Hi
Went into O2 shop today and they told me I couldn't get my phone unlocked for use in Australia as it was a two-stroke one and Australia uses 3-stroke (well, it might not have been 'stroke' but it was definitely 2 and 3 something! band maybe?)
It's a Nokia 3310 - has anyone else brought theirs over and used it successfully? Is it worth bringing them or are they cheap to buy there?
Shall I just drop it out the plane window at 40,000 feet?
Diane
x

I bought my phone over with me and it was fine, wasn't a new one either.
as far as i know australia uses the same frequencies in its telephone networks as the UK.
try a search on BXP, there may be more info.

sean

Hi Diane

have you tried asking for an upgrade?

O2 are doing upgrades on 'Pay as you go' phones as well as contracts at the moment.

You might be able to get a good deal, then have the new phone unlocked.

We have quite new phones, but the newer ones are expensive in Oz, so we are going to upgrade one of them. There's a guy in our local market who unlocks them for £10, but you can get it done cheaper.

When we arrive in Oz, we'll buy new sim cards for our existing phones.

Jules :D

I use a Nokia 3310 here - it works fine. Just make sure you get yours unlocked before you bring it.

My sister always buys a few phones in Cash Converters here cos they seem to be cheaper than the UK, then takes them back with her. (Her hubby always loses them in the bilges of the trawlers he works on).

Correct.

Australia uses both the 900Mhz and 1800Mhz frequencies. In the UK these are used by O2 and Vodafone on 900Mhz, and Orange and T-Mobile on 1800Mhz.
As an aside, the USA use 1900Mhz, and Japan uses 1500Mhz.

Your 3310 will work if it's unlocked.

Your phone has DCT-3 software installed (the phones "operating system" for want of a better description). Unlocking is generally done via a data cable however there is software around that will generate an unlock code which is then entered via the phone's keypad - much easier than using a data cable.

I'm not sure what you just said Fred but I'm certain it's something important :P

No seriously, I've got a 3310 presently with virgin. A guy on my local market unlocks them for £8, is this a good idea?? how do I make sure/know it's been done properly BEFORE we get to Adelaide??

Jan

Easy.

Put either a Vodafone or an o2 sim in it and if it works it's unlocked. If it's still locked you'll see a message along the lines of "insert correct sim" or "incorrect sim card".

Unlocking for £8 sounds reasonable enough.

Fred

Thanks Fred, I'll go down next market day.
Cheers!
Jan

Hi Diane and others
We have a Nokia 3310 - had it unlocked in England no probs and just inserted the sim card here and away it went!

Hope this helps!

Elaine

hi diane

im going to oz around January time and i was thinking about taking my phone which is a 7250i nokia. i was wondering if u can use the same sim card out there though. If not i will buy a new sim card when i get out there but keep the same phone. when are you going to oz?

love jo x x

hi diane

im going to oz around January time and i was thinking about taking my phone which is a 7250i nokia. i was wondering if u can use the same sim card out there though. If not i will buy a new sim card when i get out there but keep the same phone. when are you going to oz?

love jo x x

diane, i have been researching this too. my son wants an nec e313 from the 3 network, but everyone has said that they dont sell sim cards seperately in oz so he wont be able to use it unless he uses it as if we are on holiday and that will be expensive,
so i have looked on the virgin website and put .com.au at the end of the address, and they have lots of good deals, they deliver for free in oz, and have good packages which i think are cheaper than here,
so we still havent decided what to do yet!

laura

Hi all
We asked in our local NOKIA shop on Saturday, most models can be used in Oz with a locally purchased sim card. They are happy to unlock most models but cost is £15.00 :doh:
Most markets have people who will unlock them for £10.00 or less
:medium smiley:
Brian

Well I dunno, Howard tells me I remember right that he didn't have to pay anything to get unlocked from Virgin Mobile on his Nokia - just rang them up and they did the biz.

Two points from me, based on personal experiences:

- When we first arrived in Australia I couldn't enter into a contract with a mobile telephone company because I didn't have a credit history in Australia. My wife and I had enabled global roaming on our UK (Vodafone) SIM cards/Ericsson phones, which meant that we could at least maintain mobile phone usage for two to three months until we could sign up for an Aussie contract (also with Vodafone, through Smartchat initially), on which note ...

- We had (and still have) SIM only plans with Vodafone, originally via AAPT Smartchat - have a look here (click on SIM only options): http://www.aapt.com.au/godirect/index.asp

Best regards.

Right - come on you guys! Just pretend you are talking to a Martian (you might just as well be actually....lol)

When I come over in October for three months, I dont want to open an account with a mobile phone company 'cos I prefer to use pay-as-you go so I guess the credit card history wont be necessary.

I will be quite happy to buy a cheap mobile when I get over there presuming they do sell Pay-as-you-go ones, maybe someone could just confirm this!

Elaine will think I have gone mad 'cos she's already sorted me out once!

:medium smiley:

Annie, you don't need credit for pay as you go. We bought a sim card for, if I remember rightly, about $25 and it had $25 credit on it for starters. Then you just ring up and use your existing credit card to put more on it when it runs down.

Mind you, it's far cheaper to use a calling card if you're ringing back to UK. If you're going to be doing that, I'd get one of the many cards we've talked about (mine's Go Talk). You could use your son's phone line but the charge is all to your card, nothing on his phone bill. Buy say a $10 card and you might need to top it up here and there then it's pay as you go, just like the mobile. Expect calls to uk to cost around $1 per hour or even less that way (you'll need to check the individual card for full details of costs).

Tell you what Annie, when you get here, just come round and we'll take you into Marion shops and sort you out :thumbs up:

Elaine

Hi Elaine, definately looking forward to meeting you and would love to be guided around the Marion shops when buying my mobile. :loopy: Mind you, after all this 'forward thinking' they may have one to lend me when we get there. I haven't talked 'mobiles' with them at all!

I do not intend phoning UK on it. I will use our son's landline for that and will of course be keeping in touch with family in UK via 'msn Messenger' &/or 'Skype' (what would I do without my PC? :rolleyes: )

I purely want our son and dil to know that they can contact me if we are out with the little chaps. After all, we are hoping to take them out for trips and I will feel much more secure if we can all keep in touch with each other.

Can you top-up your mobile in shops (cash over the counter) or does it have to be done over the 'phone by credit card? Thanks for your help!

:eyes mouth:

Hi Annie
You can do it in shops too so no problem there! We just find the credit card easier, but there's plenty of shops that do it.

Thank you Elaine - once again I am indebted to you!

:thumbs up:

By the way Elaine, can you tell me if Cathy Milton turned up when you had your last get-together.

I believe she was planning on doing so. I am a little concerned because she was going over for a holiday with her daughter and I am sure that was some months ago now. She hasn't been back on this site since. I only know of her through this site but am a bit concerned by her absence.
I have manged to trace her last posting back to May 13th when she was looking forward to meeting you all at 'Fresh Choice.'

No, she didn't make it to Fresh Choice and you're quite right, haven't heard anything. Maybe email her? Then even if she's not on the board she should get your message. I hope everything's all right with her!

Have a read here:
http://www.phonechoice.com.au/

Might be of some help ...

Best regards.

We just bought a new Pre-Paid Mobile from Tandy.

Nokia 3315 -it cost $99, and came with $25 of call credits.
After you have spent $85 on top ups, (with Optus), they will unlock it free of charge

They also had one for $99 with $50 worth of call credits.

Most supermarkets also sell top ups. Our local one also has Mobile phone offers from time to time. I got an Alcatel phone for $79 with $50 worth of credits about 6 months ago.