topic Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet in Other phones & Devices

Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

treez — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 18:23:51 GMT

Hi,

I have a mobile phone account with EE for my Alcatel 2057D Dumbphone.

It now doesnt work. So i need another dumb phone. Can i just buy any cheap dumbphone from Argos and put my SIM in it?

What if the new phone has a micro SIM card placement? ...(my SIM card is a nano SIM)....How do i change my nano SIM to say a micro SIM?....will EE do it in one of their shops?

When i try and select a new dumb phone...should it be a 2G one or a 4G one?

Most of the cheap £12 dumbphones in Argos seem to be with vodafone and need you to pay a £10 airtime fee......say i buy one of these ...can i just take thew SIM card out and put my SIM card in there?...or will that phone be locked to vodafone?...

I know that if it is locked to vodafone then it will be a waste of time trying to get them to unlock it....since when i changed from o2 to EE, o2 wouldnt unlock my phone and so i had to buy a new phone.......i then just took my old phone and my new phone into an EE shop and they just sorted it all for me.

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

Northerner — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 18:45:07 GMT

Hi @treez

Buy an EE or unlocked device. Go for 4G/5G over 2G only.

Transfer your SIM across, but if you need a new size and your SIM is not already a multi SIM then you can get a new one online or in any EE store.

Thanks

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

treez — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 18:53:30 GMT

Thanks, but all the under £30 dumbphones in Argos are 2G i seem to notice.

This one is £17 on Argos so i am considering buying it...it has Mini-SIM and my SIM is nano SIM...so as you say i can order another one?

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3283343?clickPR=plp:4:372

I am hoping my nano SIM hasnt been damaged when i dropped the phone in the toilet? Will water damage it?....i think theres a microcontroller in the SIM card?

Do you know where i can order a replacement SIM on the EE Web? (just in case)

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

treez — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 08:01:46 GMT

Thanks, do you think my nano SIM card will be "dead" because i dropped the whole phone in water?

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

Katie_B — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 08:10:56 GMT

Hi @treez.

You're SIM may be damaged.

Ways to order a replacement SIM can be found HERE.

Katie

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

treez — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 09:49:09 GMT

Thanks, the phone has started working again. But i really need it for next week....and it may of course stop working....so i am thinking of buying a new "dumb phone" and getting another EE sim for that (a SIM on this same account) . Will that be possible? And please advise on cost of doing this?

So in other words, i am wishing to have a "reserve phone", ready to use if this phone suddenly stops working. (but obviously i want it on the same EE account as my "now dry" phone.)

So, Can you just get another duplicate SIM for this purpose? Sorry , but it seems such a strange thing to explain as its so open to misinterpretation due to my poor words, i must apologise.

Also, incidentally, what if i get a duplicate SIM from EE and put it in another dumbphone.......then which one rings if someone gives me a call?.......you see, this is why i thought they would never give out a duplicate SIM?

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

Schockwave — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 10:37:56 GMT

@treez , you can only have one SIM card with your number, not two, so you would need to order a replacement SIM card.

By the way, if you let the phone dry out, it should still work, but may not be as good as it originally was, and if it is used for emergency, then should be good enough. I always keep my old phones in case something happens, but have never had to do so, personally, just put the SIM card in the phone, if it is working ok, should not need a replacement SIM card, but if worried, just order a replacement SIM card.

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

treez — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 10:43:51 GMT

Thanks, so what happens if someone looses there SIM card, then orders a replacement SIM, then they find there old SIM card...will that old SIM card not work?

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

bristolian — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 10:53:33 GMT

@treez wrote:

Thanks, so what happens if someone looses there SIM card, then orders a replacement SIM, then they find there old SIM card...will that old SIM card not work?

Correct. 1 number = 1 SIM. So a replacement SIM will replace an existing SIM.

A 2G phone will be perfectly usable for voice & text services, but a 4G one will give many benefits - better coverage & call quality in the short term, but there are long-term plans (many years away yet) for 2G switchoff just as 3G has already gone.

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

XRaySpeX — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 16:10:03 GMT

Order a replacement SIM online at Order a replacement SIM for £1.50 or phone CS for one. It will come as a Combi-SIM with all 3 sizes as push-outs.
All phones sold nowadays are sold unlocked.
Better to buy a 4G/5G phone. 2G is gonna be switched off eventually.
The £10 airtime fee you are being asked to pay will be for a top-up & initial PAYG pack of allowances for a month.

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

treez — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 16:27:21 GMT

Thanks, so i can buy a SIM from "combi-SIM" and then just go into an EE shop and get it "assigned" to my EE account, so that i can use it in any dumbphone that i buy?

..What would be the advantage (if any) of that compared to ordering a new SIM from EE in the post?...or going to an EE shop and buying a SIM and getting them to assign it to my (dumb)phone number on my EE account?

Or have i missed the point?....sorry i confess i am a dumbUser of a "dumbphone".

Re: Dropped mobile "dumbphone" down the toilet

XRaySpeX — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 16:34:11 GMT

By a Combi-SIM I just mean a SIM that comes in 3 sizes that can be pushed from the containing plastic card.

Your existing no, is already on your a/c. A replacement SIM will come with the same no. so it replaces it on your a/c.

By buying a new SIM from anywhere it will have a different no.