Cingular SIM

In message <ebWdnT2eiYU3ZYXeRVn-ig@speakeasy.net> mnc@admin.u.nu (Miguel
Cruz) wrote:

>DevilsPGD <spamsucks@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>> I need a Cingular SIM which I can activate on prepaid service when I'm
>> traveling in the US.
>>
>> However, I'd like to get the SIM before I arrive in the US so that I can
>> confirm that my phone is unlocked.
>
>How about borrowing one from a friend who uses a different provider?

I actually only know one person with a GSM phone who isn't on the same
carrier, and he's not physically accessible right now.

I might see if I can pick one up locally, but I don't want to waste any
extra money just for testing.

>> I can't find any way to purchase a SIM and get it shipped, nor will
>> Cingular even tell me how much the SIM costs, just that I should go to a
>> Cingular store to inquire.
>
>When I bought one in July it costs about US$25 for a card with $10 worth of
>talk credit. The good news was that calls to/from Cingular customers turned
>out to be free

That helps, thanks.

--
UNIX Sex
{look;find;talk;grep;touch;finger;find;flex;unzip; mount;workbone;
fsck;yes;gasp;fsck;yes;eject;umount;makeclean;zip; split;done;exit}

In message <pm0ih19qjv588ao616usk4dt60eael0nlp@4ax.com> Joseph
<JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 00:46:11 GMT, DevilsPGD <spamsucks@crazyhat.net>
>wrote:
>
>>I need a Cingular SIM which I can activate on prepaid service when I'm
>>traveling in the US.
>>
>>However, I'd like to get the SIM before I arrive in the US so that I can
>>confirm that my phone is unlocked.
>>
>>I can't find any way to purchase a SIM and get it shipped, nor will
>>Cingular even tell me how much the SIM costs, just that I should go to a
>>Cingular store to inquire.
>>
>>Any thoughts about an easier way to accomplish this?
>
>Look on eBay auctions to get a cingular prepaid SIM. It may or may
>not be activated. Even if it's not activated you'll see by putting it
>in the handset whether the handset is locked or not. Also, keep in
>mind that cingular uses both GSM 850 and GSM 1900. Most European
>"triband" handsets are 900/1800/1900 rather than 850/1800/1900 which
>is optimally what you need if you want to use cingular prepaid
>nationwide.

I'm actually in Canada, and on a Quad-band phone, but thanks for the
info, it's appreciated.

>T-Mobile on the other hand is 1900 only so if you have a
>Euro 900/1800/1900 handset it will work fine. The tradeoff with
>T-Mobile is that coverage is not quite as thorough as cingular's.

And also their rates to Canada are substantially higher -- This was the
deciding factor for me, since I'll be calling Canada a fair amount.

>If
>you stay in major urban areas, the suburbs around them and the
>highways connecting them T-Mobile may work for you. If on the other
>hand you see yourself going to rural areas it may not work as well for
>you.

I'll be mainly in urban areas, and I know people on T-Mobile already, so
I'm not too worried about reception at the office (and in the areas
where I expect to be traveling), but just price.

However, the expiry time on T-Mobile is something I hadn't thought about
until tonight... I'll need to do a bit of thinking to decide whether or
not I want to activate a new account every time I go down, or put down
$100 and keep it active when I'm at home (with 6-12 month expiry dates)

Either way it should save me money since my current carrier's roaming
prices are exorbitant.

--
UNIX Sex
{look;find;talk;grep;touch;finger;find;flex;unzip; mount;workbone;
fsck;yes;gasp;fsck;yes;eject;umount;makeclean;zip; split;done;exit}

Tmobile is your best bet. Get it on ebay already activated with minutes
and sometimes 1 year expiration. The last card I bought on ebay cam
with 224 minutes and 1 year expiration, and I paid $24 total

--
mrcamp

In message <mrcamp.1utqb1@news.cellbanter.com> mrcamp
<mrcamp.1utqb1@news.cellbanter.com> wrote:

>Tmobile is your best bet. Get it on ebay already activated with minutes,
>and sometimes 1 year expiration. The last card I bought on ebay came
>with 224 minutes and 1 year expiration, and I paid $24 total.

Yeah, I'm almost thinking might go T-Mobile even though the LD rate to
Canada is a lot higher -- In the end I think it will work out cheaper
because of the longer expiration times.

I have no problems tossing in $100 at a time if that's what it takes to
get a 1 year expiry.

Thanks for the feedback everyone -- My parents happen to be in Chicago
this weekend anyway so I'll see if I can get them to pick up a SIM for
me.

--
This signature does not exist.

Here are some ebay listings. If you do not get one with 1 year exp. Al
you need to do is top it off with a $100 card, and that gives you gol
rewards, 1 year exp. and 15% discount(I think). Subsequent topups als
get you the discount on calls

--
mrcamp

In message <175mh1dc9k3tu2s94ap2uvcppkn90r1erk@4ax.com> Joseph
<JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> wrote:

>>Thanks for the feedback everyone -- My parents happen to be in Chicago
>>this weekend anyway so I'll see if I can get them to pick up a SIM for
>>me.
>
>If you're wanting a cheap T-Mobile account that's not the way to do
>it. If you go into a T-Mobile corporate store they'll want $50 for
>the package where you can get it on ebay for lots cheaper than that
>and already activated in some cases.

Price isn't the only factor, convenience is also a factor, as is not
having to worry about whatever history might be associated with the
account, SIM PINs that I can't unlock, etc.

Already activated is a negative, I'd rather not activate it until the
day before I leave to extend the amount of time until expiry.

--
To the book depository!
-- Homer