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nel33

Broken flip phone?

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Hello everyone, does anyone remember signs their old flip phones had when they broken or wearing out? I recently thought I lost my LG F4NR flip so i asked to have the sim card deactivated. I didnt call back to my work place to hear that my co worker found it and I could've been spared this issue. I had my LG F4N flip model still which worked well with unregistered SIM to activate all but incoming and out going calls. I had recently in the past 6 months put the now recently deactivated SIM card (which was active then) and the other phone was fully functional. The 4FNR does have mild static noise at tmes but it's not enough to make hearing the other calls hard. Both these flip are 8-10yrs old with F4N being 3yrs older

Here is where my BS meter starts to tingle. The F4N runs perfectly on an unregistered SIM and tales a few seconds to activate successfully and stay active. With the new SIM card for calls it boots up stays active for 10 seconds and then resets the phone to stay on for another 10 seconds before endlessly repeating the reset cycle. In thepast the now diasabled sim card worked perfectly on it and now  it hates the new sim card. The new sim card works well on the slightly newer F4NR flip no issues thankfully. Both use the same SIM card size but the older F4Nphone is reflecting the new card for a weird reason. Pulling the battery and card and putting them back does nothing to solve it.

The videotron guy says it's a problem flip phones can get when they start breaking down, I think maybe some issue with SIM card but it works fine with the other model as I had no issues in the past of using it to full capacity. It's supposed/planned to be my back up phone when the current one breaks or gets too much static feed back. This is the same shop that got me to buy my current phone when it wasn't charging the battery, $50 later I found out the phone was fine, the charger was bad. Can't say that was a bad deal as the model has long been discontinued so a spare one is good. I do have compatible USB cables that work with the phone. I can accept the phone is breaking down from old age but would like second opinion here. Phone providers don't make money off old phones and would rather you buy a new one instead of trying to find the issues of older models.

It still works an a non-caller device but the call functions now seem broken as it cant fully connect to register/connect the sim to the network on that phone jow. Previously I left the phone shut off  with full battery for months up until yesterday when this situation occured. Before anyone here suggests a modern smart phone,  my answer is no thanks. I got enough net connected devices to waste my time as is and a smartphone on the net is not what I need. A basic A->B calling cell is all I need. Im just wondering if this issue with new sim card spells its doom as a working cell phone. I know these phones will eventually be kicked off the networks but I'm happy enough to cross that bridge until I'm forced to buy smart one BC the flip is broken/obsolete.

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I remember there being a technical change in the SIM spec sheet about 4 years ago.... How old is the old SIM?

Also, modern phone =/= smart phone. There are a couple of normal phone models still out there. Nokia makes the 105 and the 110, Alcatel still does them as far as I can remember. Not sure if you can still buy a modern day flip phone, but a non-smart phone is still very much a viable option. 

PS: I looked into the Nokia 105 professionally, and they seem like decent devices. With Nokia being a subsidiary of HMD Global it was inevitable that they'd move production to China, so don't expect the cockroach-style indestructibility of the 3310 of days yore, but prices are reflected accordingly.

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41 minutes ago, GooneyBird said:

I remember there being a technical change in the SIM spec sheet about 4 years ago.... How old is the old SIM?

Also, modern phone =/= smart phone. There are a couple of normal phone models still out there. Nokia makes the 105 and the 110, Alcatel still does them as far as I can remember. Not sure if you can still buy a modern day flip phone, but a non-smart phone is still very much a viable option. 

PS: I looked into the Nokia 105 professionally, and they seem like decent devices. With Nokia being a subsidiary of HMD Global it was inevitable that they'd move production to China, so don't expect the cockroach-style indestructibility of the 3310 of days yore, but prices are reflected accordingly.

thank you for the reply. the recently disabled sim card is more than 4yrs old but it still works on the F4NR/LG B470 which was 3yrs newer than first model (LG C440). the 4 year sim spec sheet timeline doesnt particularly fit my time line but it might offer an explanation to what is currently happening with the newest sim card on the older model. maybe a new setting or spec does not agree with the C440. im still gonna keep 1 or both simply as time devices unless they are truly broken and scrap.

LOL, its true all cell phones are considered smart now. its just a difference of flip or touch screen. i dont mind the alcatel though the rectangular shape doesnt look as good a the LG phone i have but its purely aesthetic reason. the Alcatel phone and Ushining are contenders though any flip that might be in the future is a good candidate. as long as im with the current cell provider an LTE capable flip is a requirement that should be fairly easy to achieve. ive seen the rat race (for lack of better term) that most of the smart touch screen cell phones users go through these days with a new phone throttled within 4-7?? years and any issues that may arise. id rather keep my foot out of that as long as it is possible.

LOL i found my exact same model online (used) and they want +$100 for that... not gonna bite there. ebay has some slightly better price options on the same model. there are others for cheaper that can work for me. the Samsung Rugby 2 is a great durable phone but that side button for the camera is horrible design. my previous employer (new company took over the contract) had a rugby 2 as department cell. it always took black pictures/pocket pics when it bumped into other stuff in my pocket... its durable as heck but that button is sadly a deal breaker unless that side button gets deactivated.

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