Phone problem

Becles

My eldest has a Sony phone on contract with Orange. He dropped it and broke the screen. Rather than paying to having it fixed, he said he would use an old PAYG Samsung phone that's was stuck in the cupboard as a spare.

Put the Orange SIM in and discovered the phone was locked. Rang the old provider (Tesco mobile) who said they would generate an unlock code. Finally got that yesterday (long saga!) and put it into the phone and put the Orange SIM in, but the phone says "no service" and if you try and ring a number it says "not connected to the network".

I'm also on Orange so we tried my SIM in the phone and got the same "no service" message.

I've phoned both back and Tesco say it is Orange's fault and Orange say it is Tesco's fault!

Who is at fault or is it the phone that is at fault?

Enterprise_1701C

Have you tried trying it in an area where you know there is a strong signal?

T_T_2

Try putting another sim in it. Ideally try a different Orange SIM that you know to work, and if possible try a non-orange SIM that you know to work. This way you will know if the phone is actually unlocked and functioning or not. If it works then your problem likely lies with orange.

grumbler

I see only two possibilities:
- the phone is still locked;
- the phone is faulty.

IMO, trial and error is the only way to find out. You can order a free tesco sim for trying: https://www.tescomobile-freesim.co.uk/Default.aspx

mxxx

You say its an OLD samsung? Sounds to me the most likely explanation is that the phone is not operating on the right band.
You said the message on the screen is different after entering the unlock code so it sounds like its unlocked and is accepting the SIM but if its an old phone theres a good chance its single band and not able to work on Orange. What network was it locked to originally? If it was O2 or Vodafone then theres your problem. Most UK phones now are Tri-band or Quad-band so they are capable of talking to all phone networks world wide. Prior to this they used to be dual-band or single band. There are two bands in the UK
Orange/T-Mobile - GSM1800
Vodafone/O2 - GSM900

If its an old single band phone and it was originally on Vodafone or O2 then it wont work on Orange even after an unlock as the radio hardware isnt compatible.

gonenam

Try another SIM card, and test if that is about carriers.

[Deleted User]

hi,, if you still have it on contract and its under a year, i think they replace it under the warranty. It could also be insured if you did not cancel that free one they give you at first. My daughter is forever breaking her Blackberry and getting them replaced (its become embarrasing), her friend has an iphone and is on her 5th replacement, we're on Orange, also if the phone still turns on you could possibly replace the screen cheaply from spares repairs on ebay if the phone is worth repairing. Lastly, you could bye an incredibly cheap phone from mobiles.co.uk, i think it comes under PAYG. I got my dad one for £5 last year - hth