Help getting my Motorola phone to work

[kenr]

I just bought an unlocked V220. Supposedly it is unlocked and new. I also bought a Globalsim card for it. When I turn the phone on it asks for the SIM PIN. I have tried the PIN printed on the breakout portion that the sim came on. Its say wrong number. I also tried the PUK, obviously wrong. My manual says I have only three trys before the card is blocked. There is also a lock code but I don't think that is correct. Any ideas?
thanks
Ken

[DRNewcomb]

If you tried the PIN and it didn't work then the PIN is wrong or you entered it wrong. The PUK does not work until after you entered the wrong PIN 3 times and the SIM locks. After you lock the SIM you get 10 tries to enter the PUK properly. On the 11th bad PUK attempt the SIM locks totally and can't be unlocked. Then they say the SIM is "PUKed".

[kenr]

I spoke to Motorola and no help. They had me do a few things and now my card is locked. The PKU doesn't work either. I have 6 more attempts at the pku. I am surprised that the pin doesn't work as this is a brand new Globalsim card and the pin and pku is clearly printed on the breakout card that the sim came with. I tried calling Globalsim but I am unsure how to dial them from US to UK. I did reach a recording but they didn't say Globalsim. I sent them an email and hopefully they will respond.
I am wondering if my phone is really unlocked. Do you know what kind of error message I would get if I tried a sim card in a locked phone. Would it just appear that my pin and puk is wrong? The company that sold me the phone claims my phone is unlocked and tested, but I don't know how to verify if in fact it is unlocked.
thanks
Ken

[DRNewcomb]

You need to find someone with a known-good unlocked GSM phone and retry the PUK. I've never heard of this happening before. Two possilbe explanations:
1. Phone is bad.
2. SIM is bad.

Once a long time ago I called a mechanic to help fix an engine. He changed out the condensor in the distributor (remember those?). I told him that I had just changed the condensor and points. He looked at me and said, "You know, kid, they do come bad out of the box."

[snaimon]

Have any other SIM cards like T-MO or Cingy? Who was the original service provider? May be on the phone or main menu when phone loads. My guess is either T-MO or Cingy but it could be others. Try one of those SIMs and see what happens. Better is you can have both to try. If it's a T-MO, then of course try a T-MO SIM first.

Just put in the SIM and turn on the phone. If you are asked again for the SIM PIN especially with both SIMs, the phone might not be unlocked. Just turn thye phone off and try the other SIM.

Also, there may be a feature (but of course you will need to have a working SIM card to use it) that requires user to enter SIM PIN or some other code every time phone is turned on. Now that option is a pain in the rump, of course.

Hope this helps. Good luck and report back.

Stan

[kenr]

I think I just might be SOL on this one. I'm a verizon customer, no gsm here. I'm going to see if I can send the phone back to the guy I bought it from along with the sim. He seems to be trustworty and has lots of +++ ebay feedback. It was good I did this now instead of waiting to buy a card in Europe.
Ken

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by kenr

I think I just might be SOL on this one. I'm a verizon customer, no gsm here. I'm going to see if I can send the phone back to the guy I bought it from along with the sim. He seems to be trustworty and has lots of +++ ebay feedback. It was good I did this now instead of waiting to buy a card in Europe.
Ken

Where do you live? Rural? Have you seen this:

http://t-mobile.com/coverage/

Nobody in your area has T-MO? No store? Or Cingular?

Stan

[kenr]

I live near SF. But what good will it do to take it to Cingular? They don't sell unlocked phones.

[Bossman]

I have the globalsim too. The sim pin will be included in the confirmation email that also includes your phone number. It's NOT anywhere on my sim card. If it's on yours, verify that it's the same as the one in the email...well, it's too late now. The sim pin is also what you use as the password when you login. Once you login, you can also see your PUK and anything else associated with your sim.

Here is an excerpt from the email I received when I bought mine...

To login to your Globalsim™ account, please browse to http://www.freeglobalsim.com. From here you can login by entering your Mobile and PIN number into the relevant fields located to the top right and clicking the 'Login' button.
Mobile:
» 447624NNNNNN
PIN:
» NNNN

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by kenr

I live near SF. But what good will it do to take it to Cingular? They don't sell unlocked phones.

My thought was to see if another SIM would do the same thing. You MIGHT find a nice sales person or customer who would have allowed you to use THEIR SIM in YOUR phone to see what happens. If the SIM worked, then the problem was obviously the Globalsim card. If the phone did the same thing as with the Globalsim card, then the phone was the problem.

However, it seems Bossman has found/confirmed that your problem is the Globalsim card itself and not the phone.

Stan