2 SIM Cards, same number, same plan, doable?

2k1Toaster · 06-09-2008, 05:30 AM

Well I have a HTC smartphone, and a cheap little phone. I have been using the cheap little phone recently because it is smaller, and because the HTC's battery is always falling out resetting everything.

I have done GPRS tethering through the HTC, but I dont think this basic phone can do that, it doesnt even have java.

So I can switch SIMs all the time but then my messages are in 2 spots and received calls are in 2 spots, and of course I have to always take the battery out of both and move the SIM back and forth.

So I want to get another SIM identical to the one I have now and put it in the HTC. Then duct tape up the back so the battery never comes out, and use it for tethering only. Then my phone phone for calls/texts.

Now the tricky part... Will att/cingular/att know I have 2 phones and get me in trouble? I wont call off the HTC and I wont use data on the non-smart phone. But I dont know if it gives a hardware ID code to the network whenever a device connects. So if they see 2 unique ID codes for the same number red flags will go up type thing.

I basically just want my GPRS tethering back without having to go fulltime HTC again. Since I will be driving for 30 hours non-stop one-way, next week, I sort of want to sort this soon.

I also thought of a laptop only card, but they want $60/mo for 5Gb data. I pay $40/mo for unlimited now...

Suggestions?

Crawdaddy · 06-09-2008, 09:34 AM

As an ex-Cingular/ATT customer rep, that won't work. The way Cingular works is that everything is tied to the SIM. You can't have 2 SIM cards tied to one number. Additionally, once a SIM card has been used once,if you switch the SIM card ID number on the user's account, as soon as you do so, the previous SIM card becomes trash, and it can never be tied to a Cingular account ever again. I don't know how you can pull it off, since you can't have 2 phones tied to one phone number/account.

2k1Toaster · 06-09-2008, 01:14 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Crawdaddy

As an ex-Cingular/ATT customer rep, that won't work. The way Cingular works is that everything is tied to the SIM. You can't have 2 SIM cards tied to one number. Additionally, once a SIM card has been used once,if you switch the SIM card ID number on the user's account, as soon as you do so, the previous SIM card becomes trash, and it can never be tied to a Cingular account ever again. I don't know how you can pull it off, since you can't have 2 phones tied to one phone number/account.

Well you can get SIM cloners rather easily, no need to ever tell "the man" that you have two. I just dont know if they will see 2 hardware IDs on their end.

GiODi · 06-09-2008, 02:19 PM

They do make devices that can clone sim cards... I don't know if they actually work though.

I was thinking of doing the same thing since I have a Tytn just chillin in a drawer.

I was very close to buying a device to do it about 4 years ago... they ran about $120.

HiJackZX1 · 06-10-2008, 05:14 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Well you can get SIM cloners rather easily, no need to ever tell "the man" that you have two. I just dont know if they will see 2 hardware IDs on their end.

You could upgrade you PPC. I know that with Sprint, anything above the 6600 doesnt have the reset all your data if you loose power cr@p. I have a 6700 and a 6800 and both work nice. Although the 6800 wins hands down because of the updated screen (brighter) and the smaller size.

Im not sure how AT&T works, but I know on CDMA, when I updated to the 6800, Sprint was adamit that I took the battery out of the 6700.... Of course I didnt, and I still recieved voice mail alerts and sometimes text messages. I never tried making a call in fear they would say I was trying to do something and kill my service. Only reason I havent gotten any recent alerts is because I changed my phone number.

Henk Bos · 06-10-2008, 08:07 AM

I had two SIM cards with the same number, one for the phone and the other one for the car. Problem I experienced is that the SIM you used last will remain active until you make a call through the other SIM. Bloody inconvenient and in the end not workable for me.

2k1Toaster · 06-10-2008, 05:06 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by HiJackZX1

You could upgrade you PPC. I know that with Sprint, anything above the 6600 doesnt have the reset all your data if you loose power cr@p. I have a 6700 and a 6800 and both work nice. Although the 6800 wins hands down because of the updated screen (brighter) and the smaller size.

Im not sure how AT&T works, but I know on CDMA, when I updated to the 6800, Sprint was adamit that I took the battery out of the 6700.... Of course I didnt, and I still recieved voice mail alerts and sometimes text messages. I never tried making a call in fear they would say I was trying to do something and kill my service. Only reason I havent gotten any recent alerts is because I changed my phone number.

I could upgrade, but I sort of like the smallness of my new phone. I was on htc's website and saw the touch diamond... Wndows Mobile 6.1 Pro, good looks, black, thinner than my current htc phone, I am sold. Looked at the price, I was saddened. Probably next year I will get the touch diamond, but $700 for a phone is too much. For my last HTC I spent $320 I think for the blue angel.

And the blue angel has the permanent storage, and I moved all my contacts to it and everything so whenever it did loose power, it did a full "restoring from permanent storage" thing. But then you have to recalibrate the touchscreen everytime, and do the cut/paste example with the calender, and all that. Really annoying. I resorted to duct taping the battery on. Before few people realized it was a phone, and now people just sort of started at the huge duct taped thing I was talking into.

Quote: Originally Posted by Henk Bos

I had two SIM cards with the same number, one for the phone and the other one for the car. Problem I experienced is that the SIM you used last will remain active until you make a call through the other SIM. Bloody inconvenient and in the end not workable for me.

Exactly what I was looking for, but not what I wanted to find.

OH well, I figured it was a hardware issued number on the network, and they block it from their end.

Now I guess it is if I want to spend $60/mo on a data connect plan for the PC, or if I want to spend $9.99/mo for a new line, and $29.99 for the pda connect plan and tether it. Oh decisions decisions....

americasfuture2 · 07-08-2008, 10:47 PM

when i upgraded my 8125 to the att tilt, i put my new sim card in the new phone and powered it up without realizing i had my old phone still on. well it cancelled my new sim and made it trash. no bother really since my old one does the same thing and it had all my stored numbers on it.