2G Phone and 3G SIM's ?

I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG
SIM's from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on
display is "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.

I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?

I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?

Thanks for any input - John

On 01/09/2012 14:46, JohnB wrote:
> I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
> here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
> it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
> fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG SIM's
> from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on display is
> "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.
>
> I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
> the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
> wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
> isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
> 402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?
>
> I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
> with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
> SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?
>
> Thanks for any input - John

If it's of any help I've a Nokia 6210 which happily works with new SIMs
- the model was introduced in 2000.

On 01/09/2012 16:10, Dee wrote:
> On 01/09/2012 14:46, JohnB wrote:
>> I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
>> here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
>> it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
>> fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG SIM's
>> from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on display is
>> "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.
>>
>> I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
>> the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
>> wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
>> isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
>> 402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?
>>
>> I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
>> with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
>> SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?
>>
>> Thanks for any input - John
>
> If it's of any help I've a Nokia 6210 which happily works with new SIMs
> - the model was introduced in 2000.
>
Ahhh.. thanks - looks like its a trip to the dealers then :-(

John

On 2012-09-01, JohnB <john.brennandREMOVE@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
> here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
> it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
> fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG
> SIM's from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on
> display is "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.
>
> I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
> the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
> wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
> isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
> 402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?
>
> I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
> with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
> SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?
>
> Thanks for any input - John

Does the unit need to be re-set or have a PIN or password entered? If the
car battery has been removed or allowed to run flat, or the unit has been
disconnected from the wiring, there may be some sort of security system
disabling it.

Is it 'locked' to a network you haven't tried yet?

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

JohnB wrote:

> I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
> here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
> it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
> fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG
> SIM's from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on
> display is "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.

900/1800 dual band means it's not 3G.

> I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
> the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
> wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
> isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
> 402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?
>
> I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
> with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
> SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?

I had interesting problems with my Nokia 3330 with modern SIMs:

http://www.adsb.co.uk/blog/free_sim.html

I found that T-Mobile and Virgin SIMs worked the best, and that O2 (and
their virtuals) would only work if the phone was fully charged. Orange
and Vodafone SIMs were somewhere in between.

I'd try to find someone with an old 2G SIM which is known to work,
because it does sound rather like the SIM is trying to register (rather
than not being recognised).
Is the car old/special enough to have an owners' club who might be able
to help ?

On 01/09/2012 16:44, Whiskers wrote:
> On 2012-09-01, JohnB <john.brennandREMOVE@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
>> here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
>> it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
>> fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG
>> SIM's from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on
>> display is "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.
>>
>> I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
>> the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
>> wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
>> isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
>> 402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?
>>
>> I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
>> with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
>> SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?
>>
>> Thanks for any input - John
>
> Does the unit need to be re-set or have a PIN or password entered? If the
> car battery has been removed or allowed to run flat, or the unit has been
> disconnected from the wiring, there may be some sort of security system
> disabling it.
>
> Is it 'locked' to a network you haven't tried yet?
>
Shouldn't be locked car-phones rarely are and I have tried SIMs from all
of the "majors". It might as you say need resetting - unfortunately I
cant get into the menu to do that as you cant get past the "please wait"
message. I think I need to get the dealer to read the error codes

Cheers John

On 01/09/2012 17:18, Andrew Benham wrote:
> JohnB wrote:
>
>> I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
>> here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
>> it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
>> fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG
>> SIM's from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on
>> display is "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.
>
> 900/1800 dual band means it's not 3G.
>
>> I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
>> the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
>> wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
>> isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
>> 402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?
>>
>> I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
>> with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
>> SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?
>
> I had interesting problems with my Nokia 3330 with modern SIMs:
>
> http://www.adsb.co.uk/blog/free_sim.html
>
> I found that T-Mobile and Virgin SIMs worked the best, and that O2 (and
> their virtuals) would only work if the phone was fully charged. Orange
> and Vodafone SIMs were somewhere in between.
>
> I'd try to find someone with an old 2G SIM which is known to work,
> because it does sound rather like the SIM is trying to register (rather
> than not being recognised).
> Is the car old/special enough to have an owners' club who might be able
> to help ?
>
I'v discovered that It's not that easy to find old 2G SIMs - there are
some on ebay for Orange but they are a £10 punt. There is a very active
owners club forum (Volvo) and one or two have had a similar problem but
no real fixes identified.

Cheers John

On Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:46:03 +0100, JohnB
<john.brennandREMOVE@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>I cant find a clear answer for this issue so thought I would ask on
>here. I have a "new" car with an inbuilt phone. The hand book says that
>it is 900/1800 dual band. Now as the car is 10 years old I assume it was
>fitted in the time of 2G networks only. I have tried it with PAYG
>SIM's from all the usual networks and in all cases the message on
>display is "Please wait" and nothing ever happens.
>
>I guess there might be a problem with the unit and I could take it to
>the dealers for a "diagnosis" but before doing that (££!) I am just
>wondering whether the phone simply does not like these new 3G SIM's and
>isn't connecting to the networks. So for comparison, would an old Nokia
>402 or Moto c520 (for example) work with these newer SIM's?
>
>I got an O2 SIM from the Bay that was claimed to be 2G/3G compatible but
>with the same result. So is it worth looking for some of the retro 2G
>SIM cards and trying them or is more likely that the phone is goosed?
>
>Thanks for any input - John


This might fix the problem, a real 2G simcard
worth trying before taking to dealer

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OLD-TYPE-O...item4aabacf1b0

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