If I buy an unlocked cell phone do I take the SIM out of my current phone and put it in the new phone to get the same exact service on the new phone? Same phone number, same plan, etc. ? I am on T Mobile.
Yep, you pretty much nailed it. The phone company doesn’t care what phone you use in general. As long as the phone is compatible with your network’s radio frequency, all you have to do is put your SIM card in and you’re good to go.
How does it work for a CDMA phone since they have no SIM?
Short answer: It doesn’t.
Long answer: If you want to change phones on a CDMA network, you have to take the CDMA phone you want to use to the store (or call customer service, but that’s usually harder) and have them transfer your service from one phone to the other.
Yes. The information that is portable in the SIM, like your phone number, is programmed into a CDMA phone.
Bear in mind that CDMA phones are nearly useless internationally, you’d be better advised to get a GSM (Global Standard For Mobiles) digital cellphone that uses a SIM card IMHO.
On a related note, I have a TMobile phone that sucks beyond measure. My friend recently upgraded her phone and gave me her old Razr. I tried sticking my SIM card in it but now it’s asking for a “subsidy_id”. What can I do about that?
Whatever provider she bought her Razr from locked it to their network exclusively. She has to call them and ask for the subsidy unlock code and then enter it into the Razr to unlock it for use on any network. This is easy to convince T-Mobile to do, but I don’t know about AT&T.
Are most GSM phones you buy from a phone company locked even though you can take the SIM out and put a new SIM in?
In North America (Canada/USA), yes. It’s almost impossible to get an unlocked phone, even at full price, from a carrier.
Independent stores may differ. And note that the independent stores sell GSM phones only, as far as I can tell.
Google sells the Nexus One unlocked but it’s $520. They have 2 versions - 1 for T Mobile and 1 for AT&T. You can buy a cheaper version with T Mobile service for $179.
You can probably do a google search for the model and current carrier and you might get info on how to unlock it yourself. Some are simple to do, might just require a few button presses, others might be harder, requiring a USB cable and software, and others might be impossible for the user to do.
I have a Cingular 64k Smartchip Sim in a Nokia model 6010.
Would that sim work in newer phones?
64k seems like a small amount of storage. Should I request a newer sim from AT&T?