How often should a sim card be replaced?
After on year, two years or probably after five years. Don’t get this twisted even if you bought a brand new phone.
Some people are so fond of changing their mobile phones every one year, two years or three years at maximum, and as they are changing their phones, they usually feel that they should also change their sim card as well.
And this is why you see questions like this, how often should a sim card be replaced pope up on the internet.
I love to change my phone every two or three years especially for the fact that I so much love android and Samsung, every two years or three years the mobile phone is already outdated and will no longer receive new software updates.
But what of sim cards, is there any need for me to be changing my sim card very often or frequently?
Now let’s jump in to the question we have here, how often should you get a new sim card.
How often should a sim card be replaced
A sim card can last for more than 20 years, however, a sim card should be replaced only if it is damaged and no longer working, or if you have upgraded your phone and your sim card is not compatible with the new phone or a new cellular network like the 5G.
What makes you think you should be changing or replacing your sim card very often if the sim card is not damaged and compatible with your mobile phone.
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I don’t see the need for you to replace your sim card very often especially if the sim card is working perfectly fine.
However, there are certain things or features that will warrant a sim card to be changed or replaced very often, and they are as follows.
1. There’s a new cellular network in town
This is very important and one of the major reasons to replace a sim card if the need arises. Replacing a sim card if there’s a new cellular network in town and your old sim card will not have the features.
For example, the new 5G network.
Some network carriers are already advising their subscribers to replace their old or 4G sim card with the new 5G sim card, as the old sim card will not get the new 5G network coverage.
So if you bought a new phone which supports the 5G network, and your sim card doesn’t support the 5G cellular network, then there’s a reason and the need to replace the sim card immediately with a 5G sim card.
This is what happened in my own case when I bought my new Samsung galaxy s21 ultra, I had to replace my sim card to a 5G sim because my previous sim card doesn’t support the 5G cellular network.
Asking how often should a sim card be replaced, you should replace your sim card if it doesn’t support the latest or new cellular network.
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2. The sim card is damaged
The second reason to replace your sim card is in the case whereby the sim card is completely damaged, and no longer work anymore.
The sim card is of no use as it doesn’t see or receive any network connection or coverage, and the phone shows or displays no service or no network service available.
If you’re sure the problem is from the sim card and not the phone sim slot, you should immediately replace the sim card with a new.
How often should a sim card be replaced?
You don’t necessarily have to replace your sim card very often if the sim card is not damaged and is working perfectly fine without issues of any kind.
3. The sim card is not compatible with the phone
This is another case whereby you bought a brand new phone, and your sim card isn’t compatible with your new phone.
Not being compatible here means not working with the new phone, and this is usually the case if you bought a carrier locked smartphone.
However, most carrier locked phones usually comes with a sim card inside the phone box.
This is why you will see some number of persons ask the reason why their phone comes with a sim card.
Majorly, it is because the phone is carrier locked, and the network provider gave you a sim card compatible with the phone.
Once you bought a new phone and which is locked to a specific network, then there’s a need to replace your sim card. If not, you shouldn’t replace your sim card and not reason to ask how often should a sim card be replaced.
Losing a sim card
Losing a sim card is one major reason to get a new sim replacement aside from when the sim card is damaged, gone bad, or not compatible with your new cell phone.
Once you have lost your sim card, all your need to do is to contact your network carrier and request for a sim card. The cost here will be for the sim only, but swapping of sim card is done for free unless you can do it yourself.
Another case of sim not not being comfortable with the is in terms of the type of sim.
Let’s say you have been using a micro sim card, and upgrade to a new phone of Nano sim card. There’s no way you can use the micro sim card in your new mobile phone unless you have to cut it in a way that it perfectly fits into the phone sim slot.
I see that as a complete waste of time and energy, instead you should swiftly replace the sim card with a Nano sim instead of giving yourself a hard time cutting the sim card to perfectly fit into your phone sim slot.
So all these explains the question we have here, how often should a sim card be replaced. You shouldn’t be replacing your sim card like as if you’re replacing a mobile phone that is already outdated.
SIM card is already outdated if it cannot receive the latest or the new cellular network like the 5G network.
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When to replace sim card
You can replace your sim card if the sim card is damaged and no longer working, not compatible with a new mobile phone, and way too old as not to support the new cellular network like the 5G network.
This is just the three major reasons for you to replace your sim card.
You don’t be like hey, this my sim card is now old and I want to change it whilst the sim is still working pretty much OK.
It’s so rare to see a damaged sim card or to have a damaged sim card unless you’re the careless type, so you found out that the main reason to replace a sim card will be if the sim card is not compatible with the phone, or doesn’t support the latest or new cellular network.
In general you see there’s no need to bother yourself with questions like this how often should a sim card be replaced, if you have a working sim card.
Hey i just bought a new 5G phone what should I do with my old sim card?
Kindly insert your sim card into your new 5G phone and check if it will display the 5G network, if it didn’t show the 5G network coverage, pull out the sim card and replace it immediately.
Depending on your network carrier, replacing a sim card is free of charge. Just head over to the nearest store and request for a sim replacement, and you’re good to go.
When do you need a new sim card
When you bought a phone that is not compatible with your sim card, if your sim card doesn’t support 5G network, or if your sim card is damaged and not working.
All these are same with the main topic of the post how often should a sim card be replaced.
For me, i don’t buy a carrier locked mobile phone even if the phone relatively cheap. So the two major reasons why I will replace my sim card is whereby the sim card is completely damaged and not working, and it can’t receive 5G network coverage.
How many years do SIM cards last?
A sim card can last for more than 20 years and still maintain a good network reception. But with advanced technology especially in terms of new cellular network like the 5G network, one may tends to be replacing sim cards after every five years.
How do I know when I need a new SIM card?
Once your sim card is no longer compatible with your new cell phone, then it simply means that you need a new sim card.
Talking about not being compatible comes in different ways especially in terms of 5G network support. Most old sim card don’t support the 5G network and if you happen to buy a new phone that supports 5G network, then this is a big reason to replace your sim card with a new one that supports the 5G network.
Does a SIM card ever go bad?
SIM card do go bad if the sim card chip is scratched so much or damaged, and this goes down to the sim card usage by a phone user.
Once the sim chip is damaged, the sim card as a whole is completely useless and needs to be changed.
Another thing that makes a sim card to go bad is when the sim card is disconnected or deactivated by the network provider. Once the sim card is deactivated, everything about the sim card becomes completely invalid.
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And with all said, this is where I round it up on this very interesting topic how often should a sim card be replaced, and please don’t forget to share the post.
