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Use my 3G SIM in my 3GS?

kenbrinkman

kenbrinkman

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 20, 2009
166
0
Daytona Beach, FL
In lieu of the 48 hour delays, uneventful calls to AT&T and several sacrifices to the activation gods, I decided to throw my 3G's SIM card into my 3GS. Low and behold, it activated within seconds and I was receiving missed texts and calls immediately.

Is it safe to use my old SIM??
 
Yes, I have done the same thing and done it before when replacing an iphone.
No problems.
Kenal0
 
kenbrinkman said:
In lieu of the 48 hour delays, uneventful calls to AT&T and several sacrifices to the activation gods, I decided to throw my 3G's SIM card into my 3GS. Low and behold, it activated within seconds and I was receiving missed texts and calls immediately.

Is it safe to use my old SIM??
Click to expand...

AT&T activated my iPhone 3GS in-store and used my iPhone 3G SIM card. They gave me the extra SIM card and I put that one in the retired iPhone 3G. So I would say yes, it is safe to use!
 
so why is anyone bothering with their new SIMs? Just use your current one, no need to upgrade...so long as your coming from a 3g iPhone I'd imagine.
 
SIM/IMEI question

Hello,

Here's a crazy question. Both my son and I upgraded from 3g's to 3gs's. We have not connected to the Mac yet but decided to swap colors. Can we just switch and upgrade through itunes as normal or will it confuse AT&T? I'm not sure what SIM/IMEI info they capture at the point of purchase and assign to the new phones before we upgrade through itunes. If we just use our old SIM cards and then activate through iTunes, will we be good to go?

Thanks!
 
Willm said:
Hello,

Here's a crazy question. Both my son and I upgraded from 3g's to 3gs's. We have not connected to the Mac yet but decided to swap colors. Can we just switch and upgrade through itunes as normal or will it confuse AT&T? I'm not sure what SIM/IMEI info they capture at the point of purchase and assign to the new phones before we upgrade through itunes. If we just use our old SIM cards and then activate through iTunes, will we be good to go?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'd probably just activate them as you ordered and just switch afterwards. End up with the same result.
 
didn't even think twice about doing that, I swapped the sim cards and it activated extremely quickly. Its not like they changed the sim card interface with the 3Gs so there shouldn't be any reason not too swap it.
 
I took my sim out of my 1st gen, it was a 3g sim for some reason, and put it my 3GS and I have had no problems. Was this a mistake?
 
no my grandfathers iphone 3g S came in and wasnt activating .. then he put his 1gen iphone sim in am BAM 2 min later service with absolutly no problems
 
My concern for my question was over the IMEIs registered to each phone at the point of purchase and then switching SIM cards at activation and what havoc if any that would cause.

Thanks for the responses.
 
Man, I sort of wish I was upgrading form a 3G instead of being an iPhone newbie. Right now I'm on hold w/ AT&T for activation. Then again, everyone has to go through this process at some point. ;)
 
Willm said:
My concern for my question was over the IMEIs registered to each phone at the point of purchase and then switching SIM cards at activation and what havoc if any that would cause.

Thanks for the responses.
Click to expand...
No, since you have the same type device and the same data plan, there is no issue with you swapping iPhones once, twice or on weekends to share the color love around. :)

You don't even really need to call AT&T but if you would feel better, you can call them after you are all done and just tell the Care rep that you want to update the registered IMEI on each line. If you wait a couple of days, your wait time will be much shorter, but as they say "you make the call". :D

The AT&T DER system sees all and your phone self-reports its IMEI and SIM information everytime it connects to a cell tower.

Dave
 
Am assuming this is the same in the UK.

I currently have a 2g and an in contract 3g I cant upgrade. Am going to sell them both for approx £310 or so then buy a payg for £440 and ride out the last 6 months of my contract with a nice new 3gs.
 
i am looking to upgrade my wife's 3g to the new 3gs. she has only had her phone for 6 months now so obviously she is not eligible for the reduced pricing. what is stopping me from buying one from the apple store at the $199 price? i already put in all the info with her number and everything and that is what it will cost me, plus tax. couldn't i then just take the sim from her 3g phone and put it in the 3gs phone and sync in itunes and be good to go with a new 3gs phone without paying the full price thru att?
 
If you are using an upgrade from your account you can switch to any phone after purchase.
I have 7 phone lines and upgraded my daughters phone with the Iphone 3Gs then switched it to my phone line in the store no problem I am also sending my 3G to my son for his line.
 
i am not going to upgrade just replace my wife's phone with the new 3gs and then sell the 3g. can't i just buy one thru apple for 199, have it shipped to me, and then switch out the sim cards and sync to itunes?
 
I purchased a 3Gs and when I tried selling the 3G, the phone (which has been reset & fully erased with the original SIM card in it) would not work with the buyer's At&T SIM card or my new 3Gs SIM card and only allowed emergency call and no AT&T bars.

What happened? :mad:

obviously the sale didn't happen.:mad::mad::mad:
 
driphone said:
I purchased a 3Gs and when I tried selling the 3G, the phone (which has been reset & fully erased with the original SIM card in it) would not work with the buyer's At&T SIM card or my new 3Gs SIM card and only allowed emergency call and no AT&T bars.

What happened? :mad:

obviously the sale didn't happen.:mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...
You have to activate it. After the reset, you have to connect to iTunes and complete the activation step again or Unlock the phone. You can use your "New" SIM from your iPhone 3G S after it (the SIM) has been activated in your new iPhone 3G S. So now would be a good time to test it again.

Your customer, did they have a new un-activated SIM or a current AT&T SIM?

A SIM can only be activated once, the iPhone can be activated multiple times with the same or a different SIM and it (the SIM) is tied it you and not the device (yea, I know the original iPhone is a special case but we are talking about the 3G).

Dave
 
dave006 said:
You have to activate it. After the reset, you have to connect to iTunes and complete the activation step again or Unlock the phone. You can use your "New" SIM from your iPhone 3G S after it (the SIM) has been activated in your new iPhone 3G S. So now would be a good time to test it again.

Your customer, did they have a new un-activated SIM or a current AT&T SIM?

A SIM can only be activated once, the iPhone can be activated multiple times with the same or a different SIM and it (the SIM) is tied it you and not the device (yea, I know the original iPhone is a special case but we are talking about the 3G).

Dave
Click to expand...

Both mine and his SIM cards were active...so you are saying I could have used my new 3G S SIM card as long as I had synced with the iTunes?
 
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