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Buying a phone on ebay??
November 22, 2007
2:00 pm
Simon Mitchell
Guest
Guests

I don't know much about cell phones... Would it be possible to buy one of the phones that work with 7-Eleven Speakout on ebay (Nokia 1600, 2610, 6061, 1112) and then just call 7-eleven customer service or whatever and have it activated on their network, or would you need to get a SIM card from a 7-eleven store?

November 22, 2007
2:27 pm
Bylo
Guest
Guests

You need a SpeakOut SIM. The only way to get one is by buying a phone at 7-11 or by buying just the SIM from someone who has one for sale, e.g. on this site.

Be careful with buying phones on eBay. You need an unlocked GSM phone that covers the 850 and 1900 bands. The Nokia phone models you listed come in variants that may be locked or which don't work on 850/1900.

If you're not comfortable with all this stuff then just get a "free" Nokia 1600 at your local 7-11.

[Edited to change 1800 to 1900.]

November 25, 2007
1:00 pm
Simon Mitchell
Guest
Guests

Thanks for your help. One more question - when I buy the phone from 7-11, would it have to be an unlocked phone that also works on 850/1800 if I wanted to remove its SIM card and have it work in another phone?

November 25, 2007
1:58 pm
Bylo
Guest
Guests

when I buy the phone from 7-11, would it have to be an unlocked phone that also works on 850/1800

AFAIK all the phones that 7-11 sells in Canada for use with SpeakOut are unlocked and operate on the 850/1900(*) bands. (7-11 sell other prepaid phones, e.g. for Virgin, however, those will not work with SpeakOut. Also people in the US who've bought phones from 7-11 stores there have reported that some of their phones are locked.)

if I wanted to remove its SIM card and have it work in another phone?

I'm not sure what you're asking. The SIM that comes with a Canadian SpeakOut phone should work with any other GSM phone that's unlocked and operates on the 850 and/or 1900 bands.

(*) I said 850/1800 originally but that was a typo. It's really 1900, not 1800. Overseas the bands are 900/1800.