O2 Pay & Go Sim With Samsung Galaxy Tab
Overview
Below are steps to setup a pay and go O2 sim card with the Samsung Galaxy Tab P7300. This should also work on the 10.1 tab with 3G.
Prerequisites
- Pay and go sim card
- Mobile phone
Activate Sim
Skip this step if the sim card has already been activate and used in another device.
- Remove outter packaging and the sim card from the credit card sized card. It has 3 tabs holding it in place.
- Insert sim card into the mobile phone
- Turn mobile on
- Call a number. The call does not have to be picked up but just to ring to ensure it works
- Power off the phone and remove sim card
Tablet Setup
The tablet does not need to be powered off when performing the steps below.
- Pull and swivel the sim card cover
- Place the tablet in landscape with the Samsung badge at the bottom
- Insert the sim. The sim chip should be facing away from the front of the tablet with the notch on the bottom right corner.
- The sim card is spring loaded so when the card is only sticking out by few millimeters it needs to be pushed in so that it is flush with the opening. I used the credit card sim holder but a finger nail can also be used.
It should click in place.
- Swivel the sim cover back into position. If it does not close properly it may be that the sim has not been pushed in far enough.
- Turn the tablet on and go to Settings
- Select Wireless and networks from the left hand side list
- Select Mobile networks from the right hand side list. A dialog should appear
- Select Network operators. It should search for networks. At this point a text message may appear from the carrier (O2 in this case) saying it was unable to retrieve settings. Ignore it.
- Once the search is complete (regardless if it was success or not) select Select automatically
- A notification should appear below saying Registered on network.
Register Sim
Registering the sim allows the pay and go sim card to be managed online. This includes topping up and buying bolt ons.
Go to the O2 website and create a new account registering the sim on the account. The new account can be linked to an existing account. To do this log out of the pay & go account and log into the other account. In My O2 there is a link to Link/view your o2.co.uk accounts.
Then click on the Link an existing account hyper text and follow the instructions to add another account.
Once complete the pay and go sim can be managed by one log in.
Summary
The pay and go option complements my contract sim on my mobile well. It means I don’t have to pay for 2 contracts and no tethering is required (for battery reasons). The pay and go sim has a 6 months period before becoming inactive so as long it’s being used it will remain active. The O2 store representative said that can be a text or phone call. I asked if using data counts and she said it does but I have not had it long enough to test this.
O2 also offers the pay and go sim in iPhone / iPad micro sim version too.
