Expert: DebiN - 7/25/2010

Question
QUESTION: I'm looking to buy a go phone and possibly in the near future buy an unlocked phone and use it instead, what I was wondering is I've heard that if you use the sim card that comes with the phone when activated it is locked to the phone you first use, if true can I buy the att 3g sim card off of ebay and use it with my go phone with no problems and be able to switch phones in the near future?

Also with unlocked phones I hear they have to be programmed to a specific network that your using for you to be able to send and receive mms, is this true? And how is it done, if I buy off of cellhut com it says they do it before they ship it, does this mean I simply insert my sim card and I'm 100% fully functional?

What problems if any could or would I run into with using an unlocked phone with an att go phone plan other than I've listed?

Thanks clay...

ANSWER: Do not ever buy a SIM card from anyone except your carrier (AT&T). Only the wireless carrier can activate a SIM card and they are free anyways. Do not ever buy a SIM card. I am very disturbed that people are actually selling them. I strongly, strongly recommend that if you want GoPhone service, buy the GoPhone from AT&T. You don't need an unlocked phone. What would be the reason why you want an unlocked phone? Your prepaid GoPhone SIM will only work in the AT&T phone it was activated in but post paid service will work in a GoPhone or any unlocked GSM phone. You may be able to use the prepaid SIM in an unlocked phone, but likely not and there is no way to program the MMS or data for a GoPhone anyway.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well the gophone sim card is locked to the first phone you activate it with for like 6 months and i  want a way around that, because not necessarily for an unlocked phone but i may want another gophone other than the one i activate the sim card with, i may want to change phones before that time is up, and i thought if i bought a non gophone sim card off of perhaps ebay such as this one it is brand new    http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-AT-T-ATT-SIM-Card-3G-GoPhone-Prepaid-Phone-/280517254821   would that get me around the whole sim lock thing?? my guess is that only gophone sim cards lock like that, and the sim off of ebay is an att sim card the newest model like you would get from an att store, i have already ordered one because i am not near an att store really...would this get me around the gophone sim locking delima?

ps. i am not going to get an unlocked phone, i may just want a different go phone in the near future.

Thanks clay.

Answer
You will not be able to use a SIM card that you get off of ebay. There is no way to activate it, so don't waste your time or money. If you got a blank AT&T SIM card and called AT&T to activate it, it would become the replacement SIM for the one you have now and would be locked to your current device. So you would be in the same situation (dilemma). I would recommend that if you want to get another gophone, just contact AT&T when you get it and have them transfer your number to the new gophone. They can do this for you and it is not a problem. As long as you buy the phone, they can transfer your number. It won't be an issue for them to do this and it's not about getting a SIM card. I hope this helps.