Password-protect your W710i

As if losing your phone wasn’t bad enough, the realisation that the thief has made countless calls on your SIM card and run up a huge bill in the process is even worse. The security features on the Sony Ericsson W710i can help prevent this by PIN-protecting your SIM card and the phone itself.

The security features of the W710i are found in the Locks section of the Security menu. To find this, from the main menu, highlight Settings and click Select. Scroll down through the General submenu to highlight Security and click Select. The first option, Locks, will be highlighted, so click Select again.

You’ll see two available options, SIM protection and Phone protection. Highlight your desired option and click Select.

SIM protection
The first line of defence is to set a SIM card PIN. This means that whenever you turn on your handset you have to enter a PIN code before the SIM can be used. The default PIN code for your SIM is dependent upon your network; usually it will be found in a small booklet that came with the card. The PIN can be enabled, disabled or changed from the SIM protection menu – but remember that you only get three chances to enter it correctly. After those three, the SIM will get locked and can only be unlocked by entering the PUK (PIN Unlocking Key) which your network can give you. Enter the PUK incorrectly 10 times, and the SIM will be irrecoverably locked.

Phone protection
Two levels of handset locking are available, On and Automatic. The first, ‘On’, requires an unlock code to be entered whenever the handset is turned on. This can be irritating in when used together with the SIM PIN, so a second level of security (“Automatic”) can be chosen so the phone only requests the handset unlock code when the SIM card has been changed. This means that if your phone is stolen then the thief cannot use their own SIM card in it as the phone will need a PIN code to unlock.