Putting SIM Card into old phone and old PIN is required

CatFromHue · 10-06-2026 03:01PM #1

I dropped my phone the other day and the screen broke so much that it's pretty much unusable. My Brother had a spare old phone which I could use so changed over the SIMs. When I put my SIM in my PIN number kept on coming up as incorrect. Eventually I tried the PIN my Brother used and it worked. I was able to use the internet and send/receive texts and calls and this was done on my network. My Brother was with with Eir and I'm with Vodafone and the network provider came up as Vodafone.

Is this strange? It seems strange. Should I try and wipe the phone? Both phones are Samsungs.

10-06-2026 03:11PM

There are two possible "PINs" on most modern phones:

The phone PIN - this is enforced by Android. It stays with the phone
The SIM PIN - this is enforced on the SIM card. It stays with the SIM

Either, both, or neither can be enabled/disabled. From the sounds of things, your SIM card does not have a PIN enabled, your brother's phone does.

CatFromHue · 10-06-2026 03:31PM

Would it be a good idea to reset the phone to it's factory settings? When I swipe to unlock it, before I put in the PIN, there's a little message that pops up that says face doesn't match. The phone in general is set to him eg his Samsung account which it looks like I'll have to get him to log into to change.

LambshankRedemption · 10-06-2026 03:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124540107#Comment_124540107

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

At the very least have your brother beside you if you do go ahead and wipe it. If it's only a temporary solution I'd leave it. If this is your new phone then yes factory reset and setup with your information would be a good idea.

CatFromHue · 10-06-2026 03:48PM

Thanks.

It's a similar spec, possibly slightly better, than my broken one so yeah I was thinking of using it for the long term. It looks like there's thumb print recognition too so just various things like that is why I was thinking of a factory reset.

If I do a factory reset do I need any specific codes for the phone? The reason I ask is I have none, just the phone and charger. When I was talking to him about the PIN problem it took him a while and a few different wrongs ones to remember it.

LambshankRedemption · 11-06-2026 06:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124540175#Comment_124540175

In that case you only need the PIN for your own SIM if its enabled - not common nowadays. So to answer your question, no you don't need anything else other than the passwords for your own accounts.

Make sure you have your Gmail password!

EagererBeaver · 11-06-2026 07:19AM

In general when moving to a new phone, and certainly when taking someone else's, you should factory reset. Your brother probably should have done so before giving it to you.

As mentioned above you're confusing the phone's passcode which is part of the operating system (in this case Android) with the SIM card's PIN code. Your old phone may have had a passcode (no longer relevant) and a PIN on your SIM card. If so, you'd have had to unlock both when starting the phone. If the SIM card has a PIN enabled, that travels with the card, regardless of phone. Your brother's phone sounds like it has a passcode that is still enabled. If you're not going to factory reset, change the passcode to one of your choice (or pattern, password etc) in the security settings.

greenbin2 · 11-06-2026 07:33AM

I would 100% factory reset it, you'll end up with a difficult to separate mix of you and your brothers photos, contacts & emails on his old and his new phone

Aak him to do it, and if he refuses then save up for a new phone asap

CatFromHue · 20-06-2026 11:13AM

Reset the phone and it's all working now.

The amount of passwords I'd forgotten though 😯

Putting SIM Card into old phone and old PIN is required

Comments