Pensioners headache with the 3g switch off

[Dally]

Hello, I'm new on here.
please help, I can no longer make calls or texts on my old nokia
3510i, I think 02 have switched the network off.

It's been off since 28 may 2025, though I still had credit. I did get
a message months ago saying they would be switching off 3G so I
enquired in the 02 shop as to what to do.

I was told I needed a new phone and a new sim. A bit of a headache for
a none tech savvy 70 year old. I have spent the last 2 weeks
frantically searching for a dumb phone (on my computer) and have not
managed to find a
phone that has a predictive text with memory as brilliant and easy as
my old nokia 3510i. Due to all the resaerch I have done I think maybe
I dont even need a new phone as 2G has not been switched off. I learned this from this great community forum, Thanks

I have been to the 02 shop twice in the last week but it was shut due
to short staff and the manager leaving so I have clocked up 60 miles
for nothing. In desperation I went into the vodaphone shop where
they tried to get a pac code off my sim but as there is no network
coverage this was impossibe and advised me to go to the 02 shop !
They did say they will not be switching off 2G for a long time and I
could go on their PAYG and my old nokia 3510i will still work, so it
is tempting to jump ship even though I have been with o2 for the last
23 years.
Update... I have been to the o2 shop again, this time it was open and
the assistant was very helpful.
I explained my plight to find a feature phone with a decent workable
predictive text
and tried on one of the available phones in the shop with her. When it
took a ridiculous effort to spell the name of my village and no way to
remember that name in the phone we gave up and both agreed it would be
a complete waste of time for an old age pensioner.
She did give me a new sim which has now powered up my trusty old nokia
3510i which I am over the moon about but she also told me it might
only work till the end of july.
I find this all very confusing. I need a new phone or I dont need a
new phone ? 2G is going to be switched off very soon, or 2G isn't
going to be switched off in the near future ?
I wouldn't mind buying a new phone if I could text easily as this is
my preferred method of communication. I do not want a smart phone I
have no need for one, I love being phone free when I'm out and about,
it really is great, I hope to keep it that way. And anyway I would
have smashed a smart phone within 3 weeks ! My old nokia just bounces
when its dropped on concrete. I'm only just realising how lucky I am
to have been using the best phone ever for the last 20 years ! Thank
you nokia.
So does anyone know of a modern feature/dumb phone that has predictive
text as good as a nokia 3510i ? It just seems crazy that technology
from 2002 that works, especially for pensioners, isn't available in
2025. What is the point of a 4G phone if I cant text easily ? This
surely is not progress.
PS I used my old nokia 3510i predictive text to spell check the word
"preffered" while writing this message.

Thanks in anticipation of some advice

[MI5]

@Dally 

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/hmd/105-4g?device-type=simfree

Or a bit cheaper on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-Feature-Display-Expandable-Headphone-Charcoal/dp/B0DGGXJQH7/ref=sr_1_...

[Dally]

@MI5

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did try to get the full specs on the hmd 105 but there is no mention of predictive text so I suppose the only way to find out if it will do the job is to check it out in the shop. Some of the reviews were not encouraging. I think I came to the conclusion that a phone as well built and as easy to use as a nokia 3510i is just a dream these days. In all the phone specs they avoid mentioning predictive text ! Mentioning games seems more important ! I will check it out though next time I get chance to go to town

[Enlli]

The Nokia 3510i is a 2G phone so should keep working for calls and text even when 3G is turned off.

2G will be closed down but not this year so it will work for a while yet

[MI5]

@Dally 

I wouldn't have directed you to it if it didn't have predictive text.

https://www.hmd.com/en_gb/support/nokia-105-2017-user-guide/messages

Anyhow, if you can't currently make calls or send texts, you need to confirm if your current sim is still working or not or if O2 have disconnected you for some reason, so a trip to the store again may be necessary.

Book in advance and take photo ID with you.

Guide: Is the network down for me or everyone? 

https://www.o2.co.uk/storelocator

[MI5]

Also, there's the modern version of the 3210 which is probably closest to your 3510.

https://www.hmd.com/en_int/nokia-3210?sku=1GF025CPD4L02

https://www.hmd.com/en_gb/support/nokia-3210-user-guide/keypad?srsltid=AfmBOopwBWIRmmB9dRFiw-IzrgCtG...

[Dally]

Thanks Enlli for this advice. If this advice had been given to me by the o2 shop when I first went in I would have been saved lots and lots of stress over the last couple of weeks

[Dally]

@MI5

I can now send texts they re enabled my sim as I said in my original post. I can appreciate you might have missed it as my post is long. I have checked out evry phone under the sun till I'm blue in the face over the last two weeks including both the hmd 105 and the nokia 105. Yes the specs say it has predictive text but no mention of being able to remember newly spelled words to the text dictionary. If it doesnt remember words it is pretty useless as there are many words we use in our every day texts, especially names, places etc. With my old nokia 3510i I only have to spell once and it remembers it for future texts. This is a very valuable performance which makes texting enjoyable and easy to do. Like I said in my first post the phone we tried in the o2 shop didn't remember anything and was difficult to work, so difficult in fact it was enough to put both myself and the shop assistant off. I'm beginning to see my old nokia 3510i is not so dumb after all compaired with the latest model dumb phones. I don't think it's too much to ask that we can have a modern dumb phone that will work as good as a phone from 22 years ago to be honest.

[rp_yorkshire]

We still haven't been told what is really going on with the 2G situation, it is definitely not off yet so your troubles described here were almost certainly due to something other than 2G being switched off, the talk of restricting 2G in O2's pages about the 3G switch off suggests it's going to be for smart-meters and other IoT device messaging only... and it is very odd O2 (despite in theory planning to keep 2G for those IoT purposes longer than any other network) is trying to shut down human usage (that is to say the usage that is applicable to any typical customer) of 2G before the other networks do. As a note, the 3G switch off itself will affect barely anyone, it is ongoing, having already begun in Durham. Everyone who uses mobile data is definitely going to have 4G or newer devices so, except some areas where a 3G signal exists but the 4G is too weak for use, they're using 4G already, and even when those devices don't match up to the version of VOLTE used on O2's network they'll fall back to 2G for SMS and voice calls. Everyone who uses phones solely for voice and SMS will probably be on 2G signal most of the time anyway, many such handsets never supported 3G anyway, so the loss of 3G won't affect this.

The best clue we have is this link:

https://piblu.co.uk/2024/08/28/switch-off-announcement-o2-2g-and-3g/

Which seems to be from a company which sells products which have O2 services operating within them. That company thinks, or has been told (maybe the few O2 staff on this forum could confirm the accuracy of that link's claims), that as of 1st Oct 2025 no inbound roaming (non-O2 customers who happen to be in areas with only O2 masts) will work and 1st Oct 2026 will be the 2G "switch off" date for normal phone and SMS usage of the O2 2G network by O2 customers. And there's still nothing confirmed about VOLTE on PAYG, not even whether this means strictly traditional PAYG with pay per minute or PAYG being monthly payment for bundles but using a SIM sold as PAYG from an O2 shop or third party shop shelf.

[Dally]

Thanks rp_yorkshire.

It all seems a bit vague. The man in the vodaphone shop told me their 2G PAYG would not be switched off for years, maybe even 10 years ! Maybe I should go with them instead and just keep my old nokia going.

All I want from a dumb phone is to be able to make calls AND text
easily. Like I can on my old nokia 3510i but after a two week search for a 4G upgrade I
have not been able to find one. It seems like all the modern dumb
phones have rubbish memory for sms on predictive text. How is it that
my old nokia from 2002 has a superior memory compared with anything
available in 2025 ? It can't be that difficult to add a bit of 23 year
old technology to a modern dumb phone surely ? So why is it the specs
dont mention it and the reviewers dont mention it either ? My old
phone remembers the name of my village for example so I don't have to
re spell it every time I make a new message. Is this tech not
available in 2025 or what ?