SIM card question

[daviddd]

I'm not very au fait with mobile phone technology and could do with a bit of help. How do I get hold of a SIM card to try out with my 'new' unlocked mobile phone that I bought on Ebay. What I intend to try and do is set it up as a modem to work with my PDA but I need a SIM first before I can experiment. Can I buy online (not quite sure what I'm looking for lol) or do I have to go to a phone shop (in the big city).

[Brizer2k7]

You can get free sim cards for orange, o2 and t-mobile.

orange - http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/freesimcard?WT.mc_id=ConFreGeAdd_0978

t-mobile - http://www.t-mobilesimgiveaway.co.uk/?WT.mc_id=ON_QM_S_Google&WT.srch=1

O2 - http://freesim.o2.co.uk/messages.php

[slinky]

pm me il give u a free o2 one

[MsMe]

It would be alot easier to use the PDA by itself to connect to the internet.

Depending on the setup you may have a few difficulties. You can connect the two via - infared, bluetooth or cable.

Both infared and bluetooth can be tempremental connections. The cable is the best bet, but depending on the mobile phone it may be difficult to get one to fit.


You can use any standard sim card as long as you have the relevant setup information for the company.

[emb123]

It really does kind of depend what device you are trying to connect to what device.
What make & model is the PDA ? (need to know if it is a Pocket PC, a Windows CE, Windows Mobile device or a Palm device). Also what make and model is the mobile phone ? Do you have any preference for network ? Finally it's a really good idea to check the data connection prices for the different networks as they were wildly different the last time I checked.

Used to do this with various different devices and it can be very useful indeed (albeit a tad sluggish and 'cramped' on the small screen :) ). Some devices are more problemmatic than others.

[daviddd]

My PDA is a Dell Axim X51V (superb screen for viewing internet pages but I mainly want it to compose e-mail with my Bluetooth keyboard and send via the mobile).

The mobile is a Nokia 6310. I want to connect with the Ax by Bluetooth.

I have actually ordered a £10 SIM from Tesco to try this out, but as I'm off to Oz in a few weeks I'll buy a new SIM there - it'll be cheaper to use I expect.

[emb123]

David, now I've looked up the Axim X51V I understand what the problem is. I am familiar with it from a device that I used to have.

The phone should be no problem.

The problem is 'Microsoft' or 'Windows Mobile 5'. Basically, in their wisdom, Microsoft ditched bluetooth dial-up networking on WM 5 devices in favour of ICS (Internet Connection Sharing).

I had the same problem years ago on a HP/Compaq PDA that I used to have. In the end I got so fed up with it I bought a Palm (and haven't looked back). At the time, HP advised me that the only way I could do it would be to run some 3rd party software (which was quite expensive, and didn't cover my model).

Things have changed since I last did this with a Microsoft OS based PDA and someone else may be able to advise where I am a little out of date, however I did come across this article at the MS support site which refers to this and it looks fairly straightforward and similar to how I do it with my Palm.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/help/pocketpc/bluetooth.mspx


In a dull moment :), It is worth reading this 'apology' if you can call it that from a Microsoft chappie.

Hope this helps!

http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2007/04/17/why-did-we-remove-bluetooth-dun.aspx

[daviddd]

thanks Emb, I had a look at that. When I get my SIM I can fiddle about and see where I get to.

[daviddd]

well, got my sim and validated GPRS, and after a bit of caffuffle actually got the Axim and phone paired, and dialling up. Then I was hit with an unexpected snag in that Tesco sims do not support use as a pda modem.

Apparently the big 4 mobile cos. do support modem use, so off I go again to get a new sim card! Grrrr!

[daviddd]

I finally managed to get this to work having Googled a useful description - works a treat. On Vodaphone PAYG a long e-mail only cost around 10p to send.