Help me please! Texting from abroad!

burnsguitarman

Have you tried http://www.whatsapp.com/ As long as the person you are texting has the app as well, it wont cost you a penny!

Frances63

I have just phoned O2 & without speaking to anyone was given an unblocking code (by automaton) just by inputting my mobile phone number (I am a contract customer with them).

I suppose I need to unblock the phone to use a local sim for texting when I am on holiday in Greece soon?

My two question are:

1) Was there any advantage to the phone being 'blocked' in the first place? - (if so should I be re-blocking it on my return from Greece?)

2) What do I do with the 8-digit un-blocking code now?


Many thanks if you can help!

Wintermute

Frances63 wrote: »

I have just phoned O2 & without speaking to anyone was given an unblocking code (by automaton) just by inputting my mobile phone number (I am a contract customer with them).

I suppose I need to unblock the phone to use a local sim for texting when I am on holiday in Greece soon?

My two question are:

1) Was there any advantage to the phone being 'blocked' in the first place? - (if so should I be re-blocking it on my return from Greece?)

2) What do I do with the 8-digit un-blocking code now?


Many thanks if you can help!

What you've got is a PUK code, it allows you to unlock your SIM card after entering your PIN code incorrectly 3 times. You'll need to speak to customer services to get your phone unlocked (or unlatched) and they send the request off to the manufacturer and it can take a few days.

Frances63

Ah! Thanks Wintermute!

I wonder why they said unblocking & not 'unlocking'.

So do I need to do both the sim and the phone? Why do they bother blocking everything?

grumbler

You don't need to do the sim unless it was protected with a PIN and you blocked it by entering an incorrect PIN three times.

This protection is PITA, but works well if your phone is stolen, especially abroad where unauthorised calls can cost you a fortune before you report the phone stolen to the network.

The networks block both the sim and the phone only if you report them stolen.
When selling subsidised handsets they lock them to one network to prevent them being used on other networks.