1. #1
    Pat Rigley
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    Is it possible to have two cell phones share the same number? Not to use at the same time but as a back-up phone, or one you keep specifically in your car? Is there a technological reason for this, or policy? Just curious, asked a couple of friends and got nothing but blank looks.


    See More: Two phones, one number




  2. #2
    Bourn Identity
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    I actually have two phones that I switch from back and forth, V635 and RAZR. If you have a service that uses a sim card it is really easy.



  3. #3
    Gentleman
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    2 phones & 1 line?

    Quote Originally Posted by cseabourn
    I actually have two phones that I switch from back and forth, V635 and RAZR. If you have a service that uses a sim card it is really easy.
    Hey CSeabourn, could you explain that with the SIM card please? I've got almost zero experience with cell phones and SIM cards. I was under the impression you could only have one line on one phone, and to switch to another phone you'd have to call and move the number to the new ESN, since digital IDs usually only point to one remote ESN? I'm not looking to second guess you, I'm looking for an education
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  4. #4
    bossdragon
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    What he is saying, is if you have somebody like Cingular or any GSM service provider, their phone's come with Sim's cards that carry the information of the person. I.E. their number, contact's, etc.

    When you upgrade your phone, all you have to do is remove the Sims Card from the old phone and put it in the new phone, and your new phone will start working right away without programming.

    Verizon on the other hand is run under CDMA technology, and therefore requires programming of every phone before you can use it. Once it's programmed, that phone number is only for that phone, and that phone only, unless you buy a new phone and get the old phone deactivated, and the program the new phone with your old number.

    If, like Gentleman said, you do have GSM, you can get two phones and switch the Sim's card from one to the other, and use either phone. But, only one phone can be used at a time, depending of course which phone has the Sim's card in it.

    If you don't know whether you have GSM or CDMA, you can either google it to find out, call your provider, or post it here and somebody will tell you.
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  5. #5
    Gentleman
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    Thanks BossDragon. You nailed it on the head for me, 99% of the phones I've messed with have been Verizon (professionally) and SunCom(past tense). I was not aware that you could do the equivalent of a Verizon ESN change just by swapping a SIM card. Pretty cool stuff!



  6. #6
    Pat Rigley
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    Then my next question is, can you dupe a sim card? Giving you two phones without the trouble of switching out the one card (not to mention the possibility of damaging at some point).



  7. #7
    roberts1953
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Rigley
    Then my next question is, can you dupe a sim card? Giving you two phones without the trouble of switching out the one card (not to mention the possibility of damaging at some point).
    I'm going to guess no to this. Because you would be using two phones at once but only paying for one service. I will go farther out on a limb and say even if you could it would be very illegal. Sort of like cloning a ESN from a CDMA or TDMA phone. Basically stealing. Bad news.
    If you need the phone as backup, just switch the SIM. If you need an emergency phone, there are very good prepaid options for $30/year with coverage everywhere.

    BTW, you can do an ESN swap with CDMA Verizon phones for free online. Many other providers will let you change CDMA phones you already own for free by calling customer service.
    Last edited by roberts1953; 03-24-2006 at 01:14 AM.



  8. #8
    Gentleman
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    Re: Two phones, one number

    Quote Originally Posted by roberts1953
    I'm going to guess no to this. Because you would be using two phones at once but only paying for one service. I will go farther out on a limb and say even if you could it would be very illegal. Sort of like cloning a ESN from a CDMA or TDMA phone. Basically stealing. Bad news.
    If you need the phone as backup, just switch the SIM. If you need an emergency phone, there are very good prepaid options for $30/year with coverage everywhere.

    BTW, you can do an ESN swap with CDMA Verizon phones for free online. Many other providers will let you change CDMA phones you already own for free by calling customer service.
    Hey Roberts, can you provide that link? I went through and Googled a few options and I was not able to come up with a good link.

    Thanks



  9. #9
    roberts1953
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    Re: Two phones, one number

    If you are referring to the Verizon online ESN swap, log into your account online. Go to "profile", then "activate phone". This will allow you to do the ESN Swap online for free. You can also call Verizon and do it, but they will charge $15. After you swap the ESN's you will need to do a *228 update for the new phone. The swap should be effective very shortly.

    If you were asking for somethings else, please specify, and ignore my ramblings.



  10. #10
    roberts1953
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    Re: Two phones, one number

    After re-reading I think you were asking about switching SIMs, weren't you.
    I will try to keep this as basic as possible, and some things will be left out. If you would like something more in detail, just ask and someone in this forum can probably explain.

    Basically, there are a few different technologies out their. I wont get into TDMA or AMPS.

    Nextel uses IDEN

    Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, US Cellular, and others use CDMA. The phones have an ESN and the phone number is programmed into the phone. The phone must be reprogrammed to change the Phone number. It is unusual to be able to use a CDMA phone from one provider with a different CDMA provide. Most CDMA providers have a list of ESN's for THEIR phone that they will activate for THEIR service. Meaning, even if the phone is unlocked and can be reprogrammed, they still wont activate it if it is from another provider. For example, Verizon wont activate a Sprint phone.

    Cingular, Tmobile, Unicel, Edge, and others use GSM. The beauty of GSM is that all of the phones have a SIM card in the phone that stores the account info and phone number. The SIM is a postage stamp sized card under the battery that you can remove and put in other GSM phones and make and receive calls. There are a couple of things to consider about GSM phones. GSM phones are usually "branded" with a service provider, and "locked" to that service provider. For example if a phone is branded "cingular" and is locked to cingular then it will only accept SIMs from Cingular. You can't put the Cingular SIM into a tmobile phone and expect it to work. But you can put your cingular SIM into any other Cingular phone and it will work great. This is good if you like your plan but want to switch phones because it is broken or you want to upgrade you handset. You can buy an "unbranded" and "unlocked" phone off ebay and it will accept any SIM. You can also unlock a "locked" phone and it will then accept any SIM. For example, you could unlock the Tmobile branded phone and it would accept the Cingular SIM. Not to get too complicated, but GSM phones use different frequencies all over the world. If you will be using a GSM phone in the US make sure it uses 850 and 1900 bands. Some GSM phones are missing one or both bands. Do your research before you buy the phone to make sure it is compatable. Otherwise you will get limited coverage, or have a very cool paperwight. Swapping SIMs allows you to make phone calls. After swapping the SIM into a new GSM phone you may also need to configure the phone for Web, text message, and MMS. This can usually be done for free, over the air, from your service providers website.
    Last edited by roberts1953; 03-29-2006 at 01:26 PM.



  11. #11
    Gentleman
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    Re: Two phones, one number

    Thanks Roberts, that's what I was looking for. I don't have a private Verizon account yet, but I have 151 government phones I swap phones back and forth testing a phone here and there, or if I get to work and leave my phone since my desk phone forwards to my work cell after 3 rings.

    Thanks again!



  12. #12
    torrespi
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    Re: Two phones, one number

    Greetings !

    A person in this fourm stated "

    If, like Gentleman said, you do have GSM, you can get two phones and switch the Sim's card from one to the other, and use either phone. But, only one phone can be used at a time, depending of course which phone has the Sim's card in it.

    Question:

    Can a person with a t-mobile phone which uses GSM, using 2 phones with the same card (if ir were cloned !) listen in on one phone while the other phone is in use !

    Be intresting to know for informational purposes only!



  13. #13
    Gentleman
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    Re: Two phones, one number

    I don't really know the answer to this one, but I can speculate. Hopefully someone will see your post and give better answers that actually know, what I have below is pure speculation.

    1) digital devices are, for the most part (the back door clause in case I'm wrong ) only able to connect to one single device. I've never tried to clone a SIM, nor do I know anyone that has, but I would think if you had two phones active on the duped SIM, you would find problems. If you had only one phone powered up at a time, it may very well work. CDMA phones like Verizon have the electronic serial number coded inside the phone, not on a chip like SIM, so I'm not 100% sure how the GSM works.

    2) if you had two dupilcated SIMs/phones, your provider may very well have software in place that will notice that there is a signal from the same phone number and it's seen connecting to two separate towers, or twice on the same tower, which would easily give away a cloned phone. I'd guess they would suspend the service and contact the owner of the phone number and tell them their account has been comprimised...

    Anyone with direct technical knowledge able to give a better answer? I'm interested in seeing the facts myself.

    again, this is all speculation, and 99.9% of my experience has been with CDMA.



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