The Happy Scrapper

If you’re a phone user whose carrier uses the GSM standard, your phone incorporates a tiny electronic card which offers lots of value. The card is known as SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card therefore it may keep your preferences. Equally as important, this removable smart card can secure important computer data, which makes it much easier to change from one phone carrier to an alternative.

Area of the downside to mobile devices is that they are complicated over a regular landline phone. Therefore, not enough people benefit from all the features. One region people overlook is utilizing the Sim. I’ve known friends who’ve recycled or sold cell phones without removing prepaid cards.

Precisely what are SIM Cards

All GSM phones need to have a Sim to run. Some of the newer phones which use a 4G LTE network likewise need the cardboard while they are on a CDMA system. A SIM card can be a tiny pcb that identifies you to the device network. Each carrier has its own SIM cards plus they can vary in size depending on the phone. Your mobile phone comes with one additionally, you can purchase them from retailers. The photo below shows an example of a card I purchased years back in the old Cingular network. The red circled area is the actual SIM card that you punch out.

What Data do SIM Cards Hold

SIM cards vary within the volume of data they could hold. Current cards hold between 16 and 64K. In comparison with a Files that may not appear to be much, however it is enough to hold your:

phone number

rate plan

LAI (Location Area Identity)

Service features and preferences

Texts

Address book (info for around 250 contacts)

PIN lock

Portability and SIM Locking

As we discussed from the list, it is not your cellphone to know your cell phone number, however, your SIM card. The Sim can be used to authenticate you to your GSM carrier. This means you can remove your Sim from your mobile phone and put it into another GSM phone and then use it. Conversely, if you travel overseas, you could put in a SIM card for another carrier serving that country into the phone.

While Sims can now be portable, there are situations when a SIM card won’t work in another GSM phone. Most importantly, the cell carrier won’t accept the credit card as a result of SIM locking. This is a practice the carriers use after they subsidize purchasing your phone. For instance, Carrier A will give you a $600 Smartphone for $200 using a 2-year contract. Should you put your existing Sim from Carrier B in to the phone you might view a message like Enter Subsidy Password or Enter Special Code. Perhaps the most common example in the usa could be the locked ATT iPhone.

The practice of SIM locking is much more common in the us. Each country and carrier has its own rules. Some carriers will unlock the phone in your case from a set period. This restrictive practice has led many buyers to pick unlocked mobile devices which niche for a premium.

Protecting Crucial computer data using a PIN Lock

Most GSM phones provide alternative for people to save contact details to the phone or to the Sim. Saving your addresses on the card has advantages. The foremost is that if you stay with similar carrier, you don’t ought to re-key your contact telephone numbers. In case you change carriers, you can obtain a Sim reader and software that allows you to manage the information.

An additional of saving contact details to the SIM card is that you could protect crucial computer data using a PIN lock. Many phones use a setting for the phone lock. A cell phone lock simply protects someone by using the telephone. But, if your phone was lost or stolen, someone could eliminate the Sim and use it unless it really is locked. This is an added layer of protection.

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