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ibridget

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 4, 2008
25
2
Hi everyone,sorry I searched sim cards and wasn't finding exactly my question so here goes:

I am buying my friend's 3Gs iphone, and I have already a 3G. Can I simply swap my sim card into her old phone, and continue using my current plan and number through AT&T, or do I have to call AT&T to do any activating of this new phone?(her old one)

I'm hoping I don't have to call them at all (what a hassle). Can anyone let me know of their experiences doing this and if that is all there is to it or is there more? Thank you in advance! :)
 

ibridget

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 4, 2008
25
2
Thank you both! :) And I don't have to call AT&T? I guess as long as I am using the same SIM card in the new phone, is that how it works? :)
 

Komiksulo

macrumors 6502
Jan 7, 2008
283
0
Ontario
Yes, you can swap without problem, provided the phones are unlocked or locked to the same carrier as your SIM.

I swap my SIM belonging to the carrier Fido between a 3G locked to Fido and an unlocked 4 without problem. I just take the micro-SIM out of the 4 and stick it in a mini-SIM adaptor and put the adaptor in my 3G, and do the reverse to put it back in the 4.
 

draz

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2010
889
0
Thank you both! :) And I don't have to call AT&T? I guess as long as I am using the same SIM card in the new phone, is that how it works? :)

As long as the sim is from the same carrier then that is fine. If it is different then the phone needs to be unlocked. No need to call AT&T or your carrier to tell them, they would know right away.
 

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
As long as the sim is from the same carrier then that is fine. If it is different then the phone needs to be unlocked. No need to call AT&T or your carrier to tell them, they would know right away.

This is right! I assumed that since she was talking about AT&T that they were on the same carrier since it's the only one in the US that sells them and didn't really think of the possibility of the other person that might have bought their phone outside the normal AT&T way, nice catch Komiksulo & draz!

OP you can put your sim card into your friends 3GS to test out that you get a signal and that there is no other problems before you pay your friend, but even then ask her if it was originally bought from AT&T/US apple store to make sure (assuming you are in the US) so you don't have future problems updating the operating system.
 

ibridget

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 4, 2008
25
2
Hmm, the friend lives in Oregon, and I assumed she has AT&T as well. Not sure.
So if she uses another carrier then I just pop out her old sim, pop in my new one, and..I guess I'll find out from there what happens. :) Thanks everyone for the help, I appreciate the knowledge and tips I get from visiting these forums so much!
 
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