Can I put a 3g sim into a 2g phone (temporarily)?

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AppleMan1958 Author

Level 7

27,492 points

Can I put a 3g sim into a 2g phone (temporarily)?

My daughter has a 3G with a broken screen. We need to send it off to be repaired.

I have a 2G that I recently deactivated when I bought a 3Gs.

Can she put her 3G sim into my old 2G phone and continue to make and receive calls while her 3G is being repaired?

iMac 24 2.8Ghz, iPhone 3.0, TV, Mac OS X (10.5.7), Parallels 4.0.3540 with XP, Panasonic HDC-SD5

Posted on Jun 23, 2009 12:36 PM

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Answer 1

Tamara

Level 6

13,738 points

Jun 23, 2009 12:42 PM in response to AppleMan1958

She should be able to.

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Answer 2

Jun 23, 2009 1:28 PM in response to AppleMan1958

Yes, you can.

"If you have another GSM cell phone available, you can put the SIM card into your other phone and use that phone until you receive a replacement iPhone." http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/service/faq/#repair8

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Answer 3

Scott P.

Level 6

16,889 points

Jun 23, 2009 1:51 PM in response to AppleMan1958

The SIM is just a SIM. 3G, Edge, no difference, the card does not enable the particular data network. It allows the network to identify who is who. Heck, my iPhone has a SIM clearly labeled "3G", and it works just fine. And although I am sure they will find a way, who is AT&T to complain that your daughter is using their slower data network for a while? 😉

The plan you have connected to that SIM is an iPhone plan, and will be used in an iPhone.

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Answer 4

AppleMan1958 Author

Level 7

27,492 points

Jun 23, 2009 6:08 PM in response to AppleMan1958

Thanks for the help, but so far it is not working. I have been on the phone with AT&T to see if they can suggest something.

When i change the Sim card it locks the phone and shows a diagram that says to plug into itunes. Emergency outbound calls will work.

When I plug into iTunes it insists on my registering a new 2g data plan for the phone.

ATT has committed to calling me tomorrow with a solution. It looks like they may have me set up the 2g plan and then credit my account. I am so far pleased with the support from iPhone Support anf the local AT&T call center.

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Answer 5

AppleMan1958 Author

Level 7

27,492 points

Jun 24, 2009 1:09 PM in response to AppleMan1958

I was on the phone with ATT this afternoon and they got it working. They had to do some work in their end withe the IMEI number. Then I had to activate the phone through iTunes and pick the $20 iPhone plan. They had to manually adjust the billing so that my daughter does not break her 2 year contract.

When the repaired 3G comes back, we will switch the sim cards again, and reactivate the 3G through iTunes.

Thanks to all who tried to help.

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