My super cheap dual sim cell phone setup

[dahlink]

As the title states, this setup requires a Dual SIM cell phone.

I don't make that many phone calls or texts on my phone. If you are in a similar situation, this might work for you.
I use one sim for data and another for voice and texts.

Here's the basics:

1 Dual SIM Phone (I'm using Honor 5x and Leeco S3 for my wife)
1 Freedompop sim for data
1 Lycamobile sim using pay as you $10 refills

Freedompop (ATT MVNO) - These guys suck. I don't deal with them directly. For a flat $8 SIM from an ebay seller I got:

200mb free plan +500mb from using their "friend" network
Unlimited Whatsapp data (I had to choose this from the seller) - Voice sucks in my rural area, YMMV
Never deal with Freedompop's BS gotcha charges

The cons:
- an ebay seller is managing an account in my Name. I am fine with this.
- Possibly a ToS breach

Lycamobile (T-Mobile MVNO) - Buy the SIM from Amazon for $0.01
Activate on their website or via the phone. (phone dial directions on their site and all over google)
Buy their $10 "international" recharge cards for their paygo plan (I don't buy directly)

  Here's the rates: Voice - .05 per min
                           SMS - .12 per text
                           Expiration: After 90 days on non-usage (basically, your balance won't expire if you're using it)


My costs are quite minimal. I can generally stretch a $10 card to about 5-6 months. Sometimes I find deals on the cards. For example, I recently got a $10 card for $8. Freedompop was a 1 time cost per sim.

*An important note*
this dual sim setup can only work because T-Mobile still supports 2G.
For example - Airvoice + Freedompop no longer works because ATT has dropped 2G

Just thought I'd share my current setup on this. I can't believe how low I've got this expense. Let me know if you got something better!

I wish I could manage my other expenses this well. I'll get there on day lol.

[Drole]

I'm looking at getting a dual sim phone for travels.....just curious how you like the phones themselves.

Honor 5x
Leeco S3

I'd rather not spend $500+ on the Samsung so I'm looking at some of their older models (J7) and some of the off-brand ones. 

[katsiki]

I'm looking at getting a dual sim phone for travels.....just curious how you like the phones themselves.

Honor 5x
Leeco S3

I'd rather not spend $500+ on the Samsung so I'm looking at some of their older models (J7) and some of the off-brand ones.

Samsung J7 is great.  Dual sim worked perfectly in Europe recently.

[Drole]

Thanks katsiki. I've ordered one...hopefully the one with the right 4g bands for my needs. It does seem to have some better features than even the s8.

[dahlink]

I'm looking at getting a dual sim phone for travels.....just curious how you like the phones themselves.

Honor 5x
Leeco S3

I'd rather not spend $500+ on the Samsung so I'm looking at some of their older models (J7) and some of the off-brand ones.

I actually have both those phones since I was able to get them very cheap. I put a custom rom on the Honor 5x and now have the Leeco S3 just running stock.

The Leeco S3 is a small step up from the 5x. I'll probably put a custom rom on it too since the folks at XDA seem to have it working.

1 kinda scary thing about these phones is that china appears to have been tampering with them during production for data collection...aka spying.

[malacca]

Yeah, I tried that Freedompop thing. They are plain old crooks! Wish I would have known about the Ebay connection. It would be with the $8!

[AlanAbroad]

1 kinda scary thing about these phones is that china appears to have been tampering with them during production for data collection...aka spying.

I hung out with a friend in Shanghai who had just attended some giant conference held in Beijing. It brought together something like 600 high level governmental participants from all over the world. Big security, a tour that including closing off part of the Great Wall for the attendees, etc.

Each participant was gifted...a brand new smartphone.

What could go wrong? :)

[Rosy]

1 kinda scary thing about these phones is that china appears to have been tampering with them during production for data collection...aka spying.

I hung out with a friend in Shanghai who had just attended some giant conference held in Beijing. It brought together something like 600 high level governmental participants from all over the world. Big security, a tour that including closing off part of the Great Wall for the attendees, etc.

Each participant was gifted...a brand new smartphone.

What could go wrong? :)

The pitfalls of our modern day world. Spy phones - I wonder if Cohen was ever gifted one of those:)

[$eneca$h]

The cons:
- an ebay seller is managing an account in my Name. I am fine with this.

Um, what? Explain?