2G sim cards?
Author
Discussion

audi321

Original Poster:

6,171 posts

243 months

Monday 16th August 2021
quotequote all
Hi all, I need a 2G sim card for an electric gate controller. Does such a thing exist anymore? I plugged in a Lebara (vodaphone) sim and it didn't work.

Any ideas?

babelfish

1,020 posts

237 months

Monday 16th August 2021
quotequote all
audi321 said:
Hi all, I need a 2G sim card for an electric gate controller. Does such a thing exist anymore? I plugged in a Lebara (vodaphone) sim and it didn't work.

Any ideas?
first hit on google takes you lots of offers on amazon

x5tuu

12,788 posts

217 months

Monday 16th August 2021
quotequote all
A lot of 2g transmitters are being shut down

I think you’ll need a network-direct sim (ie not an MVNO sim or Three)

audi321

Original Poster:

6,171 posts

243 months

Monday 16th August 2021
quotequote all
The instructions state “3G sims will not work, needs to be 2G”

However most of these PAYG SIM cards say 2G,3G4G and 5G compatible. Does that mean they’re not going to work then and I need to find a dedicated 2G sim somewhere?

babelfish

1,020 posts

237 months

Monday 16th August 2021
quotequote all
x5tuu said:
A lot of 2g transmitters are being shut down

I think you’ll need a network-direct sim (ie not an MVNO sim or Three)
I thought 3G transmitters were being shut down but 2G remaining for fallback

anonymous-user

84 months

Tuesday 17th August 2021
quotequote all
babelfish said:
x5tuu said:
A lot of 2g transmitters are being shut down

I think you’ll need a network-direct sim (ie not an MVNO sim or Three)
I thought 3G transmitters were being shut down but 2G remaining for fallback
Depending on where you read it there’s information to support both of these scenarios! 2G supports voice calls over the PSTN and very limited data. Historically 3G/4G/5G supported data but not voice. So the theory was 2G would stay but the technology in the middle would be phased out leaving voice calls over 2G and data over the newer technology. That was the logical plan until the advent of VoLTE (Voice over Long Term Evolution) which brought voice over 3/4/5G meaning 2G wasn’t as important. Until the government pushed to get smart energy meters (which run on 2G) into many homes.

To help the OP. In theory, any SIM card which works on a network which uses 2G technology (which is all of them except Hutchison 3G) will work. I know that some transmitters made to less exacting standards such as cheap Chinese trackers etc. do struggle with SIM cards that offer newer tech but the issue is the transmitter and I doubt a decent gate company would use one of these. Is it possible you just didn’t have Voda signal? If you are struggling it’s possible to buy older SIM cards on eBay quite cheaply but for info, the one listed above is for 2/3/4G and not solely 2G.

audi321

Original Poster:

6,171 posts

243 months

Tuesday 17th August 2021
quotequote all
I’ve ended up buying this from Amazon. I’ll let you all know if it works or not.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B071WMNYPR?ref=...

Ydnaroo

305 posts

232 months

Tuesday 17th August 2021
quotequote all
I've put a new 1p Mobile SIM in a 2G only mobile today and and it works perfectly. 1p use the EE network, if you put a postcode in the EE coverage checker you can check the coverage for 5/4/3/2G separately.