iPhone 4 Activation Problem - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

hurtin_albertan · 12-27-2012, 01:01 PM

Bought my gf a used iPhone 4 for Christmas, as her iPhone 3G has been rendered almost entirely useless.

She is under contract with Bell Mobility, and I sourced out a good deal on a phone that was locked to Virgin Mobile. From what I had found on the internet, compatability between the two carriers should not be an issue (i.e. her Bell SIM card would work in the Virgin phone), and that you could trim the old larger-sized 3G SIM card down to the size of the new generation nano SIM without issue. As far as I can tell her newly trimmed SIM card is undamaged and visually identical to a factory-made card.

However, when I turn the phone on, it says "No SIM Card - Insert a valid SIM card to activate". I called Virgin tech support and they said the Bell SIM card should work in the Virgin locked phone, but that I would need to purchase a nano SIM card and my trim job was the problem. That seemed reasonable enough, but when I insert my Telus factory-made nano sim card the same message appears - the phone doesn't register that a SIM card is present. So it seems that this is the error message that appears when the carrier-locked phone has an alternative service provider's SIM card inserted.

Does anybody have any experience with this issue or thoughts/suggestions on the matter? I'm suspicious that the phone needs to be unlocked or possibly there is a more complicated problem at hand.

photon · 12-27-2012, 02:15 PM

If a phone is locked on Virgin I don't see why you'd think it would work on Bell just because the SIM fits, locked means locked to the carrier.

The phone is capable of taking the Bell SIM and working on Bell's network, but it's still locked to Virgin so it'll only work on Virgin unless you get it unlocked.

You might be in luck though, Virgin does do unlocks, but not sure what they'd do in your case. Worth checking into though.

http://virginmobile.custhelp.com/app...r-apple-iphone

Otherwise not much you can do. There are iPhone unlocks out there, but I'm not positive that they're totally legit and won't be reversed at some point.

EDIT: I was thinking of Virgin Mobile in the US, I forgot there's Virgin Canada, so if it's a Virgin Canada phone if you buy a Bell nano SIM that could work, I'm not 100% positive but if they told you that then it's worth going into a Bell store and giving that a try. A Telus SIM won't work since it's a different carrier.

Virgin Canada also offers unlocks, but I think they're $75.

silentsim · 12-27-2012, 03:19 PM

You are looking for a micro sim- not nano. Grab one from bell store- should work

hurtin_albertan · 12-27-2012, 03:31 PM

It is a Virgin Canada phone, which is why I assumed that the Bell SIM would work when I bought it (Virgin Canada phones run on the Bell network). The Virgin tech guy confirmed that this is the case, so I shouldn't need to have the phone unlocked.

I realize that the Telus SIM wasn't going to work, I inserted it to see what the error message would be when a SIM card from a different network is installed.

hurtin_albertan · 12-27-2012, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silentsim

You are looking for a micro sim- not nano. Grab one from bell store- should work

Right, I didn't realize that there was a difference. Thanks.

photon · 12-27-2012, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hurtin_albertan

It is a Virgin Canada phone, which is why I assumed that the Bell SIM would work when I bought it (Virgin Canada phones run on the Bell network). The Virgin tech guy confirmed that this is the case, so I shouldn't need to have the phone unlocked.

I realize that the Telus SIM wasn't going to work, I inserted it to see what the error message would be when a SIM card from a different network is installed.

Yeah my bad forgot all about Virgin Canada, so it should work if you get right sized Bell SIM.

If it doesn't, there are some guys on eBay and kijiji that supposedly do iPhone IEMI unlocks for cheap compared to the carrier doing the unlock, but I'm skeptical of those because I don't know what process they're actually using, but might be an option if it doesn't work for some reason.

getbak · 12-27-2012, 07:03 PM

Bell and Virgin do have different SIM cards, even though they're the same company and use the same network.

I still had 6 months left on my 3GS contract with Virgin when I bought my unlocked 5. I went into the Source to switch phones but keep the same contract, and the guy had originally grabbed a Bell SIM card, and had to switch to a Virgin card before he could activate it on the account.

keratosis · 12-28-2012, 12:45 AM

Yup. You'll either have to unlock it or move to Virgin. Same issue I had with Koodo/Telus.

Sent from my SGH-T989D

hurtin_albertan · 12-28-2012, 09:35 AM

Well, it turns out that my suspicion was right (also confirmed by a few posters here) - the trimmed down SIM card had nothing to do with it. Fact is, Virgin locked phones won't operate with Bell SIM cards, and vice-versa. I have to get the phone unlocked. Even Virgin employees don't know this, as per my conversation with their tech support.

Which brings me to my next problem - now I'm hearing that Virgin locked iPhone 4 is impossible to unlock privately. I know that Virgin will do it for $75 but there are some stipulations that I don't qualify for.

Edit - I'm now finding that iPhone is one of the only phones that Virgin is unable to unlock. So basically, I can't use this thing unless I get it unlocked, but because it's Virgin, I can't get it unlocked. Great.

Thoughts anybody?

Rathji · 12-28-2012, 09:37 AM

Jailbreak unlock?

ken0042 · 12-28-2012, 09:45 AM

How far into her contract is she with Bell? I would think that seeing as she has a 3G under her contract, she would have to be at least 2 years into it.

She could talk to Bell and see if she is elligible for an upgrade. Bell seems to be willing to do upgrades sooner than most other providers- I was elligible after about 18 months.

That way you can get her a 5 and be done with it.

photon · 12-28-2012, 10:12 AM

Yeah a jailbreak unlock might be possible, but it's not the easiest thing to maintain (upgrades can break it, and if you've upgraded recently it might be impossible).

You could contact this guy, has a good rep it seems for unlocks to see if you can get an IMEI unlock: http://myworld.ebay.ca/unlock_fusion/

You could also put the phone up for trade on kijiji, maybe someone has a Bell phone and wants a Virgin one. Or sell it and buy a Bell one.

hurtin_albertan · 12-28-2012, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah a jailbreak unlock might be possible, but it's not the easiest thing to maintain (upgrades can break it, and if you've upgraded recently it might be impossible).

You could contact this guy, has a good rep it seems for unlocks to see if you can get an IMEI unlock: http://myworld.ebay.ca/unlock_fusion/

You could also put the phone up for trade on kijiji, maybe someone has a Bell phone and wants a Virgin one. Or sell it and buy a Bell one.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

I think failing that, the next course of action is to get rid of the damn thing via trade or sale. What a pain in the ass.

silentsim · 12-28-2012, 11:07 AM

Hmm. I'm pretty sure my friend had a Virgin iPhone they were using on bell, just like you can use a Koodo iPhone on Telus and vice versa. Hmmmm

hurtin_albertan · 12-28-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silentsim

Hmm. I'm pretty sure my friend had a Virgin iPhone they were using on bell, just like you can use a Koodo iPhone on Telus and vice versa. Hmmmm

I saw lots of this on the internet as I was in the process of buying, which is why I figured there would be a workaround. The answer is definitively NO - you cannot use a Virgin locked iPhone on the Bell network. The phone would need to be unlocked first.

Up until very recently this was not possible specifically for Virgin locked iPhones, however Virgin has just released an unlock option with a bunch of stipulations that I don't qualify for along with a $75 fee.

ken0042 · 12-28-2012, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hurtin_albertan

however Virgin has just released an unlock option with a bunch of stipulations that I don't qualify for along with a $75 fee.

Now I'm curious what those stipulations are.

silentsim · 12-28-2012, 11:42 AM

My question is- doesn't locked iPhones with wrong carrier sim's usually say INVALID SIM and not No Sim? At least from last time I tried a Locked iPhone!

hurtin_albertan · 12-28-2012, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

Now I'm curious what those stipulations are.

silentsim · 12-28-2012, 12:00 PM

A follow up, reading howard forums several members report their Virgin iPhone's working on Bell.

Here's one

"Just to let everyone know my iphone4 locked to Virgin works fine with my new Bell sim on the Bell network!
"
http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...3#post14697243

Is the iPhone updated to the newest OS?

hurtin_albertan · 12-28-2012, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silentsim

My question is- doesn't locked iPhones with wrong carrier sim's usually say INVALID SIM and not No Sim? At least from last time I tried a Locked iPhone!

I'm not sure, this is my first experience.

I do know that when I inserted my Telus micro SIM into the Virgin locked phone, the "No SIM" message also came up. Having this same message for both of these SIM cards that I tried (trimmed Bell one and factory-made Telus one) is what led me to believe that I was having an unlocking/carrier problem and not simply a wrong sized SIM card problem as the Virgin tech guy suggested.

Not that I'm calling him a liar...just bad at his job.