Sim Cards

RE: [spiers] Sim Cards

Yes, you do need the right GSM band phone for the
country of use. Here is a listing of the bands used
by different countries:

http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml

Here is an explanation of band usage:

http://www.thetravelinsider.com/roadwarriorcontent/quadbandphones.htm


--- sourcesf wrote:

> I have several friends who have unlocked their
> phones and successfully
> used them with new sim cards. The only bad
> experience I had over there
> was one time I tried to unlock an AT&T cell phone
> (before they became
> part of Cingular) and they said it was impossible to
> truly unlock AT&T
> carrier phones. Other than that, I've never heard
> of any other issues
> at all.
>
> If your phone doesn't work there, then the first
> thing that comes to
> mind that I would ask is whether the phone you used
> is a tri-band phone
> (supports 900/1800/1900 MHz bands). If the phone
> doesn't support the
> band of the country then it won't work regardless of
> whether it's
> unlocked.
>
>
> So, hopefully there's a cell phone expert out there
> in our group who
> can give their definitive two cents on the matter.
>
> It's no fun to find out (when you're already in your
> destination) that
> something won't work. By the way, the time I
> brought my AT&T phone to
> China and couldn't get it unlocked I ended up buying
> a second hand
> phone for convenience. As many I'm sure know, cell
> phones (even or
> especially used phones) are more expensive over
> there than they are
> here due to the nature of the cost structure
> differences for phone and
> service. Because of the differences in price, you
> would be better off
> buying a used phone here in the US (in other words,
> you can find a good
> quality used phone very cheap here). The used phone
> I bought over
> there had problems and I didn't have much recourse
> with the vendor I
> purchased the phone from. All in all, it ended up
> being more
> troublesome than a convenience. Therefore, the next
> time I just
> brought a nice working phone with me from the US and
> unlocked it when I
> got there. Problem solved.
>
> Victor
>
>
> --- Lily Yuan wrote:
>
> > I paid to unlock my phone, and then tried to use
> the phone in China
> > with a new
> > sim card. NO, it didn't work. The sim card worked
> in my Chinese
> > friend's
> > cellphone. I think the American wireless phone
> companies must have
> > put a
> > special code in the phones so that you can't just
> switch out a sim
> > card to use
> > the phone....
> > Lily
> >
> > --- LINDA HALL wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > > I just returned from 3 weeks in China and tried
> to get a new sim
> > card to cut
> > > phone expences while there. The store put one
> in and it was locked
> > and
> > > needed a password to unlock it. So I couldnt do
> it.
> > > So checkout Skype, it works great, and sound it
> great.
> > >
> > > Linda Hall
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Compete on Design!
> > >
> > > www.johnspiers.com

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