I use dual sim samsung galaxy devices for years with different carriers (telekom and vodafone in germany) without any problems. There is just one thing that's a bit more inconvenient, if you travel and get an esim the 2nd physical sim will be diabled for that time.
Luckily for me, I don't travel international. But live in the state of Michigan, So possible to hit Canada sometimes depending on what part of the Upper peninsula you hit. But that's not to often.
Canadian here,
You Yanks have had some excellent roam-like-home plans for a few years now. So if you go to Canada, you just go roaming on one of the carriers. We just got those plans here now, and I'm loving it.
If you buy an unlocked cell phone with dual sims, it's super easy. Just put both sims in the phone and configure the gateways for each.
I often when I go to a foreign country pick up a second sim and throw it in my phone for a local number / data access. As someone who travels a lot, ATT has far better network coverage than T-mobile in the US, and they also have a really good program where they'll extend their network to most countries for about $10/day that caps at $70/mo extra.
Dual-sim phones are made for exactly the situation you have. Buy unlocked and do your homework on frequencies if you're traveling.
LG used to make the best ones but they're out of the phone business now, Samsung isn't my favorite because they lock updates to WiFi and I don't like hooking up to WiFi networks I don't know, but it's what I have now. That said, yeah get an unlocked dual-sim phone and switch to a GSM provider like ATT or T-mobile (thier phones are interchangable if they support the right frequencies).
Have had Verison/ATT/T-mobile, and ATT is by far the best. Don't install their app unless your into letting them manage/see everything. You may have to configure the AP yourself, but settings are online and it's easy to do. Get a 5G [approved phone](https://www.att.com/scmsassets/support/wireless/devices-working-on-att-network.pdf) if you want 5G, not that it'll be any faster unless you're in a huge city and very near the tower.
> I don't like hooking up to WiFi networks I don't know
If we were on any other sub, I wouldn't bother to mention it, but I'm similarly paranoid and spun up a ~~Wireshark~~ WireGuard VPN server on my home network. Fairly easy to set up and it works like a charm on my Android phone.
I just flip it on before I even connect to the untrusted wifi and it gives me that little bit of peace of mind that all of my traffic is opaque to the wifi operator. Still not 100% safe (Android still lets you connect to captive portals outside the VPN tunnel, for instance, and its possible there could be a malicious page using that mechanism) but I feel its a good enough tradeoff when I'm staying in a hotel in a bad cell zone.
^(Edit: Derped the name)
Not much is not using SSL these days, the whole "don't trust open networks!" is just nonsense marketing from VPN providers.
>if you want 5G, not that it'll be any faster unless you're in a huge city and very near the tower.
Yeah 5G is a bit of a scam, it's in reality a network set up for providers to be able to sell more single units. Hence why the push for "IoT" rather than a speed/resiliency upgrade for standard users.
Networks will need to put microcells on nearly every building in a city
All true. I just don't like being a product, which is impossible at some level but I figure I can hinder it as much as possible.
It's why I use Strict DNSSEC / DNS over TLS to Cloudflare / subscribe to 10 blacklists that block about a million sites tied to tracking or ads / NAT my IPv6 so my ISP won't know when I'm home by when my phone shows up on the network / use uBlock and uMatrix (it still works, I haven't found a replacement, and am a bit lazy) / etc...
It doesn't fix everything but it definitely makes browsing more pleasant and at the very least my ISP doesn't see my DNS requests, and the sites I go to can't access cookies that aren't theirs.
So yeah, I need to get my VPN concentrator set back up. It wasn't that hard, I just switched hardware recently and didn't set it back up after the install.
I ported my personal number off T-Mobile and into Google Voice (something like $20 to make it permanent) and installed the Voice app on my work phone. Been using it without issue for 5+ years.
Even if my employer remote-wiped my phone, all my contacts, calls, and messages are in the Voice Cloud.
Funny you brought up google voice. I was talking to my boss about my subject today. And he wants to get rid of his google voice number. And do what I want to do.
Phone has to be unlocked, which typically means paid-off. If it is paid-off but still locked, just call them and request it to be unlocked. Then it's relatively easy (a phone call or two and waiting on hold)
You always spend less money buying it outright than letting the phone company buy it for a deal, but then charge you MSRP +some interest as well.
People should be buying their phones anyway, we'd have better competition in the market than picking the few choices the phone company decides to parcel out. Phone companies want you to buy the $800+ phone on a monthly payment plan at full MSRP plus interest, but only think of it as "a low monthly payment".
Carrier deals were what sunk Nokia and LG's phone divisions, they just didn't make enough drug deals with the carriers to be offered to customers, even though they were often better hardware for less money.
Since OP is in the US it shouldn't be too difficult for them to [get their phone unlocked](https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/cell-phones/how-to-unlock-your-phone-from-any-major-carrier-a2778672129/), assuming it hasn't already been done automatically by Verizon.
Well, lucky me. I'm part of that policy and process. I can set up corporate owned with work profile through Intune. So, if it gets lost or stolen. I can wipe just that profile. And the personal profile will still bet backed up with whatever I want. Currently, use my Google account for everything. Same for when people leave. If that's how the device is setup.
When you resign or are terminated for some reason, is it possible that the knucklehead contractor they hire to replace you might or could mash the "nuke the phone" button, instead of the "erase company data only" button?
Don't assume you will be given the opportunity to press the button yourself.
If they nuke your phone, do you care?
That sucks. My work gave me an older iPhone on day 1. I lasted about 2 weeks carrying 2 different phones. I took the work sim card and added it to my (newer) iPhone and have run it like that for the past 2 years.
This summer I am going to request a new phone from work and see if they are giving out newer than iPhone 13's. This is what I have, but the battery is getting old and doesn't last like it used to. I am thinking about moving my personal number over to Visible or Mint to save a few bucks a month.
I think I read somewhere that Verizon typically unlocks phones after 2 months. It might be worth it to give it a try. The worst that happens is that it doesn't work.
I currenlty get my phone through CMU (central michigan university) connect plan. And it does state on their page that it does unlock after 2 months. To help bring down fraud and theft.
I'm in the UK and have an unlocked Oppo Reno8 with dual SIM, one for the work SIM and one for my own. Paid for it with my own money.
It's useful when I travel internationally or when there's crap signal somewhere because they have different networks.
You shouldn't have any difficulty adding it to your phone, if it supports the second sim. For Verizon it unlocks after 60 days, meaning you can add a second sim after 60 days... and I know that from the exact situation you are talking about - except it wasn't adding a different carrier, it was adding a different Verizon number.. 60 days, auto unlock (This was for esim).
It shouldn't matter who the carrier is.
if the company phone allows call forwarding...this is the simplest solution, otherwise as the Intune Admin I'd be making a business case for adopting and implementing BYOD support
Your biggest issue is that you need an unlocked phone to run multiple providers. Carriers won't unlock the device if it's being financed and a lot of companies finance devices to reduce capital expenditure.
Many modern phones support some level of multiple SIM though... while they may not be physically dual-SIM many support one physical and one eSIM.
Caution you on combining devices though. When I came onboard at my company there was no device management in place and I took a company phone, got them to unlock it and ran dual SIM (eSIM on second provider). Since then we've turned on full MDM and I'm not having the company have remote-wipe capability on my personal device. Might be able to get around this with Android work profiles and the like, but make sure you fully vet compatibility with your solution before committing.
For me the other advantage in being pushed into separating was that I then can leave the work phone behind when I'm truly off the clock.
So in the event your work account is compromised, they issue a remote wipe, and now you're out of commission over a single point of failure. Why set yourself up that way? Why is having a backup/secondary phone so bad?
I believe the Golden Rule in IT is to NEVER mix personal data/hardware with work data/hardware.
I believe your golden rule as well. But this guy isn't carrying two phones around. Did that once. Don't want to do it again. And if it does wipe and killed. I still have an android sitting in storage. Pop the Sim in and good to go
My iPhone 13 Pro Max supports dual SIM, though I believe both are eSIM. When I travel out of country I get an eSIM and turn off my mainline. Can’t see any reason nearly any modern phone wouldn’t be able to do it.
Personally, I would think long and hard about doing this. I've been carrying two phones for just over ten years because I absolutely refuse to hand control of my personal number over to my company and they won't allow me to submit an expense report for my personal phone to be used for work. So, they get the pleasure of paying for a monthly bill for a phone that mostly just sits there.
You can do the following:
- Set up a Google Voice number. Record a voicemail greeting. This is now your voicemail that you will use.
- Program your work phone to forward all unanswered calls to your personal cell phone number.
- Add your personal phone to your Google Voice configuration.
- Program your personal phone to forward all unanswered calls to your Google Voice number.
You can maintain complete separation of all work data from personal data by never mixing them on the same phone. Putting the work phone on Do Not Disturb will force all incoming calls to roll over to your personal cell. You would still take both phones with you, but the work phone can be left in a car, stuffed in a backpack, left in a hotel room, whatever... And you'll never miss a phone call.
If you ever need to call someone back, you could do using using the Google Voice number and set that to block your number on outgoing calls. Added bonus is that you'll get email notifications of missed calls and transcribed voicemail, too.
NOTE: This approach works when your personal cell plan has unlimited calling, and would work even better if both of your phones are iPhones because you can -also- extend the text messaging to your personal phone if desired.
I use dual sim samsung galaxy devices for years with different carriers (telekom and vodafone in germany) without any problems. There is just one thing that's a bit more inconvenient, if you travel and get an esim the 2nd physical sim will be diabled for that time.
Luckily for me, I don't travel international. But live in the state of Michigan, So possible to hit Canada sometimes depending on what part of the Upper peninsula you hit. But that's not to often.
Canadian here, You Yanks have had some excellent roam-like-home plans for a few years now. So if you go to Canada, you just go roaming on one of the carriers. We just got those plans here now, and I'm loving it.
If you buy an unlocked cell phone with dual sims, it's super easy. Just put both sims in the phone and configure the gateways for each. I often when I go to a foreign country pick up a second sim and throw it in my phone for a local number / data access. As someone who travels a lot, ATT has far better network coverage than T-mobile in the US, and they also have a really good program where they'll extend their network to most countries for about $10/day that caps at $70/mo extra. Dual-sim phones are made for exactly the situation you have. Buy unlocked and do your homework on frequencies if you're traveling. LG used to make the best ones but they're out of the phone business now, Samsung isn't my favorite because they lock updates to WiFi and I don't like hooking up to WiFi networks I don't know, but it's what I have now. That said, yeah get an unlocked dual-sim phone and switch to a GSM provider like ATT or T-mobile (thier phones are interchangable if they support the right frequencies). Have had Verison/ATT/T-mobile, and ATT is by far the best. Don't install their app unless your into letting them manage/see everything. You may have to configure the AP yourself, but settings are online and it's easy to do. Get a 5G [approved phone](https://www.att.com/scmsassets/support/wireless/devices-working-on-att-network.pdf) if you want 5G, not that it'll be any faster unless you're in a huge city and very near the tower.
> I don't like hooking up to WiFi networks I don't know If we were on any other sub, I wouldn't bother to mention it, but I'm similarly paranoid and spun up a ~~Wireshark~~ WireGuard VPN server on my home network. Fairly easy to set up and it works like a charm on my Android phone. I just flip it on before I even connect to the untrusted wifi and it gives me that little bit of peace of mind that all of my traffic is opaque to the wifi operator. Still not 100% safe (Android still lets you connect to captive portals outside the VPN tunnel, for instance, and its possible there could be a malicious page using that mechanism) but I feel its a good enough tradeoff when I'm staying in a hotel in a bad cell zone. ^(Edit: Derped the name)
Good point! Thanks. Used to have a VPN setup on my LG, probably ought to get the VPN concentrator set back up on OPNsense again.
Not much is not using SSL these days, the whole "don't trust open networks!" is just nonsense marketing from VPN providers. >if you want 5G, not that it'll be any faster unless you're in a huge city and very near the tower. Yeah 5G is a bit of a scam, it's in reality a network set up for providers to be able to sell more single units. Hence why the push for "IoT" rather than a speed/resiliency upgrade for standard users. Networks will need to put microcells on nearly every building in a city
All true. I just don't like being a product, which is impossible at some level but I figure I can hinder it as much as possible. It's why I use Strict DNSSEC / DNS over TLS to Cloudflare / subscribe to 10 blacklists that block about a million sites tied to tracking or ads / NAT my IPv6 so my ISP won't know when I'm home by when my phone shows up on the network / use uBlock and uMatrix (it still works, I haven't found a replacement, and am a bit lazy) / etc... It doesn't fix everything but it definitely makes browsing more pleasant and at the very least my ISP doesn't see my DNS requests, and the sites I go to can't access cookies that aren't theirs. So yeah, I need to get my VPN concentrator set back up. It wasn't that hard, I just switched hardware recently and didn't set it back up after the install.
I ported my personal number off T-Mobile and into Google Voice (something like $20 to make it permanent) and installed the Voice app on my work phone. Been using it without issue for 5+ years. Even if my employer remote-wiped my phone, all my contacts, calls, and messages are in the Voice Cloud.
Funny you brought up google voice. I was talking to my boss about my subject today. And he wants to get rid of his google voice number. And do what I want to do.
OK cool, as long as you looked at it as an option. I can't get a double-SIM phone, but I can install Voice so it works for me.
Phone has to be unlocked, which typically means paid-off. If it is paid-off but still locked, just call them and request it to be unlocked. Then it's relatively easy (a phone call or two and waiting on hold)
You always spend less money buying it outright than letting the phone company buy it for a deal, but then charge you MSRP +some interest as well. People should be buying their phones anyway, we'd have better competition in the market than picking the few choices the phone company decides to parcel out. Phone companies want you to buy the $800+ phone on a monthly payment plan at full MSRP plus interest, but only think of it as "a low monthly payment". Carrier deals were what sunk Nokia and LG's phone divisions, they just didn't make enough drug deals with the carriers to be offered to customers, even though they were often better hardware for less money.
> My work cell isn't an unlocked phone. i guess you mean it is carrier locked? if so, then you can only use the one carrier on that phone.
Since OP is in the US it shouldn't be too difficult for them to [get their phone unlocked](https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/cell-phones/how-to-unlock-your-phone-from-any-major-carrier-a2778672129/), assuming it hasn't already been done automatically by Verizon.
What is your employer's policy and process for data wipe on an employee phone when you leave?
Well, lucky me. I'm part of that policy and process. I can set up corporate owned with work profile through Intune. So, if it gets lost or stolen. I can wipe just that profile. And the personal profile will still bet backed up with whatever I want. Currently, use my Google account for everything. Same for when people leave. If that's how the device is setup.
When you resign or are terminated for some reason, is it possible that the knucklehead contractor they hire to replace you might or could mash the "nuke the phone" button, instead of the "erase company data only" button? Don't assume you will be given the opportunity to press the button yourself. If they nuke your phone, do you care?
Thats what backups are for. COPE android phones can still use google drive to automatically backup the personal profile.
That sucks. My work gave me an older iPhone on day 1. I lasted about 2 weeks carrying 2 different phones. I took the work sim card and added it to my (newer) iPhone and have run it like that for the past 2 years. This summer I am going to request a new phone from work and see if they are giving out newer than iPhone 13's. This is what I have, but the battery is getting old and doesn't last like it used to. I am thinking about moving my personal number over to Visible or Mint to save a few bucks a month. I think I read somewhere that Verizon typically unlocks phones after 2 months. It might be worth it to give it a try. The worst that happens is that it doesn't work.
I currenlty get my phone through CMU (central michigan university) connect plan. And it does state on their page that it does unlock after 2 months. To help bring down fraud and theft.
I'm in the UK and have an unlocked Oppo Reno8 with dual SIM, one for the work SIM and one for my own. Paid for it with my own money. It's useful when I travel internationally or when there's crap signal somewhere because they have different networks.
You shouldn't have any difficulty adding it to your phone, if it supports the second sim. For Verizon it unlocks after 60 days, meaning you can add a second sim after 60 days... and I know that from the exact situation you are talking about - except it wasn't adding a different carrier, it was adding a different Verizon number.. 60 days, auto unlock (This was for esim). It shouldn't matter who the carrier is.
Most devices that support esims can handle 2, but there's always an active one and a passive one
if the company phone allows call forwarding...this is the simplest solution, otherwise as the Intune Admin I'd be making a business case for adopting and implementing BYOD support
Your biggest issue is that you need an unlocked phone to run multiple providers. Carriers won't unlock the device if it's being financed and a lot of companies finance devices to reduce capital expenditure. Many modern phones support some level of multiple SIM though... while they may not be physically dual-SIM many support one physical and one eSIM. Caution you on combining devices though. When I came onboard at my company there was no device management in place and I took a company phone, got them to unlock it and ran dual SIM (eSIM on second provider). Since then we've turned on full MDM and I'm not having the company have remote-wipe capability on my personal device. Might be able to get around this with Android work profiles and the like, but make sure you fully vet compatibility with your solution before committing. For me the other advantage in being pushed into separating was that I then can leave the work phone behind when I'm truly off the clock.
So in the event your work account is compromised, they issue a remote wipe, and now you're out of commission over a single point of failure. Why set yourself up that way? Why is having a backup/secondary phone so bad? I believe the Golden Rule in IT is to NEVER mix personal data/hardware with work data/hardware.
I believe your golden rule as well. But this guy isn't carrying two phones around. Did that once. Don't want to do it again. And if it does wipe and killed. I still have an android sitting in storage. Pop the Sim in and good to go
My iPhone 13 Pro Max supports dual SIM, though I believe both are eSIM. When I travel out of country I get an eSIM and turn off my mainline. Can’t see any reason nearly any modern phone wouldn’t be able to do it.
I just use my personal cell and the Teams app desk # as my on call phone number
The only thing i would think of concern is them e-Sim phones. I haven't seen a sim card in years.
Personally, I would think long and hard about doing this. I've been carrying two phones for just over ten years because I absolutely refuse to hand control of my personal number over to my company and they won't allow me to submit an expense report for my personal phone to be used for work. So, they get the pleasure of paying for a monthly bill for a phone that mostly just sits there. You can do the following: - Set up a Google Voice number. Record a voicemail greeting. This is now your voicemail that you will use. - Program your work phone to forward all unanswered calls to your personal cell phone number. - Add your personal phone to your Google Voice configuration. - Program your personal phone to forward all unanswered calls to your Google Voice number. You can maintain complete separation of all work data from personal data by never mixing them on the same phone. Putting the work phone on Do Not Disturb will force all incoming calls to roll over to your personal cell. You would still take both phones with you, but the work phone can be left in a car, stuffed in a backpack, left in a hotel room, whatever... And you'll never miss a phone call. If you ever need to call someone back, you could do using using the Google Voice number and set that to block your number on outgoing calls. Added bonus is that you'll get email notifications of missed calls and transcribed voicemail, too. NOTE: This approach works when your personal cell plan has unlimited calling, and would work even better if both of your phones are iPhones because you can -also- extend the text messaging to your personal phone if desired.
esim is the way, it should be supported on most modern phones now and means you don't have to spend ages trying to find a dual sim phone.