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

kooky45
Investigator
Investigator

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?

8 REPLIES 8
Northerner
EE Community Star
EE Community Star

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 

 




To contact EE Customer Services dial 150 From your EE mobile or 0800 956 6000 from any other phone. You can call Freephone +44 800 079 8586 on Skype

EE standard opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 9pm - Saturday and Sunday, 8am to 8pm.
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
Investigator
Investigator

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

bristolian
EE Community Star
EE Community Star

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.

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
EE Community Star
EE Community Star

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

Rach_H
EE Community Support Team

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

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.