Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

O2 SIM in the U.S. gives me service for the first time ever?!

Tallest Skil

Tallest Skil

macrumors P6
Original poster
Aug 13, 2006
16,044
4
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
Hey, all. So I had this O2 demoesque SIM from when I was in Ireland last fall, and I just got the opportunity to put it in my iPhone (owned since day one, unlocked since 1.0.2, but no service EVER).

Lo and freaking behold, it gets on AT&T's network. Edge even shows up. What the crap, yo. :eek:

So what's the first thing I do? Make a call, obviously. It connects. One ring. And then silence. That's how all of my calls so far have gone down.

Trying to connect to data-based services gives a "cannot connect" message.

I'm just curious what is happening, how it's happening, and if I'll get to see those beautiful bars and "E" forever now, even if I can't make a call...:eek: Even that would be nice...

It says that it was preloaded with €0.10, so I can't imagine that if I ever DO get a call to go through that it would last very long... :p

Edit: I seem to be able to switch between Centennial, AT&T, and T-Mobile at will... All with an O2 SIM...
 
OllyW said:
I'm wondering why you didn't return it if it has never worked properly?
Click to expand...

Oh, it has always worked fine, I've just never had service.

I won it on Day One in 2007. We've been with Verizon since then and haven't switched, so I just used it as, as has been said, an iPod touch with a camera and the ability to pop any SIM in the world for the past year and a half.

I'll tell you, it's been rough. My real cell phone is an LG VX5300.

Piece of frigging crap. 80% of the time, if I want to make a call and the phone has been on, I have to take out the battery while the phone is still on, put it back in, and restart the phone to make the call.

And a lot of the time, calls just don't come through to me at all and don't show up as missed.

I want to use my iPhone for real... :(

And, no, I have no plan at all, Kilamite. In late September they were giving away free SIM packets at Trinity College in Dublin, so I grabbed one and just now put the SIM in my iPhone just now (back in the U.S.) and I'm on the network.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Oh, it has always worked fine, I've just never had service.

I won it on Day One in 2007. We've been with Verizon since then and haven't switched, so I just used it as, as has been said, an iPod touch with a camera and the ability to pop any SIM in the world for the past year and a half.

I'll tell you, it's been rough. My real cell phone is an LG VX5300.

Piece of frigging crap. 80% of the time, if I want to make a call and the phone has been on, I have to take out the battery while the phone is still on, put it back in, and restart the phone to make the call.

And a lot of the time, calls just don't come through to me at all and don't show up as missed.

I want to use my iPhone for real... :(
Click to expand...

I have an LG Env9900 I will sell you cheap. LOL
 
bruinsrme said:
I have an LG Env9900 I will sell you cheap. LOL
Click to expand...

No thanks. ;):D Our Verizon contract is up in February, so at the very least, I'll be breaking away from it for Centennial (before they get eaten by AT&T... because if I don't get service before that happens, I will NEVER have service... EVER). Centennial iPhone, here I come!

Please, oh, please...

But does anyone know why I actually have bars and EDGE with this O2 SIM? Is it just because it has €0.10 on it and thinks that that is worth something?
 
Tallest Skil said:
But does anyone know why I actually have bars and EDGE with this O2 SIM? Is it just because it has €0.10 on it and thinks that that is worth something?
Click to expand...

I would have thought it'd be because of network sharing for abroad. Like, if I go abroad, I'll be using another service, but they'll have a lease agreement with O2 and I'll have to pay a premium to use it.

Even on PAYG same thing. Costs more.
 
Tallest Skil said:
But does anyone know why I actually have bars and EDGE with this O2 SIM? Is it just because it has €0.10 on it and thinks that that is worth something?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how it works in the USA but in the UK a PAYG phone without any credit still works the same as one with credit, it just means you can't phone or text out.

They will still display signal strength and the operator name, receive phone calls and text messages and can be used to phone the emergency services.
 
OllyW said:
I'm not sure how it works in the USA but in the UK a PAYG phone without any credit still works the same as one with credit, it just means you can't phone or text out.

They will still display signal strength and the operator name, receive phone calls and text messages and can be used to phone the emergency services.
Click to expand...

Oh, sweet. I get to see bars and EDGE forever now... :D

This is totally epic. Next step: Actually be able to make a call. :rolleyes:

Thanks!
 
"Welcome to Verizon Wireless. We are unable to complete your call. To speak to a cus–" *slap closed*

Eh, I tried.

Hey, wait. Would it be that I couldn't call from my iPhone because I didn't do that procedure as if I was calling from Ireland? I mean, the calls I made were just U.S. area code and number...

Do I need a "call out of Ireland" prefix and then the U.S. country code to make calls from my iPhone?
 
Tallest Skil said:
"Welcome to Verizon Wireless. We are unable to complete your call. To speak to a cus–" *slap closed*

Eh, I tried.

Hey, wait. Would it be that I couldn't call from my iPhone because I didn't do that procedure as if I was calling from Ireland? I mean, the calls I made were just U.S. area code and number...

Do I need a "call out of Ireland" prefix and then the U.S. country code to make calls from my iPhone?
Click to expand...

Yes, details here.
 
Well here's my guess on what's happening.

If you have a cellphone in Ireland, and you go abroad, you have to pay a charge to receive the call, or to make an outgoing call yourself. Same for texts. So your account needs to have the credit to do that.

Your SIM does not have any credit, so O2 Ireland will not allow the call to go through.

Just as background, I believe that roaming is network-neutral - when you roam your phone will pick whichever network to roam to that it feels is best, if network selection is set to automatic. You can only choose the network by setting it to manual selection. You've got AT&T, but that's purely by chance, it could as easily have been T-Mobile. When I take mine to France Spain or Italy, it switches network randomly.

To actually make calls or texts, you're going to have to get a payg card with credit on it.
 
Tallest Skil said:
It says that it was preloaded with €0.10, so I can't imagine that if I ever DO get a call to go through that it would last very long... :p
Click to expand...

It will cost more than that €0.10 just to receive or make a call on an international sim card. Your only option is to top up and see if it works:eek:
 
If you have not topped up the o2 IE sim in 6 months and it still has credit, that credit gets deactivated. Because you're in the states it needs to use that credit to pay for the roaming charges but it's deactivated.

I know this cause I'm an o2 IE customer. If you really want you can top up online on www.o2.ie if you really want..... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back