topic Re: Phone Problem in Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc

Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 14:07:42 GMT

Got a new phone for the missus.... basic talk and text job... ALCATEL 3080G

Mainly because, her current phone is ancient... running on 2G... and the battery will not last much longer.

Simple thing to do... swap over the SIM card and away you go...... Oh. no you don`t.... the sim card is also ancient.. T-Mobile,...before they made the small and smaller versions.

So.. it won`t fit..

Not too much of a problem, because I intended to shift her over to ASDA PAYG SIM as it is cheaper than current T-mobile aka EE ...........

Insert ASDA Sim card.......

................ replace battery ( already 3/4 charged )

Switch phone on... and try to register the SIM with ASDA.

During registration.. you have to wait for them to send you an Activation code. ( presumably to the email address - but could equally be sent to the phone it activates).

NEITHER arrived. so can`t "activate" the SIM card.

so.. thinking laterally... I`ll see if my SIM card will work in the phone... swapped it over.. and... NOTHING>. no contacts showing.. ..

One thing I did notice.. is that the signal level indicator has a red X on it and a figure 1...

which I do not understand.

because when I put MY sim in... it also showed the red X and the figure 1..

My phone works perfectly well indoors and out doors...yet with my sim in the ALCATEL phone it shows the red X..

can anyone suggest why this is.. and what is wrong... and what I should do to get the phone to work.

Thanks

Re: Phone Problem

RobPN — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 14:29:17 GMT

Possibly a silly question @shutter , but is the new phone unlocked? (i.e. not tied to another provider)

Old SIMs can be cut down to the correct size using a sharp pair of scissors if you're careful.

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 14:35:33 GMT

@RobPN I did ask the guy who was selling it... and he said it could be used on any network..(his listing said it was unlocked too) .. however.. on receipt. amongst the new packs ( unopened) was a new EE sim card...

I`m not "aux fait" with this unlocking business... though I do understand that certain phones are like PN routers...

Re: Phone Problem

RobPN — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 14:39:23 GMT

In that case @shutter why don't you stick the provided EE SIM into the phone and see what happens.

If it works with that then there's a good chance it's locked to EE which is how Argos etc. often sell cheap phones, which are usually £10 - £20 cheaper than unlocked ones.

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 14:58:40 GMT

@RobPN OK done that... still got the red x on the signal level....

On start up... there was no message saying the phone was locked,... or requesting a SIM number.. so I went to the Settings and found this...

I have adjusted the contrast to show up better... it does not have a tick in the square box... so am assuming that it is not locked.

Re: Phone Problem

Baldrick1 — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 15:22:28 GMT

@shutter

Sometimes with piggy back providers you need to manually configure the APN settings. Worth a look?

https://mobile.asda.com/help/phones-devices/apn-mobile-settings

Edit.

Maybe this is only for mobile data? I certainly had to do it several years ago on an old phone when I swapped from orange to 3.

Edit 2

This may help detrmine if the phone is actually locked: ttps://www.simplyunlocked.co.uk/unlocking-guides/general-alcatel-unlocking-instructions/

Re: Phone Problem

RobPN — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 15:17:08 GMT

Sorry I can't help with that @shutter , but on P.29 of the manual here (P16 of the pdf) it says the X means no SIM installed ...

https://www.manua.ls/alcatel/3080-4g/manual?p=16

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 15:21:30 GMT

@Baldrick1 Haven`t got a clue what APN is... ! . but that linkage only says for ANDROID or Apple phones...

I think the main problem is the RED X on the Signal Level indicator, because when I plug my own SIM in the new phone it still s hows the RED X on the Sign level indicator..and it should show at least 3 bars on my Three sim ( as it does on the Microsoft Lumia phone).. Also.. it should show up my contacts list, but that does not appear on screen either. (shows "Empty" )

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 15:48:25 GMT

@RobPN Well, if I take out the sim card.. and put the battery in.. and power up... it says "Insert SIM" . it also shows the rubbish X that your linky shows.. with no signal level bars .......

which , again, is strange cos there should be "service" when I put MY sim card from MY phone in the ALCATEL phone ! .

Re: Phone Problem

RobPN — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 16:04:08 GMT

Strange indeed @shutter .

Does the stuff on P51 (and following pages) of the manual linked above give any clues?

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 16:21:16 GMT

@RobPN Not really... cos they don`t mean anything to me.... ! ! ... e.g. on "Network Connections"... it says.. "you can set your own network connection".... but it don`t tell me how to do it,... or even if I should... or when I should because something else is not working properly... etc etc etc..

Re: Phone Problem

RobPN — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 16:26:02 GMT

OK @shutter , I was just wondering if the phone was set to, say, 2g, and there was no 2g service available at your location.

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 16:26:31 GMT

@RobPN In fact... it does not give me that option ! ! ! ..

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 19:13:25 GMT

@RobPN & @Baldrick1 Thanks for the input guys.... contacted the seller via ebay returns... and he quickly accepted the return...( even though his listing said no returns).. and printed a returns postage label. !.

So , it`ll be going back next week...

Sham really, cos it was a nice phone and in very good condition.. like new... even had the sticky plastic on the screen !.

Now looking for another of same type on ebay... got a couple in mind...

Thanks fellas !

Re: Phone Problem

MrAllen2021 — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 10:08:12 GMT

@shutterYou do know that 2G phones aren't even a thing any more? People use 4 or 5G?

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 10:29:57 GMT

@MrAllen2021 Seems like you have not been reading through the thread ...... again....

. please Don`t tell the missus.....

she will be wondering how she has been making calls and receiving text messages on her phone for the past few years.... and start asking me all sorts of techy type questions, that I am not able to answer...

P.S..................... Check out the middle pic on Post number 13 of this thread.. .

( kinda gives an obvious clue ) .

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 11:59:26 GMT

@RobPN Update !.... just received another "new" one from a different supplier... took my old Microsoft Lumia Three sim card out and put it in the new phone... works no problem... so from the previous phone , I would think that the RED X above the signal level meter, means it is "Locked" to a provider.

@RobPN wrote;
Old SIMs can be cut down to the correct size using a sharp pair of scissors if you're careful.

So... I thought I would try to have a go at cutting down the missus phone sim card.. (old FULL SIZE one )

but the patterns on the contact side are different shapes, and... a bigger size contact area in the middle as well as those around the centre square... see pic,.... so I have left it alone at the moment...not wishing to "bork" her phone...

Re: Phone Problem

RobPN — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 13:22:29 GMT

@shutter wrote:

@RobPN Update !.... just received another "new" one from a different supplier... took my old Microsoft Lumia Three sim card out and put it in the new phone... works no problem... so from the previous phone , I would think that the RED X above the signal level meter, means it is "Locked" to a provider.

So, probably locked as suspected @shutter , and strangely, apparently not to EE as you tried the EE SIM which accompanied the original phone.

So... I thought I would try to have a go at cutting down the missus phone sim card.. (old FULL SIZE one )

but the patterns on the contact side are different shapes, and... a bigger size contact area in the middle as well as those around the centre square... see pic,.... so I have left it alone at the moment...not wishing to "bork" her phone...

ISTR when I did that a few years ago the pattern of the old one had more contacts like the one in your image has.

So what I did was lay another 3 in 1 holder with just the centre nano-SIM removed to use as a template, and marked the area on the old SIM which was visible through the hole on the inside the holder with a sharp knife. If you've saved the parts from your own SIM you'll be able to do that.

I suspect that many of the contact areas on the old SIM won't be required so in your position I'd go ahead with that. If you ~~bug~~ mess it up, yes she'll be without her phone, but that would probably be the case anyway if you have to order a new one and wait for it to arrive.

If she stores contact details on the SIM you might like to find a way of backing them up. Maybe the old phone can send them as a file via email?

Re: Phone Problem

shutter — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 13:44:16 GMT

@RobPN Yes, I thought about using the "empty hole" left by the new sim card size as a guide.. unfortunately, the old fone is so old, it doesn`t have bluetooth... so can`t do a transfer that way.. so I have to write them down and then plug them into the new phone... that`s not so easy as each letter needs a selection on the keyboard... then on the screen, then "OK".. then go to the next letter, and do the same again... ( on the old phone if you continued to press the keypad the letter automatically advanced to the next one alphabetically).. so a right pain for entering the new names.. numbers are o.k.. another problem is the old phone has a "time out" on the screen display, which is shorter than the time to write down half a number ...

Ah Well..... gives me something to do for the rest of the day ! ! !>

I have already "Ported in" to Asda.. so the old phone is useless now ! ! .

cheers

Re: Phone Problem

RobPN — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 14:00:18 GMT

@shutter wrote:

I have already "Ported in" to Asda.. so the old phone is useless now ! ! .

@shutter

Will the old phone still show the contact details stored on its old SIM?

If so, after you've 'backed them up' via pen and paper, couldn't you try cutting the SIM down for insertion into the new phone, and transfer the details from that SIM to the new phones internal memory?