Need Advice

[lubikar]

Hey Guys,

So I want to give my mom my old phone, but I'm not too sure of how to go about it.

It's a moto g first gen, which needs a micro sim so right off the bat I know we're gonna need a new sim (her old phone is using a regluar sized sim). In which case, is that all i need to do? Buy a sim and stick it into the moto g? She's wants to keep her number and her plan.

Also, this old phone was with VIrgin and I'm not sure if it's locked or not, I was hoping to stick in the her public mobile sim to test it out.

Thanks in advance

[srlawren]

@JaK looks like I needed to read more carefully!  My apologies. 

@lubikar if in doubt, I'd just order her a new card. You could potentially end up damaging her card and then you'd have to wait for a new one to arrive to replace it anyway.  I would avoid that risk and order the card up front, if it were me (and my mother 🙂 ).

[JaK]

@lubikar, good luck, if you are careful as @Korth indicates, that should work for you.

@srlawren, if you look at the original post, it talks about "I was hoping to stick in the her public mobile sim to test it out", so it wasn't really much of an assumption. 🙂

[Korth]

Here's a link describing how to resize a SIM card, if needed.

I would personally use another SIM card with the desired size as a reference template.  And slowly score increasingly deeper cuts with a sharp blade, scissors aren't really the best choice for making precise lines on hard plastics.

[lubikar]

Thank you all for the help.

@geogolem I tested it with a fido sim and I do need to get the phone unlocked. I appreciate the link; I'll give it a shot c:

@JaK @srlawren It's one of the older ones that don't resize. I'll see if I can get the old sim cut myself. If I can't I'll order a new one.

[srlawren]

Hi @JaK, you are assuming @lubikar's mother is a current PM customer.  That may or may not be the case.  @lubikar if your mother is already with PM, then pull the SIM out of her current phone to see if it's a solid pice, or perhaps using one (nano SIM to micro SIM) or two (nano to micro, plus micro to standard SIM) adapter "rings".  If it's the latter, then you can simply "pop" the nano sim and the nano to micro adapter ring out from the micro to standard adapter ring and put it in your Moto G.  This is, of course, after getting your Moto unlocked, as it will not work while locked to Virign (and if you purchased it from Virgin, I'm saying it's almost certainly locked to them).

If your mother's current PM SIM card is indeed older and a single piece with no adapter pieces, you can simply order her a new one by going here https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-started and clicking the "Order Now" button in the middle column.  Then once it arrives, (and again, after getting your phone unlocked), sign into her self-serve account (https://selfserve.publicmobile.ca/) and you can swap her SIM card to the new SIM card number there.

[JaK]

Agree with @geogolem, the first thing to do is make sure your Moto G is unlocked and if not get it unlocked.

How long has your mother been with PM? PM has been shipping the tri-sims for some time now, so it may be that her regular sized sim can be punched out to a micro-sim. If so, that is the easiest way, just punch her sim to micro, put it in the unlocked Moto G, boot the phone and she's good to go.

If her's is not a tri-sim, then you could still get it cut down to micro (normally for a small fee), but I would go with ordering a new one and changing it on the account as @geogolem described.

Good luck!

[geogolem · Accepted solution]

If it is locked to Virgin, the Public Mobile SIM will not work. You will get a message and/or prompt to enter an unlock code. 

Let me make sure I am understanding this correctly; Your mother has a Public Mobile regular sized SIM card and she is using it fine in some phone. 

You want to give her your moto G (which may or may not be locked to Virgin Mobile). and she wants to be able to use her existing public mobile account and number in this moto G phone which takes a micro SIM.

First --> you will have to determine if the phone is locked or not. if the phone is locked you will need to unlock it. http://www.mobifree.net/ is quick and reliable. I have used them several times.

Once the phone is unlocked you will need a Public mobile microSIM.. then you will need to logon to the Public mobile self serve website (well, your mother will - her account) and you will need to navigate to a tab which says (change SIM card).. You will then have to enter some details from the new MICROSIM you obtained. After you complete the SIM change in Public Mobile self serve. Your mom's old regular SIM will no longer work. The new MicroSIM will work, just like the old regular sim did. You put it in your unlocked Moto G and you will be good to go!

Hope this helps - let me know if you have anymore questions or need any more clarification. Also let us know how it all goes.