Stupid smartphone question incoming…

[Dylano]

For my home Internet I use 4g, no landline.

I have an unlimited data/calls/texts deal with SMARTY at £18 per month, using a WiFi router with the smarty sim in it connected to my Samsung tablet.

I've never owned a smartphone just a very old dumb phone on a VERY old (1996!) payg sim which I hardly use, hence I've never used my smarty sim and 4g router for anything other than data to my tablet.

My dumb question is if I buy an unlocked smartphone will I be able to make calls from it (at home) via the sim signal from the 4g router without my smarty sim card actually being in the phone? Or will I have to remove the sim from the router and put it in my smartphone to make and recieve calls?

[Alorotom]

Not a dumb question at all and I see the logic, but sadly you are correct, in order to use the number associated with the 4G sim in your router you would need to place it in your smartphone. Cheaper and easier to get a very very cheap sim package - plenty about for £4-5/mth

[Dylano]

Alorotom said:

Not a dumb question at all and I see the logic, but sadly you are correct, in order to use the number associated with the 4G sim in your router you would need to place it in your smartphone. Cheaper and easier to get a very very cheap sim package - plenty about for £4-5/mth

Thanks yes I suspected that was going to be my only option.

Even though £5 a month is nothing it's still a lot more than i currently spend, topping up my old payg card with £10 once every 6-8 months!

[Dylano]

EmailAddress said:

You may be able to WiFi call?

Can you link WhatsApp to a mobile and then use the router connection?

Do WiFi calls or WhatsApp link to my current mobile phone number?

The only real reason I need a mobile is to receive bloody annoying verification code texts when logging into various websites, banking, investments etc etc and they're all linked to my current number.

[Alorotom]

Dylano said:

EmailAddress said:

You may be able to WiFi call?

Can you link WhatsApp to a mobile and then use the router connection?

Do WiFi calls or WhatsApp link to my current mobile phone number?

The only real reason I need a mobile is to receive bloody annoying verification code texts when logging into various websites, banking, investments etc etc and they're all linked to my current number.

You would need to put the sim in the phone, set up WA etc. and then swap it back to the router - but you would be plagued with messages as the device would recognise there wasn't a sim present anymore

Verification messages wouldn't come through to WA etc. either, they almost exclusively come through as old-skool SMS so would still need the sim present

[Dylano]

Thanks again for further replies, seems like a cheap monthly deal is really my only option.

Bit annoying that I've already got unlimited calls and texts on my current deal but no real way of using them without faffing around constantly transferring the sim from router to phone and back again!

[Dylano]

EmailAddress said:

You don't need a mobile number for verification for the things you've mentioned.

Install the relevant application and authenticators. Use your email as your secondary factor.

I have done that numerous times but they still seem to insist on sending verification codes, especially if I haven't logged on to any particular one in a while

[Mammasaid]

Alorotom said:

You would need to put the sim in the phone, set up WA etc. and then swap it back to the router - but you would be plagued with messages as the device would recognise there wasn't a sim present anymore

Verification messages wouldn't come through to WA etc. either, they almost exclusively come through as old-skool SMS so would still need the sim present

If on Android, you can use https://messages.google.com to access SMS via a browser,

[Dylano]

EmailAddress said:

I'm not saying you're wrong.

But.

I've got multiple bank, credit, finance accounts. Hundreds of online accounts. House, car, insurance, bills etc etc. As has everyone I'm sure.

Beyond the apps, and authenticators, and email. None of them utilise my phone number.

I could choose to, sure. It took a bit of setup, sure.

The last time I had a text that I required, but hadn't selected was November 2021.

Well I've just quickly checked 2 of my bank accounts and neither seem to give the option for OTP's to be sent to an email address, only a mobile number.

[Mr-B]

Question for the OP, what router are you using? I am thinking of going down the 4g/5g only for internet access at home.

[LunarOne]

You don't need to worry whether it's an unlocked phone is you're not putting a SIM in it. There are numerous voice over IP (VOIP solutions that will give you a UK phone number. I use Voipfone to maintain a landline number that has been used by my family for decades, even though nobody lives in that geographic area any more. That way elderly relatives around the globe with the old number can still get in touch. Most of those are too old to have got on board with modern communications methods like Facetime/Whatsapp, so it also makes calling them abroad much cheaper than it might otherwise be. But it does cost a bit of money, which if you're spending, you might as well put towards a PAYG SIM card!

[Dylano]

Mr-B said:

Question for the OP, what router are you using? I am thinking of going down the 4g/5g only for internet access at home.

D-Link DWR 920

Been using it for 2 years now and generally been great bar a couple of occasions of slow Internet or failing to keep the signal, but I think that was to do with the signal from my ISP being temporarily disrupted rather than a problem with the router.

[Mr-B]

Thanks. Will have a look at those.

[ccr32]

Just trying to get back to the original requirement here - is it basically you are trying to find a way that you can use the inclusive minutes/texts that you get with what you are using for your broadband/wifi?

If so, then a slightly leftfield suggestion is that you could move to a contract/SIM that allows for "family sharing" of allowances - I think Sky do this. In principle, they would give you more than one SIM card on the same contract, meaning you can leave one in your router for data access for your broadband, and chuck the other in a phone to use for calls and texts, but only pay one bill for both. Port your existing mobile number over to the sim you use in your phone, and Robert's your mother's brother.

[Dylano]

EmailAddress said:

Apps and Authenticators.

Ah right, I thought I was doing well dragging myself into the 21st century recently by finally setting myself up with online banking etc but really I need to go a step further and do it via apps.

[Dylano]

ccr32 said:

Just trying to get back to the original requirement here - is it basically you are trying to find a way that you can use the inclusive minutes/texts that you get with what you are using for your broadband/wifi?

If so, then a slightly leftfield suggestion is that you could move to a contract/SIM that allows for "family sharing" of allowances - I think Sky do this. In principle, they would give you more than one SIM card on the same contract, meaning you can leave one in your router for data access for your broadband, and chuck the other in a phone to use for calls and texts, but only pay one bill for both. Port your existing mobile number over to the sim you use in your phone, and Robert's your mother's brother.

Yes more than one sim on the one contract is exactly what I require but SMARTY don't seem to do that, you can add additional sims to a contract with SMARTY but at an additional cost.

I'll have to look into other providers with family sharing plans although none seem to be as flexible or as good value as my current SMARTY plan at £18 per month for unlimited everything and no tie in, cancel anytime.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Dylano said:

Yes more than one sim on the one contract is exactly what I require but SMARTY don't seem to do that, you can add additional sims to a contract with SMARTY but at an additional cost.

I'll have to look into other providers with family sharing plans although none seem to be as flexible or as good value as my current SMARTY plan at £18 per month for unlimited everything and no tie in, cancel anytime.

For 95p per month you can do it

Smarty do a unlimited data / calls sim for £15 per month.
Lebara do a 1Gb data / unlimited calls / text sim for £3.95 (half price for 3 months)

Both are cancel any time deals, available on uSwitch -

https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_d...

[JamesMcd]

Dylano said:

The only real reason I need a mobile is to receive bloody annoying verification code texts when logging into various websites, banking, investments etc etc and they're all linked to my current number.

I used a Smarty SIM as a temporary internet connection recently, and I could send/receive text messages using my router's browser interface.

So if the only reason for putting the SIM into a real phone is to read text messages this may be a solution.

For your D-Link the instructions are on p43 of the manual.

https://media.dlink.eu/support/products/dwr/dwr-92...

[Dylano]

JamesMcd said:

I used a Smarty SIM as a temporary internet connection recently, and I could send/receive text messages using my router's browser interface.

So if the only reason for putting the SIM into a real phone is to read text messages this may be a solution.

For your D-Link the instructions are on p43 of the manual.

https://media.dlink.eu/support/products/dwr/dwr-92...

Thanks I'll have a look into that.

[Dylano]

Actually I have just possibly thought of a solution... if I use a smartphone as a hotspot for my home Internet access, then i can keep just keep the sim permanently in that for calls and texts?

Or is using a smartphone as a permanent 4g hotspot 24/7 not advisable? ie is it a very power hungry operation that will quickly burn the battery efficiency out?