The EE sim in my Samsung A8 phone will not work in any other phone.

[kooky45]

I've tried my ee sim in 5 other unlocked phones and it won't work in any of them.  All are a mix of ages including brand new.  The sim only works in my old phone which is the one I originally got it for.  ee tech support don't know why.  My wife's sim works in every phone.  Anyone know what the problem could be?

[Northerner]

Hi @kooky45 

• Are all the phones 4 or 5 G.
• Can you manually select EE from the network settings. 

There is no reason for the SIM not to work in unlocked devices. 

Thanks 

[kooky45]

Thanks. The phones are a variety of ages, as old as an S4 Mini and as new
as an A34 and an A55. I even tried an older Motorola. The only phone it
works in is my A8 which the sim has been in for years.

[kooky45]

And none of them give me the option to select EE as the provider.

[bristolian]

FYI you have a short time after posting to edit, negating the need for multiple short replies.

In what way, do the SIMs "not work" in the other phones? You mention none of them give you the option to select EE - so are you saying the phones don't find EE when you do a manual network search? That's a device issue if so.

Or do you mean something else? Can you give more detail on how the SIMs are not working? As mentioned, there's no reason for a SIM not to work in an otherwise functional phone.

[kooky45]

Thanks for your reply and questions.  On all of the other phones I always get that the device isn't registered on a network and I'm only allowed emergency calls.  When I try to search manually for a network,  even on the single phone that works with the sim, then the scan circle icon just spins and spins.  if I chose automatic network them it's always ee.

I'm beginning to think that this sim might be the original one that came with the phone when it was new and on an ee contract in 2018.  I haven't been in a contract for years though and its been fine.  Could the sim be somehow tied to the phone? I've never heard of that being possible. I never locked the sim with a pin and none of the phones ask me to unlock the sim when it's in and I start them. 

I've tried every phone with my wife's O2 sim and they all register on O2 and work perfectly,  so it has to be something about ee or the ee sim.

[bristolian]

Phones can't be locked to specific SIM, or vice-versa.

[Rach_H]

Hi @kooky45,

Welcome to the Community!

We want to be sure you can use your SIM when you need it, so I'd love to help you get this sorted. Have you tried getting a replacement SIM, and seeing if you still have this trouble?

Rach

[kooky45]

Hi, thanks for your help.  I haven't tried a replacement sim yet. I'll give the current sim a good clean tonight and if that doesn't work I'll see ee about a replacement tomorrow and provide an update.