having 2 phones active on 1 phone number?

[Semidevil]

I have one phone number, and I want to be able to switch cell phones on the fly when I need to. I.E, iphone for every day use, but maybe another type of phone for different occassion. Besides having to manually switch sim cards every time, is there an easier way? Ideally, I want 2 active sim cards for one phone number, but I dont think that is possible right?

 

[Craig234]

You could have a second phone number on the second phone and use call forwarding...

 

[JohnAn2112]

I think that's called sim card cloning and that's a big no-no. You should look into Google Voice, to be honest. You can just give out your GV number and set it to forward to any phone you wish.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Port your number to Google Voice, have your calls routed to both phones

 

[d33pt]

i think he only wants to pay for one service line too.

 

[vshah]

2 cards for 1 number isn't possible. your best bet would probably be to get a prepaid plan for your second occasional use number, and then set up google voice with your two phone lines.

 

[corkyg]

Providers have never permitted this, and probably never will. Activation is hardware specific.

 

[boomhower]

Switching sims isn't that hard. Your choices are to either switch the sims or get google voice and live with it's limitations.

 

[gorcorps]

Switching sims isn't that hard. Your choices are to either switch the sims or get google voice and live with it's limitations.

Depending on the phone we're talking about, the SIM slot could be behind the battery. Makes it more of a PITA.

 

[Semidevil]

so just to make sure I understand. I already have a google number. so If I buy a regular phone (dumb or smart), can I just buy 1 prepaid sim, for the purpose of 'activating it,' and then just forward my google number to that prepaid sim?

 

[vshah]

Depending on the phone we're talking about, the SIM slot could be behind the battery. Makes it more of a PITA.

i think that's for a reason...i've heard that swapping sims with the phone powered can damage it.

 

[akugami]

Port your number to Google Voice, have your calls routed to both phones

What Pliablemoose wrote is as good as it gets for now. Multiple sim cards tied to one phone is not possible for now. Not because it's technologically impossible but because the carriers would be stupid to allow it.

If you want two phones, the best you can do is activate two phones (perhaps a family plan with two lines) and use a Google Voice number to route the call to both phones. Alternatively you might look into having the second phone on a pre-pay plan if it's rarely used and situational. Depending on your usage this might be more economical. You may change the settings in Google Voice to make calls first route to one phone and then after a certain number of rings route to the second or ring both at once. It's actually quite versatile.

 

[SunnyD]

so just to make sure I understand. I already have a google number. so If I buy a regular phone (dumb or smart), can I just buy 1 prepaid sim, for the purpose of 'activating it,' and then just forward my google number to that prepaid sim?

You'll still be using a SEPARATE pool of minutes for your prepaid plan, and have to keep up with putting funds into that plan to keep it from expiring. Plus, generally, if you use your phone a lot, it will be more expensive than your contract plan minutes. Oh, and no (or limited/expensive) data too.

 

[corkyg]

Do all cell phones have removable SIMs? I'm sure mine does not.

 

[MotionMan]

Do all cell phones have removable SIMs? I'm sure mine does not.

Brand and provider?

MotionMan

 

[akugami]

Generally speaking Sprint and Verizon who use CDMA do not use sim cards while AT&T and T-Mobile does.

 

[corkyg]

Like the man said, Sprint, CDMA - does not use SIM cards. Anyway, Sanyo 7050.