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Consider this an idea question:

I'm in the process of picking up a dual sim cellphone.
My intentions are to eliminate the home land line phone [Business mostly] and port it over to one sim with my cell phone number on the other.

Realizing that America is behind the curve on this issue, well, me anyway;

What is current regarding this idea and what is being done in Europe and Asia?

Thanks for your input.

Why dual sim, why not just forward one number to the other?

Port your business number to Google Voice, even. Assuming you live in an area code covered by GV, that is. Dual SIM means two phone bills which means yucky.

notfred wrote:

Why dual sim, why not just forward one number to the other?

I"m eliminating my land line altogether and it's associated bill.

Essentially moving from triple play to double play for less money.

derFunkenstein wrote:

Port your business number to Google Voice, even. Assuming you live in an area code covered by GV, that is. Dual SIM means two phone bills which means yucky.

My intention is to use a share plan for multiple phones.

Huawei seemed to be the brand to go with when I looked into this a couple of years ago. I have a couple of Huaewei Ascends in the office - they're old but the specs were okay for their age - Dual core and 800x480 screens running on Gingerbread (initially) but I quickly flashed them to ICS.

Chrispy_ wrote:

Huawei seemed to be the brand to go with when I looked into this a couple of years ago. I have a couple of Huaewei Ascends in the office - they're old but the specs were okay for their age - Dual core and 800x480 screens running on Gingerbread (initially) but I quickly flashed them to ICS.

S4 mini duos.

http://www.samsung.com/latin_en/consumer/mobile-phones/mobile-phones/smartphone/GT-I9192ZWLTPA

certainly not cutting edge specs, but seems to have everything I need.

Believe it's Latin America stock, Hasn't been delivered yet. Think it's 4.2, with a promise [ha].

Very reluctant to flash. It has been decades since I played with Linux, su, compiled kernels et al, never was very proficient in it.

might have to dive in again, hope not.

EDIT: Link, [grammar, what else]

Many asians I know have moved to dual Sims for at least one of their unlocked smartphones, some have two or more phones/plans. A Chinese business friend who chairs an NGO has five different 3G or LTE Galaxy Duos/iPhones plus an Isatphone in his running case to separate his business/personal/government/HADR comms. This is not unheard of for big users with several offices and lots of international outbound.

My needs are simpler. In Manila I have a mobile SIM in my unlocked Lenovo Dual-SIM for my daily voice and messaging, and another carrier's prepaid SIM for data and as a spare voice comm. Whenever I'm in Singapore or Hong Kong/China, I buy local prepaid voice/data SIMs and pop them in the 3G HSDPA+ slot of the Lenovo to take advantage of lower local rates. I usually keep a convenient stash of unexpired international SIMs for this reason, with the exception of mainland China SIMs which I dispose of before exiting for privacy reasons.

I also have a wireless landline/3G data SIM from a third carrier in my old iPhone which I've been lending to my wife or kid for use as mobile hotspot. The reason I and others have many phones/plans is to separate comms but also to arbitrage availabilities and costs across carrier networks, since signal quality and intersystem costs can vary a lot within countries and across the region. Only the two main plans are complicated by regular billing, the rest are easily topped up as needed. Overall I've secured redundant and unlimited regular comms for about $50 per month not including foreign roaming, although data bandwidth on any of my SIMS rarely exceeds 2Mbps in any of the cities.

trackerben wrote:

Many asians I know have moved to dual Sims for at least one of their unlocked smartphones, some have two or more phones/plans. A Chinese business friend who chairs an NGO has five different 3G or LTE Galaxy Duos/iPhones plus an Isatphone in his running case to separate his business/personal/government/HADR comms. This is not unheard of for big users with several offices and lots of international outbound.

My needs are simpler. In Manila I have a mobile SIM in my unlocked Lenovo Dual-SIM for my daily voice and messaging, and another carrier's prepaid SIM for data and as a spare voice comm. Whenever I'm in Singapore or Hong Kong/China, I buy local prepaid voice/data SIMs and pop them in the 3G HSDPA+ slot of the Lenovo to take advantage of lower local rates. I usually keep a convenient stash of unexpired international SIMs for this reason, with the exception of mainland China SIMs which I dispose of before exiting for privacy reasons.

I also have a wireless landline/3G data SIM from a third carrier in my old iPhone which I've been lending to my wife or kid for use as mobile hotspot. The reason I and others have many phones/plans is to separate comms but also to arbitrage availabilities and costs across carrier networks, since signal quality and intersystem costs can vary a lot within countries and across the region. Only the two main plans are complicated by regular billing, the rest are easily topped up as needed. Overall I've secured redundant and unlimited regular comms for about $50 per month not including foreign roaming, although data bandwidth on any of my SIMS rarely exceeds 2Mbps in any of the cities.

Good stuff, Thanks.

Sounds like dual sim is being utilized for convenience, security and financial reasons.
Logical, really.
Read 40% of Europe/Asia had multiple lines/phones this was >10 years ago.
Dual sim's is a natural.
it is being suppressed in the US.
Don't understand why, though probably financial and/or fear of unknown.
Thanks again.

it is being suppressed in the US.
Don't understand why, though probably financial and/or fear of unknown.

Looks like agressive lobbying (bribery) and corrupt legislators from this side of the pond; Being tied to one SIM and one contract is the antithesis of free-market competition.

Chrispy_ wrote:

it is being suppressed in the US.
Don't understand why, though probably financial and/or fear of unknown.

Looks like agressive lobbying (bribery) and corrupt legislators from this side of the pond; Being tied to one SIM and one contract is the antithesis of free-market competition.

That, plus the greed that getting one more phone per one more SIM. Money is money.

oldDummy wrote:

My intention is to use a share plan for multiple phones.

This is what I don't understand. You want a shared plan with say, 2 phone numbers, but you want both to go to the same phone? This seems a little odd. Work and home numbers? But work should be a separate bill altogether, no? Or are you pretending to be your own son?

Flying Fox wrote:

oldDummy wrote:

My intention is to use a share plan for multiple phones.

This is what I don't understand. You want a shared plan with say, 2 phone numbers, but you want both to go to the same phone? This seems a little odd. Work and home numbers? But work should be a separate bill altogether, no? Or are you pretending to be your own son?

One number is a landline used mostly for business one is a personal cell phone.

Cost is cost, family share plan allows so many minutes among enrolled sim cards/phones.
Some carriers offer these at a discount.
Currently have three phones grouped will have four.
No sense in having multiple phones if it's not necessary.
Redundant, unnecessary and not cost effective.

Phone was delivered today, waiting for new sim.
EDIT: Updated to 4.2.2 upon Wi-Fi setup.
using single sim currently
everthing appears to work.
EDIT: 12-26-13 Dual sim working land line gone.
Got to work on battery drain, so far it's a power hog.

Wife doesn't like having to answer her business phone.
Has this belief Cell phones cause cancer...or...something.
House phone back in business [grrr]
Wants a simple cell phone.
HTC 8X put back into service.
S4 mini Duos goes to backup status.
Strategy worked well on paper.
Now a costly semi-failure. [cut cell phone carrier cost in half]