Help Net10 T-Mobile SIM(s) don't work

[hstroph]

Help, please? I'm using a first-release Nexus 4, rooted and unlocked (open padlock displayed when phone is powered on).

Using the Net10 unlimited monthly plan with an AT&T SIM, naturally I was offended by the AT&T data throttle on an "unlimited" plan. I requested the T-Mobile SIM which arrived, but when inserted into the phone "No SIM card" is displayed.

Net10 Support (sigh, after many hours on hold) couldn't resolve the issue other than to send another T-Mobile SIM which has the same problem "No SIM card" when the phone is powered on.

Now that I don't have a working phone, I thought I would seek help here before travelling 26 miles to the nearest pay phone at a truck stop and standing uncomfortably for endless hold time, just to have Net10 tell me that the phone must be defective. The old AT&T SIM card is recognized but doesn't have my currently-paid service assigned to it, so no calls or data are possible.

What can be done to get this unlocked GSM phone to recognize the Net10 T-Mobile SIM card, please?

 

[jhawkkw]

Sounds like either the sim card isn't active, or there's no airtime pin tied to it. Or maybe the apn settings on the phone still reflect the AT&T sim and need to be changed for the T-Mobile sim?

Also, net10 customer service is worthless and you're better off calling tracfone themselves. They are much more helpful.

 

[new optimus]

Help, please? I'm using a first-release Nexus 4, rooted and unlocked (open padlock displayed when phone is powered on).

Using the Net10 unlimited monthly plan with an AT&T SIM, naturally I was offended by the AT&T data throttle on an "unlimited" plan. I requested the T-Mobile SIM which arrived, but when inserted into the phone "No SIM card" is displayed.

Net10 Support (sigh, after many hours on hold) couldn't resolve the issue other than to send another T-Mobile SIM which has the same problem "No SIM card" when the phone is powered on.

Now that I don't have a working phone, I thought I would seek help here before travelling 26 miles to the nearest pay phone at a truck stop and standing uncomfortably for endless hold time, just to have Net10 tell me that the phone must be defective. The old AT&T SIM card is recognized but doesn't have my currently-paid service assigned to it, so no calls or data are possible.

What can be done to get this unlocked GSM phone to recognize the Net10 T-Mobile SIM card, please?

Sounds like either the sim card isn't active, or there's no airtime pin tied to it. Or maybe the apn settings on the phone still reflect the AT&T sim and need to be changed for the T-Mobile sim?

Also, net10 customer service is worthless and you're better off calling tracfone themselves. They are much more helpful.

he says no sim card is displayed, I think that means the contact area of the sim is not making correct contact in the phone.

You could try trimming the sim card and wiggling it around in the tray while closing it.
See if there is any obvious mismatches in how it sits in the tray compared to the att sim.

 

[hstroph]

Thank you. After a 62-mile (one way) trip to a phone store complex, the T-Mobile salesman who didn't know much referred me two doors away to a Boost Mobile store, where the young and very competent technician was able to show me that both the T-Mobile micro-SIMs supplied by Net10 were defective due to previously being mis-cut from the enclosed standard SIM. A jpg image is attached; good SIM on left, bad SIMs on right.

It's easy to see the marks where electrical contacts are made on the cards. The working card on the left has the contacts placed evenly in the centers of the three areas. The two defective Net10 T-Mobile SIMS on the right have the contact marks misaligned, causing their failures.

 

[pastafarian]

Sorry you had to travel so far to find out, but at least you got some resolution from your trip.