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TheBigmac's profile

Contributor

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3 Messages

Tuesday, February 25th, 2014 6:39 PM

Can I install an sim card that came with a brand new Lumia 520 and activate it in an old phone?

Here's my problem: 

 

My wife has an old, functional and currentky activated samsung gophone with AT&T. The phone works fins and it's on the 10cent a minute plan. 

 

I bought a brand new Nokia Lumia 520 gophone yesterday, that came with a brand new sim card that has yet to be activated. 

 

My plan is this: I want to take my wife's 10cent a minute plan sim card and install it in the brand new Nokia 520. I'm pretty sure this will work. Where I'm hesitant is the second part of my plan. I want to take the brand new sim card that came with the lumia, install it in the old samsung and activate it as a new line with the 10cengt a minute plan. Will this work? 

 

I don't care about smarthphone features. I just want to have both phones on the 10 cents a minute plan (with different lines of course). Let me know what you guys think.

 

 

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Master

 • 

10.2K Messages

10 years ago


@TheBigmac wrote:

Here's my problem: 

 

My wife has an old, functional and currentky activated samsung gophone with AT&T. The phone works fins and it's on the 10cent a minute plan. 

 

I bought a brand new Nokia Lumia 520 gophone yesterday, that came with a brand new sim card that has yet to be activated. 

 

My plan is this: I want to take my wife's 10cent a minute plan sim card and install it in the brand new Nokia 520. I'm pretty sure this will work. Where I'm hesitant is the second part of my plan. I want to take the brand new sim card that came with the lumia, install it in the old samsung and activate it as a new line with the 10cengt a minute plan. Will this work? 

 

I don't care about smarthphone features. I just want to have both phones on the 10 cents a minute plan (with different lines of course). Let me know what you guys think.

 

 


Indeed, it would be this simple IF the SIM cards were easily interchangeable between both phones. The Lumia 520 utilizes a microSIM, which is a smaller sized SIM that most newer smartphones generally use. 

 

Quick question - are you planning to switch the SIMs temporarily between both phones in order to take advantage of using the $0.10 per minute plan with the new Lumia? Or will your wife be upgrading to the Lumia "permanently?" 

 

In either case, your wife's current SIM will not fit the smaller sized slot of the Lumia. You have one of two options:

 

• Trim the SIM yourself using a microSIM cutter. These can be purchased from eBay or Amazon for less than $5. Most even include SIM adapters, which allows a newly-cut microSIM to be transformed back into a regular sized SIM if you ever needed to switch back to an older phone. This would be ideal if your wife intends to go back to using her Samsung phone at any time.

 

• Pay a visit to an AT&T corporate store and exchange your wife's current SIM for a microSIM. This will be enough to place her SIM into the Lumia. Keep in mind that if she wants to go back to using her Samsung  phone, you would have to go BACK to an AT&T corporate store and exchange the new microSIM for a traditional standard SIM. 

 

Regarding the second part of your plan, the SIM that came with the Lumia is more than likely a microSIM. This is a problem because it will not fit well in the larger SIM slot of the Samsung phone. Your options are the same as above - exchange SIMs at an AT&T store or purchase a microSIM cutter and use an included SIM adapter(s) to activate the Lumia's microSIM in the Samsung. The Samsung phone's IMEI number is tied to your wife's current account, so you may run into an issue there when trying to activate the new SIM, but it's certainly worth a shot.

 

Good luck! 

Contributor

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3 Messages

10 years ago

@WildBanchi thanks so much for taking the time to respond and for such a thorough reply. I had no idea the sims were different sizes or that purchasing a cutter off eBay was seven an option. Now I have a better idea if what options are available to solve this. Cheers 🙂

Master

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10.2K Messages

10 years ago

You're welcome! Good luck! 🙂
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