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Old mobile phones
Benzine - 16/1/10 at 06:37 PM

Old mobiles ftw, I have a bunch of old nokias. Most of them work fine but I'm having problems with a couple of older ones I recently got (2140 and 9000i). They keep getting a "Sim card rejected" error which, with nokias, usually means the phone is locked to a network other than your sim card (e.g. trying to use an O2 sim in an orange phone)

Are newer sim cards backwards compatible with older phones? When did 3g sims come into play? If this is the issue, is it possible to get older sims that will work?

philw - 16/1/10 at 06:43 PM

Won't they be on a different gsm thingy, just an idea

Benzine - 16/1/10 at 06:56 PM

quote:
Originally posted by philw
Won't they be on a different gsm thingy, just an idea



Doesn't gsm just mean a phone that uses a SIM? Gsm was introduced in 1991 and both phones are made since then so I thought that all sim cards work with all gsm phones. One of the phones is locked to orange but I have two orange sims and they both get the same error, the contacts are clean and as-new.

Just wondered if, even though all gsm phones use sim cards, there have been changes to the sim cards which render old gsm phones useless unless using an older sim. Confused!

scudderfish - 16/1/10 at 07:04 PM

GSM works on a number of different frequencies. It used to be that (if I remember correctly) Voda and Cellnet used 900MHz, Orange and one2one were on 1800Mhz, and the US was 1900MHz. I have an old Nokia Communicator that only works on 900MHz, and I only have Virgin & T-Mobile SIMs (both are actually the same network) so I can't use it. Modern phones work on all frequencies used by GSM so no more dual-band or tri-band advertising.

mookaloid - 16/1/10 at 07:05 PM

this is wierd - about an hour ago I did exactly the same thing - I have a 2140 on orange which I have from new and I just tried it with my current orange SIM and got the same message.



I would very much like to know the answer to this too.

Cheers

Mark

scudderfish - 16/1/10 at 07:06 PM

Could be a voltage problem, from Wikipedia

quote:
There are three standards for SIM cards: ISO/IEC 7816 Class A, B and C (5V, 3V and 1.8V). The operating voltage of the majority of SIM cards launched before 1998 was 5V. SIM cards produced subsequently are compatible with 3V and 5V or compatible with 1.8V and 3V.

scudderfish - 16/1/10 at 07:12 PM

Mind you, I find this one works just fine

Benzine - 16/1/10 at 07:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
Mind you, I find this one works just fine

pic of 900


Yes but my 9000 could actually be used as a weapon for self defence

quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
GSM works on a number of different frequencies. It used to be that (if I remember correctly) Voda and Cellnet used 900MHz, Orange and one2one were on 1800Mhz, and the US was 1900MHz. I have an old Nokia Communicator that only works on 900MHz, and I only have Virgin & T-Mobile SIMs (both are actually the same network) so I can't use it. Modern phones work on all frequencies used by GSM so no more dual-band or tri-band advertising.


Useful info, something to look into! thanks.

After some quick googling it looks like the 9000 used 1900mhz in the US and 900mhz in the UK

[Edited on 16/1/10 by Benzine]

Charlie_Zetec - 17/1/10 at 01:55 AM

GSM frequencies refer to the systems used around the globe. 900 meant single band (predominantly the UK), 1800 was the rest of Europe and surrounding countries, and 1900 was the USA and Canada. This was also referred to as "standard band", "dual band" and "tri band" respectively.

As for compatibility, most modern mobiles are locked to their unique companies (Voda/Orange/O2 etc.) and most can be unlocked using a data cable and the appropriate software. Else you can send them back to the network provider and they can unlock them for you for about £30 - usually negotiable.

But beware, if you're trying to use a phone that wasn't yours originally and you've purchased off eBay or similar, it could be locked by the network at a serial number level - a new counter-fraud measure they introduced to lower the amount of bogus insurance claims and resale of new handsets.

As for backward compatibility, most are but you won't be able to access a lot of features that are available on the SIM card as the phones technology is too old. The only exception to this rule is the '3' network, who nicely create their own brand phones and SIM cards.

Ninehigh - 17/1/10 at 10:09 AM

I'd imagine that either the phone is broken (as all my old ones are) or the sim is incompatible. It might be possible to copy everything over to an old sim though...

Danozeman - 17/1/10 at 11:55 AM

digital and anaologue?

MikeRJ - 17/1/10 at 01:17 PM

Need some more options, I have a fairly modern phone but hair that looks like it was styled by a food blender

Benzine - 17/1/10 at 01:46 PM

I LOVE MY BRICK!


From left to right: Current use 6300, 2410, 9000i






The 9000i really does look like I have a canoe in my pocket.

Benzine - 17/1/10 at 01:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
I'd imagine that either the phone is broken (as all my old ones are) or the sim is incompatible. It might be possible to copy everything over to an old sim though...


I'm pretty sure it's the SIM that's causing the problem, the phone was tested before I got it using an orange PAYG sim which worked. I'm getting conflicting info on the web about how to tell if a SIM is 2g or 3g. Just need to find an old SIM somewhere...


quote:
Originally posted by Danozeman
digital and anaologue?


SIM card therefore digital

[Edited on 17/1/10 by Benzine]