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Pay -as-you-go phone question (1 Viewer)

Jeff D Han

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 2, 2003
Messages
566
I would appreciate anyone who can help me solve what
should be an easy problem. I just purchased a Nokia
model 6010 phone with a Cingular server. The issue I
have is that I don't know where to go to receive my
10 digit wireless phone number. I tried 2 different
toll-free numbers, and I keep hitting the same fire wall-
I can't talk to a human being, and they ask me for the
10 digit number that I don't know how to get. I tried
2 different web links, and I can't just send a personalized
Email with this simple question. Is there an easy solution to this problem? I would rather not even have this phone
(I'm sure that there isn't a person on the face of the
earth who hates the phone more than I), but I need this
phone for my job. Thanks for any/ every response.
 

Dennis*G

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 7, 2003
Messages
524
neat little trick. If you just let those "press X for so an so" run through a couple times, you usually get connected to a live person because the systems assumes you have a rotary phone...

Or, I guess find a Cingular store and stop in.
 

Cees Alons

Senior HTF Member
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Jul 31, 1997
Messages
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Cees Alons
Jeff,

I'm not sure if I understand your problem correctly at all. Are you saying you don't have a phone number for the Nokia 6010? How do you use it to call at all then?

Or do you need a different number, somehow, for the wireless service?

When it asks you to enter a 10-digit number, doesn't it refer to your phone number (which should be supplied to you through your SIM-card)?


Cees
 

Jeff D Han

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 2, 2003
Messages
566
Hi Cees-

I haven't used the Nokia phone to make any calls yet. I've
tried to activate the phone through Cingular's toll-free number. I supplied the smart chip number and the serial
number of the phone, and then I hit the fire wall where
they ask me to type in the 10 digit wireless number. My
problem is that they didn't give me a number over the
phone, and I don't know how or where to get it.

Dennis- That's a good idea. I think I'll try to find a
store and get somebody there to help me. I did try to
let the menues run through, but what happens is that
they disconnect me when I give no answer to their
question. It's frustrating that people who need a
specific answer to a specific question is left flapping in the breeze because of negligent customer
service.
 

Cees Alons

Senior HTF Member
Joined
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Cees Alons
Jeff,

You need to buy a SIM-card, unless you already own one. This will give you a phone number. GSM phones, like the Nokia 6010 get their number from the SIM-card. Didn't your old phone (if any) have a SIM? You can put that one in the Nokia, and it will work instantaneously.


Cees
 

Jeff D Han

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 2, 2003
Messages
566
Cees-

Maybe we are speaking in different languages (I know nothing
about these cell phones), so I'll try to ask the right questions here.

Are you saying that the package with the Nokia phone I
purchased is incomplete? I have to buy this "SIM-card"
seperately to unlock the mystery that is the activation
process? What is a "SIM-card" anyway? The package for the
phone makes me think that there is nothing else needed
to get the phone to work.
 

Cees Alons

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 31, 1997
Messages
19,789
Real Name
Cees Alons
Jeff,

I'm not totally sure about anything on the US market. So I may be totally wrong. Let's start getting that off my sleeve first. :)

But yes, a GSM phone (like the Nokia you bought) needs something called a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card to operate at all. Here's a Wikipedia entry describing it more or less, and here a more commercial link + explanations.

The SIM can be exchanged between phones, that's the new aspect of it and its strength, compared to the old US system. In Europe, we have this for over 8 years, or so.

So to use a cell-phone of this type, you buy a SIM card, and a plan, which can be a pre-payed - or pay-as-you-go - or a subscription type and put it in your phone to be able to use it. It links a MAC-address to a phone number and when you buy a new phone (or even "lend" one from a friend for a moment), you simply place your SIM into that phone to make it logically "yours".

The SIM also stores other information, like your secret pin-code, your phone book, and so on.

I don't know the procedure of your provider, but the most common way here (Europe) is, to buy a SIM at one of their outlets. If you already have a SIM-card, you can have it switched to another provider (however there are restrictions, which goes too far to cover here; of importance is, the phone may have a temporary SIM-lock, binding it to one specific SIM or provider for the time being).

Your cell phone could be equipped with a SIM-card already, depending on how you bought it. In that case, they should have given you the phone-number that comes with it.

Hope this helps,


Cees


PS
There seems to be something special about the Cingular SIM-card. I didn't find specifics yet - perhaps it's the size, or else the phone simply has a SIM-lock. If that's the case you NEED to get it from a Cingular representative, along with the plan.
C.
 

Robert_Gaither

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 12, 2002
Messages
1,370
sim card is a small white chip with gold connections on one side of it. The plastic it's made of is the type they use on credit cards and it's about as thick, but 3/4" long, and 1/2" wide. The sim card number should be broken down into multiple rows on the back of the chip.

If it was a tmobile phone just hit #686# call but this only works if it's been already activated, I don't know how Cingular activates their prepaid service.
 

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