For the Nokia Series 40 phones, how does ...

[terminatrix]

For the Nokia Series 40 phones (like 6610, 7210 and 7250 just to name a few) .... how does the Dual Sim Card work?

http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/59/59257/dualsimholdermarked-tm.jpg

I know how to install it (I am buying one from Ebay) and it says "Turn the phone off then on again to switch from one sim to another"

BUT ... what screen do I see? How do I select the one I want? I have no idea how this thing works in switching ...

Anyone own one of these or had past experiences?
THanks, terminatrix

[Thanh]

Hello :)

I have had several typoes of twin-sim modules with several phones, i know how they work.

But first of all, the one you show here is a "ghost" module which *should* go between the battery and the back cover.

In reality, it will NEVER fit in there. I had one for my 6610, in fact, i still have the module (no more the 6610 tough) and i was never able to get it in there. The module, inclusive SIM's, is around 1.8 mm thick, where you have only 0.5 mm of space. Squeeze however you want, you may break your back cover or even the phone, you won't get it closed with the module in there.

Better get one of the twin-SIM back covers (which are overall thicker than the original, and available ONLY on black!), i got one of those, too, which i successfully used with the 6610 then, i still got that thingy. They work the same!

Now, how do they work?

You put two SIM's in there and the "SIM adaptor" in the phone where the SIM should be.

Now when you turn on the phone, it automatically activates the SIM in slot 1. If you want to change SIM's, you simply

1) turn the phone off and on again (hard reset) OR
2) type *3370# which changes the speech codec and forces a soft reset in the progress.

In both cases, now the SIM in slot 2 will be active. You have AT NO TIME any way of chosing between the SIM's while the phone is on, nor can you have both at the same time!!

The phone just boots normally as if there were only one SIM, in fact, there "is" only one (for the phone!). The switching between the SIM's is done by the circuitry in the module, which in fact includes a chip and some other parts.

Be aware that using such module consumes a certain amount of battery power at any time, even when the phone is off! "SIM clock stop" is disabled during the use of the module, since it's need to "remember" which SIM was last used and therefor uses a bit of electricity.

Kind regards.....
your Thanh

[terminatrix]

Ok then ...

So your saying that if I turn on and off the phone five times the SIM (two SIMs: Orange and Cingular) active will be:

1: Orange
2: Cingular
3: Orange
4: Cingular
5: Orange

Am I correct? If so, can't I turn off the phone will I'm using Orange, and boot up again still using Orange ... not Cingular?

[Thanh]

Hello again :)

Yes, you are right. Every time you turn the phone off, it will switch to the other SIM. So if you shut down while using Orange, you won't get Orange the next time you turn it on.

But you may turn it on briefly, wait for PIN request, shut it down again and immediately turn on again. Then it goes to Orange again :) Just make sure you wait for the PIN request (SIM detection successfull).

Hint: If you go for the option with a twin-SIM back cover (which i recommend strongly due to the "space" issue!), you got two choices: These are available auto-switch (like your "ghost" module) and also "manual switch"! The latter has a small switch in the back with which you can "change" the SIM's. Again, a off-on cycle is required. Turn off, flick the switch, turn on. And.. if you DON'T flick the switch, it will of course boot with the same SIM as before :)

The module i currently have (but no more use... don't have that phone anymore) is such a "manual" version. Please download the attched zip file, it contains three pictures i just took of that module.

Kind regards.....
your Thanh

[terminatrix]

Thank you Thanh!

Very informative indeed.
THanks for all the information!

Yours sincerely,
terminatrix

[terminatrix]

Where can I buy these "twin-SIM back covers" for a Nokia 7250 in Australia? Or at least ship to Australia?

If you don't know, don't worry about it.

Thanks!

[Thanh]

Hello again :)

Umm for Australia i have no idea.. the one i have (the pictures i took off) i bought here in Bangkok, in Mahboonkrong centre, for 300 Baht (7.50 us$). If i were to send you one, it would cost more for postage than the actual product :)

But you should be able to get those in GSM shops, specially those that sell all sorts of covers. Note that mine is for 6610/7210, it has no "window" for the cam lens of a 7250, but it fits on a 7250 as well, i tested it. I think a 7250-version is available as well since that phone is highly popular.

Good luck with finding one.....
your Thanh

[terminatrix]

Thank you Thanh once again!

I don't think many shops in Australia sell them. Not a lot of people are interested in them ( i think ) and if they are, they buy one off Ebay AU from a Singapore seller.

I have just bought one (before this forum thread) which is the picture i showed you in the first message.

It doesn't come with a case.

But I hope to find one soon.

terminatrix

[XMeTaL]

Thank you Thanh once again!

I don't think many shops in Australia sell them. Not a lot of people are interested in them ( i think ) and if they are, they buy one off Ebay AU from a Singapore seller.

I have just bought one (before this forum thread) which is the picture i showed you in the first message.

It doesn't come with a case.

But I hope to find one soon.

terminatrix

I've got one of them and it fits in my 7210.Bit of a tight fit tho.

[cause & effect]

I have a twin sim holder but its the new version. it the size of a normal sim card. You have to cut out the part of the sim witch hold the info ( tthey give you a template) and it holds both sims and fits nicely where the normal sim go's. It also comes with these plastic clips that look like sim cards in case you want a normal size sim again. Ill try post a pic if you tell me how! It cost me 20pounds english.

[terminatrix]

Mainly @ Thanh, but to anyone else who can answer the question as well!

If i had the dual sim card holder (picture in the first message) how will my settings be effected? I know my contacts will still be there on phone memory as well as games and applications, but what about logos and wallpapers and settings???

I have manually changed between my two SIMs and realized these "changed settings":

1. My Transparent Logo is back to the original operator logo of the new SIM (the "blank.gif" is still in the Gallery, but not set as logo for new SIM)
2. Settings for Pin Number, set back to 0000 and turned off at first turn on
3. ... I can't think of anymore currently, but there are another one or two changes that have annoyed me

Apart from these changes, these stayed the same:
1. Games and Applications installed
2. Alarm Clock time to ring
3. GPRS Settings and MMS Settings remain untouched
4. Security Code stayed the same as the first SIM installed
5. Calendar Input Data remained untouched

Well? Any ideas? I hope that I will load the Blank Transparent Logo twice, and never upload it again (its annoying connecting with a cable to the PC with MobiMB). In fact, my main question is "Will there be any more changes after I set up both SIMs the way I want, no matter when I change the two SIMs?

Btw, if I remove the battery often to change SIMs, will the clock on the phone be affected?

[Thanh]

Hello :)

@cause

Could you post a picture of that thingy, or a link to a website where it can be found? That would be the ULTIMATE of such twin-SIM thingy! I never heard of such version............

@terminatrix

I can answer that. Your logo (if downloaded via WAP at least!) will be shown as long as your phone is in it's home network. So if you download a logo while you have a Orange SIM in it and you are in the Orange network, your logo will show as long as you are in that Orange network.

Then, if you insert a Telstra SIM, the logo will show as well as long as you are in Telstra network!

I don't know how it is when you get logo via MobiMB... eventually it will work only with the SIM you have inserted at the moment of downloading the logo...... better get one via WAP, i saw a link somewhere quite recently on some thread, please do a search. I got mine logo via WAP and it worked with every SIM as long as the phone stayed in that SIM's home network.

About other settings, they will not become affected whatsoever! So if you have GPRS settings for Orange and you change to Telstra SIM, you will not be able to use GPRS! Because it's still set to Orange. You need to setup a second set of GPRS settings for the other SIM and activate that one manually after you changed SIM's.

Wallpaper, contacts, phonebook (in phone!), ringtone etc will stay as before, nothing will change. Same goes for games etc, EVERYTHING which is in the PHONE'S (!) memory will stay there.

PIN of course is set to each SIM individually! That has nothing to do with the phone. The PIN is stored in the SIM, so if you want to make life easier, set both SIM's to the same PIN number. BUT if you use the same custom logo as well, you might easily forget which network you're currently on.........

What you will lose on every SIM "change" is your list of recent calls, all incoming, outgoing and missed calls will be gone. There is a trick to get around that: In menu-settings-security settings set the "security level" to "phone". Then you have to reboot the phone and enter the security code once for each SIM card. After that, it is no more required since the phone recognises BOTH SIM's as "it's" SIM's. And then the recent calls list will no more get deleted!

Also SMS's will still be saved in the phone, both outgoing and incoming. Better create seperate folders for incoming SMS's from each SIM otherwise it might confuse you, since there is no way to show you on which SIM (number) you received a particular SMS.

About that last one... in the phone itself is a small capacitor (high cap) which holds an amount of electricity to keep the clock running while you change the battery. It should be enough for 5 minutes, so during that time the clock will run and you will not have to set it again after re-inserting the battery. The clock won't become slower or faster by doing so :)

I hope i could help you... i really do have a long experience with twin-SIM kits :)

Kind regards.....
your Thanh

[terminatrix]

Thanks for the information.

Makes things clearer.

I don't think I'll be able to use the Ghost Dual Sim that I bought off Ebay, because I'm getting a Nokia 6600 this Friday or early next week - using express, its going to arrive before the dual sim ... even though i bought the dual sim first lol!

Looks like two SIMs will become like this:

1. Nokia 7250 + Vodafone (new)
2. Nokia 6600 + Optus + Vodafone (old)

I have a seperate unused pack of Vodafone No Plans that can be set up for the 7250.