Go Phone

If I buy a go-phone from AT&A's website, can I take the SIM card from my existing AT&T phone, and use it in the go-phone ? I do not wish to use the go-phone prepaid service, I just want the better phone. Looking at a refurbished Nokia 6085. I think it will get better signal than my LG CU400 at my house. If it will work do I take the SIM card that comes with the phone out before ever powering it up and replace it with my SIM card ? Will AT&t bother me about activating this phone as a go-phone? TIA


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In article <47441623$0$32542$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
bigtoe <kforaker@yahoo.com> wrote:
> If I buy a go-phone from AT&A's website, can I take the SIM card from
>my existing AT&T phone, and use it in the go-phone ? I do not wish to
>use the go-phone prepaid service, I just want the better phone. Looking
>at a refurbished Nokia 6085. I think it will get better signal than my
>LG CU400 at my house. If it will work do I take the SIM card that comes
>with the phone out before ever powering it up and replace it with my SIM
>card ? Will AT&t bother me about activating this phone as a go-phone?

You can interchange SIM cards between AT&T phones sold as prepay or
postpay whenever you want. It is not the phone that is "activated", it is
the SIM card.

Cingular had been known to occasionally blacklist prepaid handsets sold by
mass marketers (like Wal-Mart) that were not properly entered into the
system at the point of sale. I'm not sure that is even done anymore; in
any case it should not matter if the handset is purchased direct anyway.

Cingular (AT&T) has not actually blacklisted these phones. They explained
to me that it is actually a "glitch" in their system that sometimes makes
their computer think the phone must have been stolen from the marketer since
its serial number was not activated. They assured me if you call they will
remove the block. (I know of several people who have done this.)

Fred

"Mike S." <retsuhcs@xinap.moc> wrote in message
news:fi19id$5gm$1@reader1.panix.com...
>
> In article <47441623$0$32542$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
> bigtoe <kforaker@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> If I buy a go-phone from AT&A's website, can I take the SIM card from
>>my existing AT&T phone, and use it in the go-phone ? I do not wish to
>>use the go-phone prepaid service, I just want the better phone. Looking
>>at a refurbished Nokia 6085. I think it will get better signal than my
>>LG CU400 at my house. If it will work do I take the SIM card that comes
>>with the phone out before ever powering it up and replace it with my SIM
>>card ? Will AT&t bother me about activating this phone as a go-phone?
>
> You can interchange SIM cards between AT&T phones sold as prepay or
> postpay whenever you want. It is not the phone that is "activated", it is
> the SIM card.
>
> Cingular had been known to occasionally blacklist prepaid handsets sold by
> mass marketers (like Wal-Mart) that were not properly entered into the
> system at the point of sale. I'm not sure that is even done anymore; in
> any case it should not matter if the handset is purchased direct anyway.
>

In article <eD11j.3872$xP4.2901@newsfe18.lga>, Fred <none@none.com> wrote:
>
>"Mike S." <retsuhcs@xinap.moc> wrote in message
>news:fi19id$5gm$1@reader1.panix.com...
>>
>> In article <47441623$0$32542$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
>> bigtoe <kforaker@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> If I buy a go-phone from AT&A's website, can I take the SIM card from
>>>my existing AT&T phone, and use it in the go-phone ? I do not wish to
>>>use the go-phone prepaid service, I just want the better phone. Looking
>>>at a refurbished Nokia 6085. I think it will get better signal than my
>>>LG CU400 at my house. If it will work do I take the SIM card that comes
>>>with the phone out before ever powering it up and replace it with my SIM
>>>card ? Will AT&t bother me about activating this phone as a go-phone?
>>
>> You can interchange SIM cards between AT&T phones sold as prepay or
>> postpay whenever you want. It is not the phone that is "activated", it is
>> the SIM card.
>>
>> Cingular had been known to occasionally blacklist prepaid handsets sold by
>> mass marketers (like Wal-Mart) that were not properly entered into the
>> system at the point of sale. I'm not sure that is even done anymore; in
>> any case it should not matter if the handset is purchased direct anyway.
>>
>
>Cingular (AT&T) has not actually blacklisted these phones. They explained
>to me that it is actually a "glitch" in their system that sometimes makes
>their computer think the phone must have been stolen from the marketer since
>its serial number was not activated. They assured me if you call they will
>remove the block. (I know of several people who have done this.)

Thanks for the clarification, but to me the blocking of a phone from the
network based on IMEI sure seems to meet the definition of blacklisting.
Perhaps the "out" is that they are willing to remove the block; as I
understand blacklisting as implemented by European carriers, that is
permanent.

"Mike S." <retsuhcs@xinap.moc> wrote in message
news:fi70ue$cjj$1@reader1.panix.com...
> Thanks for the clarification, but to me the blocking of a phone from the
> network based on IMEI sure seems to meet the definition of blacklisting.
> Perhaps the "out" is that they are willing to remove the block; as I
> understand blacklisting as implemented by European carriers, that is
> permanent.

There was a time when 'generated account info' was used to unlock cell phone
accounts without subscribing. You would receive a huge bill for calls made
by unknown persons. That may be part of the reason for not permitting
manufactured but unallocated device numbers to be locked.