Cellular GSM Technology - Samsung 515

Author

Samsung 515 - world phone?

aspasia

2006-11-27, 4:33 am

Help! Totally ignorant person needs advice soon-ish about whether my
cell phone can be used to/from Israel-US.

I bought a refurbished Samsung 515 in Israel earlier this year and
only used it over there within the country.

The SIM was from Cellcom.

I never had a manual, so don't know:

a. Is international use a function of the PHONE or the SIM? IOW,
does the Phone have SMS or? (I said I was totally ignorant!)

b. How can I find out if the existing Phone/SIM will work US-Israel?

A family member, leaving for Israel in next few weeks would
like to use the phone if it can be made to work Over There.

I have been to Samsun and Cellcom sites, but could not find
any information.

I hope this is semi-coherent! Pressure is on.

Any advice/help would be much appeciated.

Also, if this is the wrong NG, could you refer me elsewhere?

Aspasia

2006-11-27, 7:33 am

<aspasia> wrote in message
news:DKadnbpD38jwFff
YnZ2dnUVZ_r-dnZ2d@adelphia.com...
>
> Help! Totally ignorant person needs advice soon-ish about whether my
> cell phone can be used to/from Israel-US.
>
> I bought a refurbished Samsung 515 in Israel earlier this year and
> only used it over there within the country.
>
> The SIM was from Cellcom.
>
> I never had a manual, so don't know:
>
> a. Is international use a function of the PHONE or the SIM? IOW,
> does the Phone have SMS or? (I said I was totally ignorant!)
>
> b. How can I find out if the existing Phone/SIM will work US-Israel?
>
> A family member, leaving for Israel in next few weeks would
> like to use the phone if it can be made to work Over There.
>
> I have been to Samsun and Cellcom sites, but could not find
> any information.
>
> I hope this is semi-coherent! Pressure is on.
>
> Any advice/help would be much appeciated.
>
> Also, if this is the wrong NG, could you refer me elsewhere?
>
> Aspasia
Odd if they don't have phone manuals available at the Samsung web.

The key I believe is if the phone is SIM-locked. If it was an operator
subsidised phone, then it most certainly is locked for SIM cards from this
operator only (after some specific time, the operators should support
unlocking the phone). It would be simplest to find out this by inserting a
SIM card from another operator (US or from Israel).

In order to use the phone elsewhere, or in Israel on a different operator,
one would need a subscription (SIM card) from this operator. Don't know the
case for Israel but pre-pay cards are often available, normally also monthly
subscriptions (post-pay) without a subsidised phone (although I understand
the latter being most popular in US).

If Cellcom has a roaming agreement with one of the US GSM operators (mainly
Cingular or T-mobile), you would be able to use this phone with the current
SIM. Calls may be a bit costly though but for a short trip this could still
be the cheapest option.

The title reads "world phone", I interpret this meaning it is a quad band
GSM phone. In the US you would need at least GSM 1900 support, preferably
also GSM 850. A quad band phone would have those in addition to the
frequencies used in Israel (don't remember if that was some sort of a
mixture of US and Euro frequencies).

matt weber

2006-11-27, 3:33 pm

US GSM phones operate at 1900Mhz and/or 850Mhz
850Mz is relatively recent.
The world outside North America is 900/1800Mhz.

If it is a Triband or Quadband phone, it will work.
If it is a dual band, it won't.

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:40:49 -0800, aspasia wrote:

>
>Help! Totally ignorant person needs advice soon-ish about whether my
>cell phone can be used to/from Israel-US.
>
>I bought a refurbished Samsung 515 in Israel earlier this year and
>only used it over there within the country.
>
>The SIM was from Cellcom.
>
>I never had a manual, so don't know:
>
>a. Is international use a function of the PHONE or the SIM? IOW,
> does the Phone have SMS or? (I said I was totally ignorant!)
>
>b. How can I find out if the existing Phone/SIM will work US-Israel?
>
>A family member, leaving for Israel in next few weeks would
>like to use the phone if it can be made to work Over There.
>
>I have been to Samsun and Cellcom sites, but could not find
>any information.
>
>I hope this is semi-coherent! Pressure is on.
>
>Any advice/help would be much appeciated.
>
>Also, if this is the wrong NG, could you refer me elsewhere?
>
>Aspasia

LinkBot