[SMR]

I am getting my 8700g upgrade today. Thanks to the great advice from this forum, I was able to get the $179 upgrade pricing since I am a month to month TMobile customer. I presently use a two year old 7230 and was told to take the SIM card from that unit and put it in the 8700g, which was shipped to me without a SIM card.
Is that a good idea? Any reason to have a new SIM card, or is it nothing more than a memory chip that holds my cell phone number and other data? I assume that TMobile would send me a new card if I asked for one.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this issue.

[takeshi]

Not unless your old SIM card is defective. If you want to use a new SIM you'll need to have them transfer your service to the new SIM.

[careyana]

Originally Posted by SMR

I am getting my 8700g upgrade today. Thanks to the great advice from this forum, I was able to get the $179 upgrade pricing since I am a month to month TMobile customer. I presently use a two year old 7230 and was told to take the SIM card from that unit and put it in the 8700g, which was shipped to me without a SIM card.
Is that a good idea? Any reason to have a new SIM card, or is it nothing more than a memory chip that holds my cell phone number and other data? I assume that TMobile would send me a new card if I asked for one.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this issue.

You can use the same SIM - you'll have your same phone # and all you'll need to do is re-activate. ENJOY! The 8700 is a great BB!

[LunkHead]

You do not need a new sim card unless the old one is bad. Just plop it in the 8700 and enjoy!

[Fireproof]

You don't need a new SIM card. But my TMO rep gave me a new one "just in case."

It feels so fresh and clean.

[MI_Jester]

Mine came with a new SIMM, but I have been using the same SIMM since I became a T-mo customer several years ago. There is no reason to change SIMMs unless it's defective. In fact, it's much more of a hastle to do it because you need to involve customer service. Without changing SIMMs, all you need to do is activate the phone and do an email update. It will detect that your PIN has changed and ask if you want your email to go to the new PIN.

Jester

[johnj40]

Hi. I've had my 8700g since Monday. The last 3 days I have had a problem with the sim card. I keep getting a "sim card error" message. I have to do a battery pull to clear it. The odd thing is it seems to happen more in the morning than any other time. Any ideas what's going on? Thanks in advance.

[coreyg510]

Two possibilities, your SIM is frying or your pins in your BB is having issues.

I doubt that the time of day is relevant, but I have been wrong before. Easiest solution is to get a replacement SIM first. If that doesnt resolve the issue then swap the device. If that doesnt resolve the issues then you may need to open a trouble ticket with Tech supp for your SP

[cooperpwc]

Originally Posted by johnj40

Hi. I've had my 8700g since Monday. The last 3 days I have had a problem with the sim card. I keep getting a "sim card error" message. I have to do a battery pull to clear it. The odd thing is it seems to happen more in the morning than any other time. Any ideas what's going on? Thanks in advance.

This happened to me on my 7290 from time to time. I use the same SIM in my 8700r and it never happens. So I don't think that it necessarily has anything to do with the SIM...
I agree with coreyg that it may be the BB contacts.

[coreyg510]

As an FYI, this happens with other phones as well. I have had plenty of phones in my time come back with issues related to SIM pins. But generally it takes time for them to wear out or become bent or out of line. I have seen it only once or twice with a new phone

[johnj40]

Thanks Corey and Cooper for the quick response. I'll call tech support this evening when I've got more time.

[johnj40]

When you guys say pins, are you talking about the contacts between the sim card and the blackberry?

[coreyg510]

Yup. I am sure there is a technical name, but the Gecko doesnt feel very technical today

[johnj40]

Lol! Thanks for the info Corey.

[stealthx32]

Someone had previously posted that they were experiencing sluggish data transfer rates with T-Mobile, and requested a new SIM. Having done so, he said it has sped up. I question the validity of this myself (T-Mo doesn't have two "networks" like Cingular does w/ orange & blue), but he seems to be happy.

I used my old SIM from my 7100t, and I can pull down ~150 kbps, so I'm not complaining. It might be not the fastest, or on par with what was advertised as EDGE rates, but its certainly faster than the 10 kbps or so I'd get on GPRS.

[coreyg510]

With Cingular, some people still have the 32k SIMS, which dont respond as well. There ARE some reports that the 64k 3G SIMs are quicker ( I noticed a pep in mine as well). But honestly, if your not having problems I wouldnt go out of my way to rush to a store and swap it out for the newer one. Just do it when your around a store because it really isnt a big deal.

[stealthx32]

The SIM doesn't really store much though, right? Just a handful of phone numbers and a unique identifier. Once that identifier is pulled off the chip, it shouldn't require much more interaction with the SIM.

[coreyg510]

250 names and numbers (no pics or voice name tags). You can store SMS but that is going to take up some space.

[johnj40]

Wirelessly posted (blackberry 8700g: BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Just an update. I just got off the phone with TMO, and they have decided that it is a pin issue. They are now shipping a new 8700g with new sim card. I was told that like 1 in a 1000 has this problem. They also waived the cost of the sim card and shipping.

[froggy55]

Originally Posted by johnj40

Wirelessly posted (blackberry 8700g: BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Just an update. I just got off the phone with TMO, and they have decided that it is a pin issue. They are now shipping a new 8700g with new sim card. I was told that like 1 in a 1000 has this problem. They also waived the cost of the sim card and shipping.

Just to give a heads up to others having the same SIM issue or SIM PIN (lock) problems... I work for Tmo Retail and some 8700g's will crash if the sim lock is continually reqested. It is a software issue.