TAKE TWO! ONE WILL BE BETTER. Advice especially for newbies.

rfranzq · **Thanks for the replies -** 05-02-2013, 00:41

Thanks for the replies. I thought we would get more than two, though.

snidely · 05-02-2013, 02:31

I'll add, belatedly, a reason for 2 SIMS as well as 2 phones.

Was in Vietnam a year ago and my T-Mobile (U.S.) Blackberry stopped working. Called CS and they said my SIM is dead because there was a limit of 100,000 "logins" to the system. I assume every time you disconnect and reconnect via going thru a tnnel or in a garage counted. Also counted jumping from GPRS, to EDGE, to 3G. I was told there was nothing they could do to reactivate my SIM. She said new SIMS don't have that limit. I was stuck using my wife's new Android - which also had T-Mobiles WiFi calling ability.
I now have a new SIM and got an extra virgin SIM (never activated). I also have at least 2 small unlocked dumb phones that I can put a card into. One of them has a Truphone SIM that I haven't used in a while, but still works.
Our next trip will be to China in April. I will get a Piranha SIM since they seem to have not only, by far the best voice rates, but good data rates as well.

Bottom line: 2 SIMS for my Blackberry. 2 dumbphones (Trufone, Piranha) Wife: An HTC Smartfone (Android).

powerlifter · 05-02-2013, 15:56

Let me say this. The use of international sims is of good use to some people. I have used the two international card system, and both cards I chose at the time were bad choices. One went out of business, and the other did not work as promised. So I went to local sim cards. I have a toll free number that is on my business card that clients can reach me anywhere in the world that I happen to be in. Since I am always there on business never pleasure the locals can call me without the cost of an international call for them. Since I travel to certain countries most of the time I just do a top up before I leave, and it is ready the next time I come to the country. For calls home there is Skype which I use every day. I am not saying that international sim cards are bad, but they are not for everyone. YMMV.

DRNewcomb · 05-02-2013, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely

Called CS and they said my SIM is dead because there was a limit of 100,000 "logins" to the system. I assume every time you disconnect and reconnect via going thru a tnnel or in a garage counted.

Long ago I read somewhere that a SIM had a limit on the number of power cycles due to some internal counter. It seemed like such a very large number that you could turn the phone off and on every day for your entire life before you reached the limit. I searched for this information recently but couldn't find anything.

	(#1)
rfranzq (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 774 Join Date: 21 Apr 2009 Country:	Thanks for the replies - 05-02-2013, 00:41 Thanks for the replies. I thought we would get more than two, though.

	(#2)
snidely (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 451 Join Date: 09 May 2005 Location: Berkeley, California and Miami Country:	05-02-2013, 02:31 I'll add, belatedly, a reason for 2 SIMS as well as 2 phones. Was in Vietnam a year ago and my T-Mobile (U.S.) Blackberry stopped working. Called CS and they said my SIM is dead because there was a limit of 100,000 "logins" to the system. I assume every time you disconnect and reconnect via going thru a tnnel or in a garage counted. Also counted jumping from GPRS, to EDGE, to 3G. I was told there was nothing they could do to reactivate my SIM. She said new SIMS don't have that limit. I was stuck using my wife's new Android - which also had T-Mobiles WiFi calling ability. I now have a new SIM and got an extra virgin SIM (never activated). I also have at least 2 small unlocked dumb phones that I can put a card into. One of them has a Truphone SIM that I haven't used in a while, but still works. Our next trip will be to China in April. I will get a Piranha SIM since they seem to have not only, by far the best voice rates, but good data rates as well. Bottom line: 2 SIMS for my Blackberry. 2 dumbphones (Trufone, Piranha) Wife: An HTC Smartfone (Android). Make use of T-M's UMA/wifi free calling from any place in the world with access to wifi. I use an LG G6, wife an S7) A/o Oct 20, 2013 no need for intl prepaid as T-Mobile U.S. includes voice roaming at 20¢/min (in and out)., unlimited text (in and out), and unlimited data in 140+ countries. My Plan -[6 lines] U.S. T-Mobile unlimited minutes (incoming and outgoing), unlimited text, fast data on each line. that $145/mo. total! . (In U.S. no surcharge for calling a cell.) If a line exceeds 2G of data in a month, pay $10 more for that line. [That only happens a couple times/year.

	(#3)
powerlifter (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 174 Join Date: 06 Jan 2005 Country:	05-02-2013, 15:56 Let me say this. The use of international sims is of good use to some people. I have used the two international card system, and both cards I chose at the time were bad choices. One went out of business, and the other did not work as promised. So I went to local sim cards. I have a toll free number that is on my business card that clients can reach me anywhere in the world that I happen to be in. Since I am always there on business never pleasure the locals can call me without the cost of an international call for them. Since I travel to certain countries most of the time I just do a top up before I leave, and it is ready the next time I come to the country. For calls home there is Skype which I use every day. I am not saying that international sim cards are bad, but they are not for everyone. YMMV. [size=1]Prepaid cards, Moldova Tempo, Kyrg Republic BiTel, India Hutch, Bulgaria Mtel, Vodafone, UK. Etisalat. UAE. Afghan Wireless, Afghanistan. Three, UK. T-mobile post-paid. Phones Gsm Iphone6+