Are cell phones from different carriers compatible?

Question

My cell phone SUCKS, and I'm looking to just put my sim card in a different phone.. if i get a phone from, say, at&t (on ebay or something), will it work to put my sim card in there? (I have t-mobile) and, will it work in general, just to put my sim card in another phone?

Answer 1

Each company orders phones that are programmed to look for their towers so the phone may be unlocked but will always look for those towers first.

There may also be no guarantee any features will work on the phone if it is not programmed specifically for your company. Also the phone may actually lock you sim and require you to enter a PUK code/ sim pin. You would need to place the sim back in your original phone and contact your service provider to get that code.

Answer 2

phones are subsidy locked by the carrier to only work on that carriers network...

you can get another GSM phone from another carrier, and have it unlocked at a cell phone store, or just buy an unlocked GSM phone and put your SIM card into it...