Can I use OH's ex handset?

usignuolo

OH has new phone, Galaxy S4, offered me the old one S3. I have a sim only plan. (We are both Orange users but he is on a contract for phone and sim, I bought my basic Xperia outright and have a separate sim only plan. )


Can I just put my sim card in his phone and carry on or is his phone is locked in some way to only take his sim, apologies for not knowing how this works.....

Al1x

It should work fine if you are both on orange.

I've done the same with my husbands phone, he is on O2 contract and I have a giffgaff sim and mine works.

usignuolo

What if phone donor was on a different network? Would that make a difference? For example my nephew is on P4U (well someone has to be) and he has a contract with them which is ending shortly and he is planning to go elsewhere and offered me his old HTC phone as well (my family are all trying to upgrade me) but we weren't sure if my Orange sim would work in his phone which had been set up with a P4U deal.

Al1x

If the phone is locked to a network the owner can phone their network to get it unlocked, some phone networks charge for this and it can take a few months to unlock but it is possible.

edit: phones 4 u aren't a network, as far as I know they are a shop that sells phones and contracts. I got a phone years ago from phones 4 u and it was a vodafone contract and the phone was locked to vodafone. I would have had to call vodafone to unlock it.

tyllwyd

If your nephew is on Orange/EE, there should be no problem putting your SIM into his phone. If he is on a different network, his phone is probably locked to that network - one way to check would be to put your SIM into his phone and see if it works, but that would probably mean too much messing around unless your nephew has got his new phone and has stopped using the old one. If it is locked, you have the choice of getting it unlocked, or if you are not locked into a contract you could look to see if you can get a good deal on a SIM on the network he is using, and if you wanted to keep your old number you could then port your number from Orange to the new SIM.

Buzby

P4U is a retailer, they have no network. It will still depend on which network the phone is locked to.

usignuolo

I asked my nephew and it is Vodafone network

molerat

Vodafone are pretty good at unlocking FOC when contract expires, he needs to ring them up and request it (assuming it is locked of course).

Quentin

google will find you plenty of instructions to unlock it (free)

mobilejunkie

Vodafone unlock for free at the end of the contract.

kingrulzuk

usignuolo wrote: »

I asked my nephew and it is Vodafone network

CPW and P4U phones are unlocked. so check b4 you call Vodafone.