topic Re: well that didnt work in SIM cards & Porting

well that didnt work

Petemartin70 — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 10:54:42 GMT

i have been trying to activate my new sim card my other card was deactivated due to lack of use.so i loaded a new EE sim card put in the new number i checked the number was showing in sim manager i entered the 6 digit pin entered the long code on the back of the packaging and all i get is [well that didn't work please try again or call a number] been going around and round in circles for 2 hours now why if it so complicated? all i get is automated messages or go on our community forum.

Re: well that didnt work

Schockwave — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 12:54:46 GMT

Hello @Petemartin70 ,

Welcome to the community,

Not sure why you are not able to activate the SIM card, but when you call customer service, please press option 2 on your keypad to get to one of the guides, who should be able to help you.

Re: well that didnt work

Peter_W — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 13:17:37 GMT

Good afternoon @Petemartin70 😊

Welcome to the EE Community!

If your old SIM was placed into hibernation for inactivity, then this can be restored if it's less than 90 days from the original hibernation date.

If more time than this has passed though, you would need a brand new SIM with a new number, though.

If you've experienced the latter then the SIM you buy should already be active. You should be able to pop this straight into a phone and get going without any codes or PINs.

Can you see a signal on your phone?

Peter

Re: well that didnt work

Petemartin70 — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 14:14:35 GMT

I can see the signal? The only thing I can think of I am based in jersey and will need to connect to the EE network to activate when I'm in the uk

Re: well that didnt work

Schockwave — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 14:40:20 GMT

@Petemartin70 , that is correct, you can only activate or reactivate the sim in the UK, unfortunately, as Jersey is not part of the UK.

Re: well that didnt work

Peter_W — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 15:01:59 GMT

Thanks for confirming that @Petemartin70.

Like @Schockwave mentioned, you'll need to be in the UK and connected to our network to successfully activate the SIM.

It's been a few years since I last visited the Channel Islands, but there's a chance if you try searching manually for a network you may be able to pick up an EE signal from the mainland.

How to do this differs depending on the model of phone you're using, but you'll usually find it in the network / carrier settings of your phone.

Peter