SIM swapping
 

I searched and didn't see this addressed so here goes....

I have an 8700c on Cingular (family talk plan that I share with hubby). I get great reception at my present employer as well as at home. I'm getting ready to change jobs and the Cingular reception at the new place is horrible.

Does anyone use 1 unlocked phone with 2 different SIM cards from 2 different carriers? Assuming I need access to phone and email at all times, would I need voice and data plans with both carriers? Its my understanding that the BIS is tied to the PIN of the BB, but it seems like it may cause problems to "register" the same PIN on 2 provider networks. Is it feasible to forward calls from one cell number to the other depending on which SIM is in place? Or are there other ways to accomplish what I need?

Kris

I think you're going to be out of luck for email on the same BB device and two different providers. You can't establish the BB on the new account without wemoving it from the old account first

Hope this helps.
Rcbjr

don't think so
 

I tried doing that with Cingular & TMO.
Never worked. The reason above is why. One carrier has to release your PIN before another can pick it up.

But, if you can work something out...please post it!

But if you have two wifes with two blackberries is swapping possible?

If you are only using BES you will be fine as long as both SIMs has BB data enabled..

I *suspect* BIS may be fine too as long as you don't have to move the BIS account and keep the account enabled.. (*suspect*)

- P

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You can't change providers without changing BIS accounts.

That's been my experience. Guess you could forward from the "source" accounts to both BIS accounts but that sounds tedious considering all the duplicate mail.

You can't have the same BB device on two different accounts at the same time. The data accounts are PIN controlled and only one account is recognized per PIN. You would have to have two devices.

Hope this helps.
Rcbjr

That's what I was afraid of. I'm trying to pare down how many devices I have to carry. We have already figured out that Verizon has the best service in the area of my office, but it looks like I will still have to carry a pager because some areas still don't get reliable service from any carrier. The last thing I want to is have 2 BBs and a pager. Talk about Startrek!

I would love other suggestions though!

Kris

Verizon is CDMA as opposed to Cingular Edge/GPRS, so it would not work for you anyway to use two different SIM's on that BB. Unlocked it could be used on any other GSM/GPRS network, but you'd still have the same issues with the PIN on 2 different networks. Good luck!

how about this scenario:

i have an 8700c using cingular, but i don't have a data plan

my friend has an 8700c using cingular, but he does have an unlimited data plan.

can we just swap sims temporarily so i can download ringtones to my phone and switch back without getting all of our data mixed up? the ringtones should remain in the cellphone memory, so the ringtones should be there when i swap my sim back, am i correct?

That Technically should work to get you access to the data plan, not sure if you PIN has to be registered with a BIS account to access Blackberry gateway servers. I was able to put my SIM in my wife’s Blackberry while we bother were over seas and she could download her data via my unlimited international data plan with out any issues or random changes. But she had a domestic data plan and BIS account. But I would like to add it worked for me and no guaranties how it applies to anyone else.

my only suggestion would be to to forward your calls from one to the number your desire but like everyone else says the PIN will be the issue, especially for the data part. check with your cingular rep if you need a new upgraded sim card since cingular upgraded the network the new sims improve reception and voice quality

i noticed that they made the bump from 32k to 64k but i'm surprised that something as simple as a SIM card can improve quality and reception. i thought it was only for sim card storage space and for higher security.

well, that's at least semi promising :)

i guess i might just give it a shot, i only need it to download a handful of ringtones and then swap the sims back. i could always back the blackberry up right beforehand just in case.

you be surprise, the improvement on the network is a wider range of reception, the sim is tie to your account, but the network and where you get the best coverage is where you will get better service and the sim card ties it all together, customers have noticed a hugh difference in reception and the sound, ofcourse its not to say that at times it may be a bad sim

If you do decide to go the SIM swapping route, consider dual SIMs. Read this article to get the general idea and then google "dual sim" to look for options.

Cheaper roaming: One phone but two numbers - Business - International Herald Tribune

I don't believe a SIM card has anything to do with reception, and certainly not with voice quality. There's a very good and detailed article on just what a SIM card is, how it works and what it does here:

Subscriber Identity Module

not that i am tryin to argue with you over a small item, but if you have a 32k sim that only picking up the lower end of the network, then by switching to a 64k sim that is able to pick up a much broader wider network reception, ofcoarse though what your sayin is that you do think that the sim has anything to do with that, but in fact if the new network that provides a much better signal ofcoarse your gonna see the difference on reception and voice quality. i have several people see the difference too including myself the sim is tie to the network