if you go to a corporate at&t store, they will switch you out a new sim for free. I been with at&t for the longest. I'm a customer been really happy with them. well.. its not just gold connectors, theres a chip inside. the newer chip will make reception better.

Really??? They'll give me a "free" sim??? Hmm, I wonder if that's true?

Please do and stop listening to people on here saying that it's just a piece of plastic. AT&T gives you a new SIM card everytime you upgrade for a reason.

Good point AT&T does give a new sim when upgrading, but the thing is when I upgrade I upgrade by buying a smartphone on either ebay or amazon not an ATT store, so without actually buying a new phone at an att store can I just walk in and ask for a new sim?

call customer service. tell them you want a new sim card and to notate your account stating that it should be free. Then go to a COR store. I work for an agent and we give them free too, but not everywhere is as cool as us.

They're not going to take note of my Nokia N95 on MY acct are they? Cause I'm not interested in being raped for some stuPid $30/mo data plan when my $10/mo data plan works just fine. I don't want them to know what phone I have, I'm plenty capable of putting a sim card in myself, don't need help with that.

well your phone doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard so you should be fine.

Ok but do they HAVE to know which handset I have? The OS on my N95 is no different than the OS that's on the E71x, and that's deemed a smartphone.

as well as the 6650 which isn't considered a smartphone. If its that big of a deal go buy a sim card. But I have to side with ashdizzle. I think reps who say your SIM card is the problem are giving you a cop-out answer.

So you don't think that the "latest" sim will help me better take advantage of the new 850 3G in Las Vegas? Cause a read an news articke straight from ATTs newsroom that says 850mhz 3G is now in Las Vegas but I see no drastic noticeable differences with in building reception or data speeds.

Your phone should already be getting that reception. The radios on your phone are what determine what frequencies your phone gets. Not the SIM card. Feel free to get a new SIM card though and see if it makes a difference. All I'm saying is that a new sim card is not always a fix all like some reps make it out to be.

The diff may not be evident to the naked eye, but think about it, 4 years ago 3G was in its infancy (at least for AT&T) since then many enhancements have been made to the network.

Does your Cingular SIM card say 3G? I have an old Cingular SIM card that came when I upgraded to the w810i (yep, I still carry it along with my Bold) But this one says 3G and back then Jan 06 I was told that I needed to use it, because the one I had which also said 3G was already outdated.

Everything I have heard and seen points to absolutely no difference between SIM cards. AT&T's 3G network can work with regular SIM cards, even if you don't have a UICC-SIM. Try throwing a 2G sim into a 3G phone - it will still pick up 3G.

I would say that it is indeed a piece of plastic with gold connectors. And while it does have a chip (which is the gold connector) the primary function of the SIM is to relay your information to the towers to show who you are. It is the phone antenna's job to search for towers, not the SIM.

Yeah, my understanding is the only function of a sim is to validate that it's an active account.

likes this.

Oh, cause supposedly these network upgrades in Las Vegas took place back in June 30th. 2.5 months later I don't notice any drastic improvement in data speeds.

Here's the article from ATTs newsroom:

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news ... »

Jayshmay said:
I don't understand what exactly the difference between a sim from 4+ yrs ago and a sim from summer 2009. It's just a piece of plastic that has gold connectors that connect the sim to the phone. What's the deal do new 850mhz 3G towers not recognize my sim?

Behind those gold contacts are a couple of integrated circuits that 1) allow you to store quite few contacts and 2) store information that identifies you and stores a bucket load of carrier information. It can make a very big difference in how your link to the tower operates.