buy a unlocked cell phone
buy a unlocked cell phone
If i buy an unlocked cell phone I can just put my sim card in and go right?
I mean assuming that i get the right carrier, and i dont get scammed, and that the phone actually works right/
Well, you’re close, but it’s not QUITE that simple. However, it’s not a big deal, either.
As soon as you put your sim into an unlocked GSM phone (the kind that uses sim cards, obviously), you should be able to make calls, and send text messages. At that point, if it says anything like “no network,” or “emergency calls only,” then the phone is still locked to a network other than that of your carrier; it’s telling you that the sim and the carrier to which the phone is locked don’t match.
Presuming it is properly unlocked, and IF you want to use the internet with the new phone, or send picture messages, then you’ll probably have to change some settings in the phone. The phone has to “talk” to a gateway to use the internet and to send picture messages, and you have to be sure that your phone is talking to the RIGHT gateway for your provider. It will probably also need a new proxy address, and the right address for the MMS server that your carrier uses, as well as (possibly) a DNS address.
All that stuff sounds like a big deal, I know, but it’s not; it’s just a question of creating a new profile on your phone with the right information in it.
Contact your carrier from ANOTHER phone, and get their tech support people to help you with setting up your new phone. The sim MUST be in your new phone for the setup to work, so it’s best to call from a landline, or borrow someone else’s phone to make the call.