Muddymike wrote:

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)

Actually that's a Mini SIM, the full size was same as a credit card the
first GSM phone I had for work (Siemens S3 I think) used one

Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

On 09/11/2016 11:03, Muddymike wrote:
On 08/11/2016 14:22, JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 22:15, Tim+ wrote:
JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 14:56, DerbyBorn wrote:
I have a very old and basic Nokia 1616 (it has a torch and that is
as good
as it gets) I use Pay AS you Go with EE.


I would guite like a smart phone (Android) now as I find my tablet
useful
but a bit big.

I really don't understand about SIM cards and things. If I see a
phone at
Asda or somewere - can I just buy it and put my card in.

Most smart phones are "locked" to a specific network, so simply
transferring the SIM to another phone (unless bought from EE) will
not work.

You need to either:

1. Buy a phone from EE; or
2. Buy an "unlocked/SIM-free" phone;
3. Buy any phone and pay £10 to have it unlocked so that it can be
used
with any SIM



Potentially expensively misleading. Many phones may be unlocked
cheaply but
by no means all.

Tim

I buy mobile handsets for my employers. When paid for in full without
contract every phone I have ever bought has been completely free of any
network tie. So no need to unlock whatever sim we put in them.

That's usually the case from the phone shops, but you have to watch the
supermarkets. I know with Tesco for example, it was the case that if you
walk in and buy a PAYG phone it will often still be tied to their PAYG
network.

Also when issuing new sim cards these days they are all multi format.
You just break the sim out of the card to the size needed for the phone.
I have in the past broken them out to a large size sim to copy data from
the old handset, then break it down again to the correct size for the
new handset

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Unless Apple and Google get their way and do away with SIM cards
altogether. ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 09/11/2016 11:18, Huge wrote:
On 2016-11-09, Muddymike wrote:

[45 lines snipped]

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Most phone shops have a tool to cut them down (at least from Standard
to Micro).


No tool is needed. They are pre punched to just break out at the
required size.

Mike

On Wednesday, 9 November 2016 11:53:15 UTC, John Rumm wrote:
On 09/11/2016 11:03, Muddymike wrote:
On 08/11/2016 14:22, JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 22:15, Tim+ wrote:
JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 14:56, DerbyBorn wrote:
I have a very old and basic Nokia 1616 (it has a torch and that is
as good
as it gets) I use Pay AS you Go with EE.


I would guite like a smart phone (Android) now as I find my tablet
useful
but a bit big.

I really don't understand about SIM cards and things. If I see a
phone at
Asda or somewere - can I just buy it and put my card in.

Most smart phones are "locked" to a specific network, so simply
transferring the SIM to another phone (unless bought from EE) will
not work.

You need to either:

1. Buy a phone from EE; or
2. Buy an "unlocked/SIM-free" phone;
3. Buy any phone and pay £10 to have it unlocked so that it can be
used
with any SIM



Potentially expensively misleading. Many phones may be unlocked
cheaply but
by no means all.

Tim

I buy mobile handsets for my employers. When paid for in full without
contract every phone I have ever bought has been completely free of any
network tie. So no need to unlock whatever sim we put in them.

That's usually the case from the phone shops, but you have to watch the
supermarkets. I know with Tesco for example, it was the case that if you
walk in and buy a PAYG phone it will often still be tied to their PAYG
network.

Also when issuing new sim cards these days they are all multi format.
You just break the sim out of the card to the size needed for the phone..
I have in the past broken them out to a large size sim to copy data from
the old handset, then break it down again to the correct size for the
new handset

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Unless Apple and Google get their way and do away with SIM cards
altogether. ;-)

Why are they needed ?

Muddymike wrote:
On 09/11/2016 11:18, Huge wrote:
On 2016-11-09, Muddymike wrote:

[45 lines snipped]

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Most phone shops have a tool to cut them down (at least from Standard
to Micro).


No tool is needed. They are pre punched to just break out at the
required size.

They are *now*, but his existing sim may not be pre-punched.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

They are *now*, but his existing sim may not be pre-punched.

Tim


Mine is not pre-punched - it is ancient.

In article 2,
DerbyBorn writes
charles wrote in
:

In article 6,
DerbyBorn wrote:
I have a very old and basic Nokia 1616 (it has a torch and that is as
good as it gets) I use Pay AS you Go with EE.


I would guite like a smart phone (Android) now as I find my tablet
useful but a bit big.

I really don't understand about SIM cards and things. If I see a
phone at Asda or somewere - can I just buy it and put my card in.

Theoretically yes, but inprobability no. Over the last few years, SIM
card sizes have reduced, so your old card probably won't fit. All you
need to do is to got a shop of your service provider and ask for a
replacement card of the correct size.


So would an EE Shop transfer my info to a new small sim?
Yes. They did for me.
--
bert

In article , Martin Brown
writes
On 07/11/2016 15:15, DerbyBorn wrote:
charles wrote in
:

In article 6,
DerbyBorn wrote:
I have a very old and basic Nokia 1616 (it has a torch and that is as
good as it gets) I use Pay AS you Go with EE.


I would guite like a smart phone (Android) now as I find my tablet
useful but a bit big.

I really don't understand about SIM cards and things. If I see a
phone at Asda or somewere - can I just buy it and put my card in.

Theoretically yes, but inprobability no. Over the last few years, SIM
card sizes have reduced, so your old card probably won't fit. All you
need to do is to got a shop of your service provider and ask for a
replacement card of the correct size.


So would an EE Shop transfer my info to a new small sim?

Usually what happens is that they give you an entirely new multi SIM
and transfer your old number onto that within 24 hours.

You may have to do something clever by synching your contact list to an
external storage or the could before the SIM swap is done.

EE shop will do it for him (or at least attempt to do it for him:-))
If you are at all nervous I expect anywhere reputable that sells mobile
phones will help you overcome the number transfer issues. It is common
since almost no modern phones accept full size SIMs any more.


--
bert

In article ,
Muddymike wrote:
On 09/11/2016 11:18, Huge wrote:
On 2016-11-09, Muddymike wrote:

[45 lines snipped]

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Most phone shops have a tool to cut them down (at least from Standard
to Micro).


No tool is needed. They are pre punched to just break out at the
required size.

Has that always been the case? If so, I'm surprised I didn't notice. Or
the Vodaphone shop just do this for me rather than making a new one up.

--
*Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"whisky-dave" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, 9 November 2016 11:53:15 UTC, John Rumm wrote:
On 09/11/2016 11:03, Muddymike wrote:
On 08/11/2016 14:22, JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 22:15, Tim+ wrote:
JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 14:56, DerbyBorn wrote:
I have a very old and basic Nokia 1616 (it has a torch and that is
as good
as it gets) I use Pay AS you Go with EE.


I would guite like a smart phone (Android) now as I find my tablet
useful
but a bit big.

I really don't understand about SIM cards and things. If I see a
phone at
Asda or somewere - can I just buy it and put my card in.

Most smart phones are "locked" to a specific network, so simply
transferring the SIM to another phone (unless bought from EE) will
not work.

You need to either:

1. Buy a phone from EE; or
2. Buy an "unlocked/SIM-free" phone;
3. Buy any phone and pay £10 to have it unlocked so that it can be
used
with any SIM



Potentially expensively misleading. Many phones may be unlocked
cheaply but
by no means all.

Tim

I buy mobile handsets for my employers. When paid for in full without
contract every phone I have ever bought has been completely free of any
network tie. So no need to unlock whatever sim we put in them.

That's usually the case from the phone shops, but you have to watch the
supermarkets. I know with Tesco for example, it was the case that if you
walk in and buy a PAYG phone it will often still be tied to their PAYG
network.

Also when issuing new sim cards these days they are all multi format.
You just break the sim out of the card to the size needed for the
phone.
I have in the past broken them out to a large size sim to copy data
from
the old handset, then break it down again to the correct size for the
new handset

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Unless Apple and Google get their way and do away with SIM cards
altogether. ;-)

Why are they needed ?

They arent and the cdma phones in the US and here didnt have them.

They are just a convenient way of allowing an account to
move between physical phones if you want to do that.

On 09/11/2016 15:37, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Muddymike wrote:
On 09/11/2016 11:18, Huge wrote:
On 2016-11-09, Muddymike wrote:

[45 lines snipped]

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Most phone shops have a tool to cut them down (at least from Standard
to Micro).


No tool is needed. They are pre punched to just break out at the
required size.

Has that always been the case? If so, I'm surprised I didn't notice. Or
the Vodaphone shop just do this for me rather than making a new one up.

Its a more recent thing. Also worth noting that some normal sims are
really a bit too thick to be used in a nano sim socket even if cut down
to the right size.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 09/11/2016 13:10, whisky-dave wrote:
On Wednesday, 9 November 2016 11:53:15 UTC, John Rumm wrote:
On 09/11/2016 11:03, Muddymike wrote:
On 08/11/2016 14:22, JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 22:15, Tim+ wrote:
JoeJoe wrote:
On 07/11/2016 14:56, DerbyBorn wrote:
I have a very old and basic Nokia 1616 (it has a torch and that is
as good
as it gets) I use Pay AS you Go with EE.


I would guite like a smart phone (Android) now as I find my tablet
useful
but a bit big.

I really don't understand about SIM cards and things. If I see a
phone at
Asda or somewere - can I just buy it and put my card in.

Most smart phones are "locked" to a specific network, so simply
transferring the SIM to another phone (unless bought from EE) will
not work.

You need to either:

1. Buy a phone from EE; or
2. Buy an "unlocked/SIM-free" phone;
3. Buy any phone and pay £10 to have it unlocked so that it can be
used
with any SIM



Potentially expensively misleading. Many phones may be unlocked
cheaply but
by no means all.

Tim

I buy mobile handsets for my employers. When paid for in full without
contract every phone I have ever bought has been completely free of any
network tie. So no need to unlock whatever sim we put in them.

That's usually the case from the phone shops, but you have to watch the
supermarkets. I know with Tesco for example, it was the case that if you
walk in and buy a PAYG phone it will often still be tied to their PAYG
network.

Also when issuing new sim cards these days they are all multi format.
You just break the sim out of the card to the size needed for the phone.
I have in the past broken them out to a large size sim to copy data from
the old handset, then break it down again to the correct size for the
new handset

These days SIM cards come in three sizes:

Standard SIM (15 x 25mm)
Micro SIM (12 x 15mm)
Nano SIM (8.8 x 12.3mm)

Unless Apple and Google get their way and do away with SIM cards
altogether. ;-)

Why are they needed ?

In reality they are not needed, but the MNOs hang on to them as its
their last vestige of control. Once they phones are allowed to emulate
it all in software, the network operator can be pushed further out of
the equation. The phone could also in theory use multiple virtual sims
at once, and then route calls / data / whatever based on lowest cost
provider for that service in the current circumstance. Needless to say
the operators are not keen on that as they can see their high data /
roaming / MMS / whatever charges being eroded.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 10/11/2016 11:47, Huge wrote:
On 2016-11-10, John Rumm wrote:

[60 lines snipped]

Unless Apple and Google get their way and do away with SIM cards
altogether. ;-)

Why are they needed ?

In reality they are not needed, but the MNOs hang on to them as its
their last vestige of control. Once they phones are allowed to emulate
it all in software, ...

... phone malware will have complete control, including access to the
MNO root keys, the phone will be under the complete control of the malware
and you won't know or be able to do anything about it. Although if there's
a NFC payment system on the phone, you'll find out eventually as your
bank account will get emptied.

Possibly true, but I can't see a sim saving you from that!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/