Frequently Asked Questions

What are GSM Phones?

Most cell phone owners around the world only have to worry about a single carrier technology called the Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM for short. As its name implies, this standard was developed for, and has been adopted by, almost the entire globe as the way to communicate via cellular calls.

What are CDMA Phones?

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobiles) are shorthand for the two major radio systems used in cell phones. Both acronyms tend to group together a bunch of technologies run by the same entities.

What is an Unlocked Phone?

An unlocked cell phone is one that is not tied into a certain carrier's network: It will work with more than one service provider. A GSM Unlocked Device will work with Carriers Like Tmobile - At&T - Metro PCS - Cricket.

What is a Manufactured Refurbished Device?

The Device has been refurbished either by the actual manufacturer or a entity that has been allowed to refurb the device on behalf of the manufacturer. The device might have cosmetic imperfections but would be 100% functional.

What is APN?

The Access Point Name (APN) is the name for the settings your phone reads to set up a connection to the gateway between your carrier's cellular network and the public Internet.

You carrier reads these settings, then does things like determine the correct IP address, connect to the correct secure gateway, and see if you need a private network like a VPN. All the heavy lifting is done on the carrier side, but we need to make sure the right settings are in place to get on the network we need, in the way we need to connect.

How to Set an APN?

The first thing you'll need to do is find the right APN settings for the network you want to use. You'll be able to find these at the support pages at the carrier website. The settings will look like this example for Mint SIM:

• Name - Ultra
• APN - Wholesale
• Proxy - (leave blank)
• Port - 8080
• Username & Password - (leave blank)
• Server - (leave blank)
• MMSC - http://wholesale.mmsmvno.com/mms/wapenc
• MMS Proxy - (leave blank)
• MMS Port - (leave blank)
• MNC - 260
• Authentication Type - (leave blank)
• APN Type - default,supl,mms
• MCC - 310

These are the settings you'll need to enter for a new APN that can use Mint SIM's service for data and MMS. Now we just need to find where to enter it.

This is going to be different depending on who made your phone, but it's always going to be in the Wireless & networks section of the settings. You're looking for a setting for Access Point Names and it might be nested in another setting like Cellular Networks. That's where you'll find it on the Pixel or Moto Z, and it should be similar to your phone. Don't worry, you can't mess anything up by tapping the settings and looking inside. Just try not to make any changes while you're looking.

Once you've found the "Access Point Names" section. Tap to open it.

You should see a list with at least one APN on it. If things aren't working with the current APN, you need to add another. Don't modify or delete the one you see, instead make a new one and we can choose it when we're done. At the top of the page, or possibly in a menu if your phone has a menu button, press the plus sign to bring up the "Edit access point" screen.

This is where you will enter the settings you got from your carrier's website. Two very important things here:

1. Not every setting in the "Edit access point" screen will need to be filled in. Only fill in the items your carrier provides, and leave the rest as-is.
2. Be sure to type in everything exactly as provided by your carrier. For example, default,supl,hipri is different than default, supl, hipri because of the white space between items. Your carrier's system is set up to read an expected set of values, and any changes — no matter how minor — can and will break things.

Once you have the settings provided by your carrier entered, you need to save the APN. You do that by pressing the three dots in the upper right (or the menu key if your phone has one) and selecting the "Save" option.

Once your APN information is saved, go back one screen to the list we saw earlier. On this screen, tap the new APN settings you just entered to make them active. Your phone will lose its data connection for a little while as it connects to the new network using the new network settings. If you can't get a connection after a few minutes, you might need to restart your phone.

And that's it! Now your phone should work for calls, SMS, MMS and data. Now be sure to set up any Data Saver or warning settings your phone might have to monitor how much data you use and if you are getting close to your allotment.

Sim Cards!

Our devices don't come with Sim Cards as most of the devices are unlocked so you would either be able to use the existing Sim card or would have to get one from your service provider.