Frequently Asked Questions About Mobile Phones

If you've got a SIM card for a mobile, and don't know what the phone number is, the easiest way to check is to telephone a landline or other mobile phone. You can find out your number from the landline by dialling 1471, or if you telephoned another mobile, then your number should have appeared on their screen.

Every handset has a unique serial number (known as the IMEI - International Mobile Equipment Identity), which should be quoted if the phone is ever lost or stolen. This number can normally be found under the battery, or by entering *#06# on your phone pressing 'Send'.

Contact your network provider, quoting your handset serial number (IMEI). If your phone has been stolen, make sure you also contact the police. The Service Provider will bar both the mobile phone and the SIM, so that both are useless to anyone who tries to use either.

For the telephone numbers to call, see Useful Information in our Network Providers section here.

If you enter the wrong PIN code on your phone too many times, then your SIM card will become blocked. You will need to enter your PUK (Pin Unlock Code) in order to unblock it. This number is available from your network provider. For more details see our section on Codes and Passwords here.

It is now possible to locate a mobile phone over the Internet. This can be useful if the person using that phone is lost, need directions, or you're worried about them. You must be authorised by that person before you can do a location search, and searches can be fairly expensive. However, because base stations can be quite widely spaced, particularly in rural areas, the location of the handset may only be accurate to about one kilometre.

3G is the third generation of mobile networks, following GSM (2G) and GPRS (2.5G). Its full name is UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). 3G offers substantially higher data speeds when connecting to services over your phone.

For more information about 3G, click here ...

This depends on the battery type. With NiCd and NiMH batteries, discharging maintains charge capacity at the expense of shortening the overall life of the battery. A rough guide is to fully discharge a NiCd battery every other charge, and discharge a NiMH every tenth charge. You should never discharge a Li-Ion or Li-Polymer battery.