SIM Cloning

[Dee747]

I use an O2 Blackberry as my main mobile device.

I've now bought a car which has a built-in phone, and is looking for a SIM card to be installed. I could, of course, use a cheapie PAYG SIM (with another new phone number), but I'd prefer if possible to use a clone of my Blackberry SIM, so that folk calling me need only do so on my usual number. I just need it for calls (both inbound and outbound), not data. This would negate the need for me to keep opening up the Blackberry to remove/reinstall the SIM each time.

I'm aware of issues around prioritising which device would be the primary and which would be the secondary, and so on, but my queries really are -

1) Is it possible to clone (not backup) an O2 Blackberry SIM?
2) If it is possible (and my local O2 shop expert says no) where can I get it done?
3) For how much?

All assistance, especially from anyone who has done just this recently, is very welcome.

Thanks

Dee747

[G-CPTN]

Sim Cloning Guide - GSM Hacks (http://www.gsmhacks.com/forums/mobile-technologies/561-sim-cloning-guide.html)

[mixture]

Dee747,

:=

Do your homework. Google something along the lines of "sim cloning auc" and discover why you may be wasting your time attempting such hacks. They know all about it and are one step ahead of the game and have a wealth of countermeasures at their disposal.

(For the avoidance of doubt, I am using the word "hacks" in the broad sense of the term ... i.e. "mucking about" /"experimenting" etc. ... rather than in its media hyped negative "geek in a dark room" format).

[Aerouk]

You can't clone O2 SIM cards.

Not only that, but it's illegal under the Wireless Telephone Protection Act of 1998.

[Dee747]

Thanks for the posts guys. My car manual clearly implied that some network providers could do this, but there again it's a froggie car, so heaven knows what they can get away with there.

In no way is it important enough to warrant illegal acts just to satisfy my techie desires. I guess simply setting my Blackberry to forward any incoming calls to a PAYG SIM in the car's phone will suffice for while I'm driving.

I could always just carry on using my Bluetooth earpiece with the Blackberry anyway and ignore the onboard phone altogether. Seems such a waste though. :ugh:

Dee747

[Aerouk]

In places like Holland you can (I think) get a second SIM card no problem at all from the networks, but the way the networks work now it's impossible to do SIM clones.

[SyllogismCheck]

Vodafone certainly used to provide matching SIMs for this purpose and maybe still do. I used the system in a company Pug 407 a few years back but the phone was also provided by the company so I don't know much about the ins and outs of it, other than I was given two SIMs.

You could dial out from either SIM at any time but only receive calls on one, switching between them by dialing *131#, if I remember rightly. Of course you seldom remembered to do this, so got your first call after setting off in the car on your normal mobile, then switched over to the car phone, then you arrived home and didn't get any calls all evening as they were trying to get through to the now switched off carphone and piling up on your voicemail.

[BEagle]

It was once so simple - you just clicked your phone into the hands-free car kit...:\

Which is why so many business people are still loyal to their Nokia 6310i / CARK-91 combination, even though the phone has been out of production since 2005! In fact you will have to pay around £100 for a top quality refurbished Nokia 6310i from a specialist dealer and about £80 (less fitting) for the CARK-91.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/SLK/6310i.jpg

Phones that are phones and don't have all the i-Fad gadgetry are hard to find these days; as Jeremy Clarkson once wrote "Mobile phones seem to be designed for teenage girls these days".

Good old 6310i - batteries last for ever between charging, it seems, particularly if you use the car kit a lot. I met a Vulcan display pilot the other day who is now on his 4th Nokia 6310i mainly because of the ability to use it seamlessly in the car kit.

[Feline]

I had exactly that set up in a previous car - my service provider gave me a second SIM and set it up so that calls would be diverted to the second SIM. Could also make calls from the Car Phone which simply went onto my account. Only problem was that person being called would see an "unknown" number when receiving calls from the car phone - solved that by inhibiting display of number. Apart from that - it all worked reasonably well.
However - I now use Blue Tooth from my phone to the car - and that's a whole lot better. There is a short "Bleep" as the phone pairs with the in-car electronics when I get into the car (I don't have to do anything), and then any incoming call mutes the radio and puts the call onto in-car system.
The installer had to get a wiring adapter from (I think) BMW so that it interfaces with the audio buttons set into the steering wheel so that I can pick up an incoming call and "replace the handset" after the call without taking my hands off the wheel. I seem to remember that it will also store regularly used numbers, but being of a similar vintage to BEagle (!) (not being a "teen-aged girl" that is!) I haven't bothered to enable that feature.
The Blue Tooth system itself didn't come from BMW - it's made by Parrot.
Might be worth following up?
BTW - Don't have a Nokia phone (tried one but found the menu after menu after menu system too tiring) - Am using a Palm Treo. I think that most phones these days offer Blue Tooth (which could be a bit balky at one stage but seems straightforward enough these days).

[Dee747]

Both my father and my daughter have the Parrot kit fitted in their respective cars, and it does indeed work very well. I could of course do the same, but the car already has a complete phone system built into it (though sadly without any kind of integral Bluetooth functionality), and it pains me to not use it if it's there. I might check with the manufacturer to see if there has been any upgrade to it in the last couple of years (the car's a 2008 model) which could now incorporate Bluetooth.

Further relevant postings on the topic are still very welcome.

Dee747

[Keef]

I've had Bluetooth for the phone to the car sound system in the last ten or so cars. It's dead simple to use, no effort required - it switches over to "car" if I'm in the car with the ignition on, with no beeps or burps. It's Keef-proof!

The other "plus" is that the memsahib knows how to use it while I'm driving - press "Phone" button, enter the number to call on the radio keypad, press the green button, talk. Press the red button and the phone disconnects and the iPod/CD/radio comes back on.

Phone rings while driving? Press the button on the end of the indicator stalk, talk.