PAYG mobile for under a tenner; can you grab one?

Dobiesmon

Hello
I am new to this site but intrested in the mobile phone , my son took out two phones 18 mth contract with 3 , one each we had the money back deal should have been £35 a month , and lots of airtime he always went over his (chat lines ) and I never did , contracts now ended and three company you would think would like to keep our custom but they don't care , they want £15 each phone to unlock , so I have dug out my old phone and brought a pay as go sim card from tesco and top up will be £15 to get calls at 15p and text at 5p ,
but still looking for a cheap new phone with camara and bigger keypad to see numbers .
brill site

ktj

JIMbo345 wrote: »

The http://www.icstis.org.uk/ part is correct. I tried a Tesco sim in a phone locked to TMobile. It would not work . I then went back on icstis It came up with Tesco are using 02. So its still a good place to go provided you type in the correct number:rolleyes:

So does this mean that an o2 sim card will work in a Tesco pay as you go mobile locked to T-mobile, without the mobile having to be unlocked?
You see I need to buy my son a cheap pay as you go mobile, but we live in a rural area only covered by the o2 network and unfortunatey the o2 pay and go mobiles are too expensive. However I have seen a cheap Tesco pay and go mobile - the Acatel OT E225 which is on the T-mobile network. Obviously this phone will only be any good to us if it will work with an o2 sim card without being unlocked, but I haven't been able to find a way of unlocking this phone. Hope that you can help.

Road_Hog

ktj wrote: »

So does this mean that an o2 sim card will work in a Tesco pay as you go mobile locked to T-mobile, without the mobile having to be unlocked?

No, if it is just a phone sold by Tesco that is on the T-Mobile network, it will only work with T-Mobile Plus Virgin. If it was a phone sold by Tesco that was on Tesco Mobile, it still wouldn't work. If it was a phone sold by Tesco on O2 then it would probably work with a Tesco Mobile sim.

In a nutshell, there are service providers,

Orange
T-Mobile
O2
Vodafone

And there are virtual service providers who lease off of the four above, such as

Virgin (T-Mobile)
Tesco (O2)
Fresh (T-Mobile)
etc.

Generally, if you have a phone locked to one of the companies in brackets then they will accept a sim from the leasing company listed in front. This isn't guaranteed, but because the original service provider still gets income they don't tend to lock out their leasee company. However id doesn't work the other way round, as the leasee doesn't get income from the parent company.

"3" netowrk falls in between the two, being a part service provider and also a lease from Orange.

ktj

Thanks for your excellent explanation - greatly apprciated.:beer:
Looks like I'm back to trying to get help to unlock the Alcatel!!!!!!:eek:

So does anyone know how I can get the code to unlock a pay and go Acatel OT E225
IMEI 352847010291605
currently locked to T-mobile please?

sue.b_2

peterbaker wrote: »

I bought an unlocked new Nokia 1110i at Ryman, Ilford about 10 days ago for £19.99 including £5 Virgin SIM credit. This is a simple phone ideal for older people perhaps.

What an insult to "older people".

Road_Hog

sue.b wrote: »

What an insult to "older people".

Stop talking twaddle and being politically correct.

I totally detest the "PC Police". It is a known fact, that older people struggle more with technology and are not quite as gadget orientated as the younger generation. The poster was merely trying to say that it may be more suitable to the older generation, there was no insult or slur, intended or implied.

Stop trying to find fault where none exists.

janaltus

janaltus wrote: »

I can't seem to find a cheap tri-band PAYG mobile phone anywhere. Unfortunately, neither OneCompare nor MoneySupermarket currently allow you to make comparisons for PAYG phones.

So please - has anyone got any ideas or suggestions or experience to share on cheap tri-band PAYG phones?

Sorry to ask again but . . . please could anyone who actually owns one of those phones recommended - in the first post - please check to see if they are dual-band or tri-band - and thus able to be used in the USA? Many thanks.

Road_Hog

janaltus wrote: »

Sorry to ask again but . . . please could anyone who actually owns one of those phones recommended - in the first post - please check to see if they are dual-band or tri-band - and thus able to be used in the USA? Many thanks.

All the Alcatel & Nokias in the first post are dual band and are not suitable for use in the States. Probably the cheapest Tri-Band phone I ever saw was the Siemens A62. A quite basic phone now, that is coming up to 3 years old. But it is colour, lightwieght at 76g, Tri-Band and reliable.

I used to sell loads of them, best selling feature, was to mention Tri-Band. Difficult to find them new these days without paying over the odds. Personally I would buy a secondhand one from ebay, cheap as chips and if anything happens to it on holiday, you won't be heartbroken. Most of them are locked to Orange, don't bother trying to get it unlocked, as it needs taken apart, shielding cut and generally playing about with.

Just buy one, stick an Orange sim in (loads of free ones about) it and roam with it. TBH the cost of buying a US compatable sim against the call savings isn't worth it.

This guy is selling one secondhand for £10 including postage..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Siemens-A62-Mobile-Phone-EX-CONDITION-ONLY-5-99_W0QQitemZ200114161181QQihZ010QQcategoryZ3312QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ignore the fact it says single band, he doesn't know about the product he is selling.

http://www.gsmarena.com/siemens_a62-981.php

ktj

karendb wrote: »

Can this phone be unlocked for free?

If you know the imei number ask for help in the "unlocking mobile phone thread", i got some info there about the alcatel e225. If you get a number that works please let me know 'cos my son still wants to get one of these phones but we only have o2 coverage so if he gets it it's vital that we can unlock it.

keith234

elcoline wrote: »

Sorry for being ignorant but would someone explain to me "unlocking"? last year I cancelled my old contract with Tmob and purchased a PAYG sim card from Tesco as I rearely use my phone to make calls. The new SIM card worked perfectly.

Am I right in thinking however that if I buy a new phone that has say for example an Orange SIM Card included in the deal that I would then have to get that phone "unlocked" before I could use my tesco SIM card in it?

If so, how is that my Tmob phone works?

Just wondering as I am fed up carrying the "brick" around and thought I might upgrade if I can get a cheap deal.

Any help in understanding appreciated....

there is lots of information about unlocking phones on MSE website.. just check out the phones and utilities pages