company, usually 6-12 months) it is no longer rechargeable and the phone number is assigned elsewhere. For this reason, I recommend you do not buy a used sim.
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yymca6,
If you are using SFR, there is a way to recharge it from Canada using the internet. The important first step is that you must apply for an online accout. Your account access code is then sent to your phone as a text message. To receive the text message you must be in France of course. Once this step is complete however, you can access your online account (using a credit card) and recharge your phone from anywhere in the world.
This process can be useful for those who travel to France from time to time and do not want to risk having their phone number reassigned or their sim card deactivated.
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I use a triband Palm Treo and as soon as I arrive in France it switches to the Orange network automatically without any changes from me. I only use the phone for emergencies. I could try to unlock mine and get a SIM, but the Treos can have problems and I don%26#39;t want to chance getting over there and not have a working phone. I have Cingular too and I have found that the phone actually works BETTER over there than it does here in some respects.
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I have an LG phone and I noticed in the %26quot;%26quot;settings%26quot; menu that there is %26quot;frequency%26quot; listed and then %26quot;america ## and ##%26quot; and %26quot;Europe 1800%26quot; so I am only assuming I need to change it. Maybe it does change automatically ?? The phone is less than a year old.
I did get my %26quot;unlock%26quot; code. I suppose I will have to enter this code when I put in my new sim card.
Thanks for all your help so far ! I don%26#39;t think I will buy the used sim card, that way I will have assistance.
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waytogogirl
I recommend you go through the steps now to unlock your phone.
If you have a friend who uses a cell phone company other than your own, put his/her sim in your telephone and try to make a call to confirm that your telephone is indeed unlocked (that it will accept sims from a company other than your normal service provider). With GSM equipment, your sim is what identifies you on your normal service provider%26#39;s network, not the telephone itself.
Once you arrive in France, you probably will need to switch the frequency set to render your phone operable. This is actually to your advantage because you will have the advantage of using both frequencies in the European frequency set.
When you buy your French sim, sales people are usually very knowledge and can help you configure your phone (as long as it is indeed unlocked).
Unlocking problems will be much easier to resolve here than when you get to France.
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A used sim card is probably not a good idea for a number of reasons.
Firstly, in france a sim card is registered to somebody and you need to show ID to purchase it (if you%26#39;re not a citizen of a European Union nation, then generally the only acceptable ID is a passport). So potentially somebody could want to unload this sim card on somebody else to help hide their tracks.
Secondly, they expire if not recharged regularly. So this sim you buy might have 50€ on it, but only one week of validity left, so when you arrive in France it is expired.
You can buy a new simcard from any provider for about 35€ and that will include an initial pre charge worth something like 15 - 25 € of %26quot;free%26quot; credit.
As far as unlocking goes, normally you need to connect your phone to a computer that has the appropirate software (you will need the appropriate USB cable as well) and then you select the model and make of your phone and enter the code. Many resellers can do this for you. This can also be done by sms. There are some websites where you pay a fee ($5 - $10) and once you enter your phone make and model the website sends you an sms with the unlock codes. This really works and is not a scam in anyway.
I have two %26quot;tri-band%26quot; phones (motorola and sony ericsson). They are both de-simlocked and both work in France and Czech Republic and in the USA no problem without having to change any settings when I arrive.
a simcard is automatically activated when you buy it. All you need to do is put it in your phone. Sometimes you need a PIN code to turn on your phone, but sometimes not (so if you buy a used sim make sure you are getting the PIN code if there is one, and the PUK code (which the network provider will need to unblock your phone, in the event that your phone is blocked because you entered the wrong PIN code too many times). So the issue of PIN and PUK codes is yet another reason to avoid buying a used SIM. Maybe the guy selling t you won%26#39;t know what a PUK code is!
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Regarding the unlock code websites. The type of sms (text message) they send you, is what is called a data sms. It automatically unlocks your phone and you don%26#39;t have to enter anything. The sms will arrive to your phone, the phone will emit a tone, and some message will probably be displayed explaining that your phone is no longer sim-locked.
Good Luck
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