65Email us your problem and we’ll try to help:
[email protected]Do I need a phone to sign into NHS?
Using the
NHS app does
not require a
smartphone (1)
... but you do
need a mobile
phone (2)!Q
I’m an 80-year-old without a
mobile phone, trying to
access NHS services on my
computer so I can order prescriptions
and arrange GP appointments. The
website (www.nhs.uk/app) suggests I
can now do so from a web browser.
Indeed, it explicitly states that this
feature will benefit “people who do not
own a smartphone” (see screenshot 1 ).
However, after entering my email
address I was told I’d need a working
mobile phone 2 , with a request for the
number! Are they having a laugh? It’s
certainly not amusing me. Or am I
going gaga? Any ideas?
Tony BrownA
We’re sorry to say that, yes,
signing up for these NHS
services online does require a
working mobile phone number so, no,
you are not going gaga.
We imagine the folks responsible
would argue that a ‘mobile phone’ isn’tnecessarily the same as a ‘smartphone’,
but we’d counter that such pedantry is
academic: a mobile number is needed to
sign up, and most mobiles are now
smartphones.
We can’t make the NHS change this
policy, but we can say that the mobile
number is required only for the receipt of
an initial sign-up security code (and
occasional subsequent ones).
So, if you have a trusted relative orfriend who’s willing to let you use their
mobile number for this purpose, you’d
be able to proceed.What ‘G’ is my old phone?
A compatible SIM card (above)
and airtime contract are all that's
needed to reconnect a Nokia 3210Q
I have an old, but working,
Nokia 3210 phone (pictured) and
I want to know whether it uses
3G or 4G (or anything else!). I entered its
IMEI number into an online checker.
Several websites told me to look at the
LT E section of the report to see which
frequencies it uses, and so determine
whether it is 3G – but I can't find such a
section or any frequency information. I
guess this is a bit of an obscure query, but
you have such clued-up experts at
Computeractive that I feel confident
there will be someone who can help.
Alan TurkA
First, we would advise against
typing IMEI numbers into
random websites. The support
page of a manufacturer’s website or a
trusted trade-in service might have a
legitimate need for such information, but
there are plenty of dodgy sites out there
besides. IMEI cloning is a risk and, while
the phone is very old, we’re sure you’drather its unique identifier
wasn’t copied to create a
dodgy device.
That aside, we can tell you
that the Nokia 3210 is
compatible with what’s
known as the Global System
for Mobile Communications
standard, or GSM. In the UK,
that means it connects to the
mobile phone networks on
either 900 and 1800MHz
bands. It is neither 3G nor 4G- but 2G.
Remarkably, for the time
being at least, 2G networks
still operate in the UK – and
so your 23-year-old Nokia
3210 could actually connect if you bought
a compatible SIM and airtime contract.
It takes a standard SIM rather than
the more modern micro or nano SIM,
but most UK networks supply
multi-SIM cards that pop out the
smaller sizes.
Do note, though, that 2G
support is being phased out
in the UK, and will be gone
completely by 2033.
All that aside – and while
we think you most likely
know – we should point out
that there is little that such an
old handset can do other than make calls
and send and receive old-fashioned text
(SMS) messages. That might be fine for
whatever you have in mind, but forget
any of the fancy features that you’d
find on modern smartphones with 3G,
4G or 5G.Issue 630 • 27 April – 10 May 20221
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