Universal Dual Sim

[Guest arcobelano]

Has anyone had experience of the Universal Dual Sim card adaptor that is currently on the market? The type where you cut down your existing sim cards to fit an adaptor.

I think this is the only way I am going to put two SIM's into a SPV E100.

Excellent site by the way it has helped me in my first footsteps as a Smartphone owner.

Thanks to many posts that I have read through, I managed to make my unit SIM free with no problem what so ever. Keep up the good work

[Guest mcwarre]

arcobelano,

Welcome to the site.

I have one but it knackered a SIM so be very, very careful.

[Guest arcobelano]

Thanks for the reply. I have ordered a cheap unit(£8) which hopefully will arrive this week and will take the upmost care when cutting the sims to fit. I take it thats where the danger lies. I am only using PAYG sims so if the worst happened they can be replaced.

Again many thanks for the warning of which I will take heed.

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To boldly go and really mess up

[Guest mcwarre]

I didn't have a problem with a couple of old SIMs just the new ones (look at the relative sizes of the actual chips on them). You will see that newer SIMs have an area bigger than older ones which means cutting through the chip which, on reflection, was bloody stupid of me!!!!

When you place the cutting template on if the chip is not entirely within the template DON'T CUT. Cos not only is the SIM knackered it costs you £20 for a new one :-(

[Guest arcobelano]

Hi Again

Many thanks for the advice, it does look like my new orange chip is a little larger than normal, so I will take heed of your warning.

Just a thought! if the chip is in a"cardboard sandwich" like most are, would it be possible to remove the top piece of card to reveal the chip first so you can see its actual outline before cutting. Or would doing this mess it up?

I'm trying to get both virgin(for cheap PAYG) and orange (for access to e-mails) on the same phone. I also use a Spanish SIM at times. Hopefully the resulting assembly that is made up can be changed to accept additional newtwork chips as required ( Not all at once of course)

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Measure 200 times cut once

[Guest mcwarre]

I wouldn't rmove the back layer of the sandwhich if I were you as it will possibly puell some of the chip with it.

I have an MPx200 and used this little beastie here. Yep it means that it is on the outside but this can be hidden with a case. Note that you don't need to switch the phone on and off to change SIMs just the airplane mode on / off. This method also doesn't involve breaking / cutting things so you don't mess up anything.

Let us know.....

[Guest arcobelano]

Your idea looks good and has given me food for thought. Didn't know about the aeroplane mode and its switching ability until now. Tested it with the SPV using my old Nokia dual sim back and it works a treat.

Might now be on lookout for triple sim back to adapt similar to your arrangement. The Universal sim currently on its way to me only cost £8 so no great loss if I don't use it. I will examine it when it arrives and then decide.

I must praise again this forum, there is such a wealth of knowledge in here, you just need patience to find it.

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Don't be afraid to try something new

[Guest arcobelano]

Hi

Got my bits ok; I an very tempted to give it a try as the dual sim fits quite nicely in the phone. However before I go a cutting I want to check out a couple of things first.

Non of the contact areas of my sims fit in the template area, but the chip underneath just does . Is there a problem cutting through this contact area provided that

a) You don't cut through the processor chip underneath

:) You don't short out the different contact points on the top metal PCB.

As far as I can see and from reading lots of accounts on the subject the top metal area has to be cut down to size even with some of the older chips.

When you "knackered a sim" was it by cutting the metal area on top or did you cut trough the actual chip?

[Guest mcwarre]

Through the metal area......

[Guest arcobelano]

Well what a "hairy experience".

After a great deal of deliberation and taking heed of all the advice given.

I took the plunge and did a bit of SIM cutting so that would fit my new Universal Dual Sim Holder.

The result a perfectly functional SPV E100 phone with two lines. One on Virgin for low cost calls and the other on Orange for access to the internet and e-mail. Both nicely switchable through the radio on/off switch.

Cost to date £99 for the phone and £8 for the Universal Dual Sim Holder.

Many thanks to Mcwarre for his advice, without which I would most certainly have knackered at least one SIM.

A few words of advise /warning to others who might want to go down this route.

1- DO NOT rely on the templates provide with the holder. Some SIMS are larger that others, not just the metal contact area but also the processor underneath is as well. If I had cut my Orange SIM with the template I would have knackered the SIM.

2- No problem cutting the metal contact area provided you are careful not to cut into the Processor underneath. I suggest not cutting with in 1mm of it. If you hold the sim at a slight angle you can just see the "ghost" outline of the processor.

3- Ensure that there are no burrs left which will short out between any adjacent contact area.

4- Because my Orange SIM was larger than required even after careful cutting, I had to modify the Universal SIM holder so that it would fit. It made the SIM assembly slightly longer than normal and it only just fitted into the holder between the hinges

5- Remember the SIM does not belong to you- Bear this in mind before you venture down this route- It belongs to the Cell Phone Company.

6- Because of the fairly flimsy nature of the resulting assembly and the fact it is quite tight in the holder, I would suggest that it is best left in the phone and not taken out regularly. Therefore not going to attempt adding a Spanish SIM

7- As I said it worked for me, but only after much care and attention- anyone trying this must make their own decision and take their own risks.

Special Note to Mcwarre - What if 3 Universal Dual SIM holders were fitted to your Triple SIM phone. Would it result in a 6 line phone- Food for thought!!!!1

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If you never try something once, you will never know if you are going to like it!

[Guest mcwarre]

arcobelano,

You have me thinking now! :)

I have a universal sim so I could put that in one of the triple sim holders and use normal sim's in the others. How tempted am I. (be a b*tch to keep track of which is which (apart from network)).

Let's have a competition. See how many SIMs you can have at once in a phone! :D

Just to add to all arcobelano's excellent points above.

8. Make sure that the sim pin (if on) is the same on all the cards as it makes life a lot easier.........

9. If you don't heed the advice in 8 and have different SIM pins the phone gets confused (as it doesn't like different sim pins) and you will lock your SIMs. Trust me I have done it! :oops: :oops:

[Guest arcobelano]

Thanks for advice on SIM pins, have now taken mine off! :wink:

Interesting debate on how many SIM's you could theoretically put on one phone (although I think I will stick at the two) If you used a series of Triple Ghost SIMS and set them up like the branches of a tree - Ignoring the fact that you wouldn't be able to take the phone anywhere to use it how many SIMS could the Smart Phone take? and still remain operational.

Or would it even work at all. Let me know if you get tempted and try the first stage as you described. :)

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Next Project??