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Living without a SIM card

habd.as

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Re: Living without a SIM card

#11

Post by njitbew »

goblin89 wrote: post #10

> …it's the only thing which has prevented me from having to continually make international calls from a friends phone By relying on other people it is possible to do without many things. However, unless you have other ways of signaling sufficient status or wealth (such as being a digital nomad living abroad in a lower income country), people you continuously rely on for essentials might start treating you with a lit…

My sister’s former boyfriend used to carry a phone without a SIM. His mom ended up calling my sister or our landline to check up on her son. It was annoying AF.

Feel free to live off the grid, but please make sure you don’t leech off of those around you.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#12

Post by peterburkimsher »

I live without 3G on my phone, though I still have a SIM card for receiving "emergency" calls. I haven't topped it up though, so I can't call out.

It's been wonderful to make me focus on face to face conversations with people, rather than checking notifications all the time. I ask them to add me on Facebook, or make a note of their email address. If I can get online, I use mbasic.facebook.com with no ads, which loads quickly on an old phone.

My phone wakes me up with an alarm, but I'm not flooded with depressing Apple News first thing in the morning.

On the bus, I read books (the Bible and others, Edward Snowden's autobiography last year, currently The Shockwave Rider). I also browse offline Wikipedia (personally Wiki2Touch, but I've heard good things about Kiwix). I use Galileo Offline Maps with MOBAC-scraped tiles, without turn by turn directions.

Battery life is significantly better without 3G, and makes the old iPhone 4S quite usable.

Google Voice is often allowed for 2FA, and I use that when I need to receive SMS (e.g. TransferWise).

I could go without a SIM card entirely, but for the rare occasions when I do need to receive a call (e.g. I agree a place and time to meet someone, and they're late), then I still keep it in my phone.

It worries me to read that the US immigration department are using anonymised cell tower histories to trace people, but I don't know if removing the SIM card would solve that.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#13

Post by thaumasiotes »

njitbew wrote: post #11
goblin89 wrote: post #10

> …it's the only thing which has prevented me from having to continually make international calls from a friends phone By relying on other people it is possible to do without many things. However, unless you have other ways of signaling sufficient status or wealth (such as being a digital nomad living abroad in a lower income country), people you continuously rely on for essentials might start treating you with a lit…

My sister’s former boyfriend used to carry a phone without a SIM. His mom ended up calling my sister or our landline to check up on her son. It was annoying AF. Feel free to live off the grid, but please make sure you don’t leech off of those around you.

The example doesn't quite seem to connect to the moral. Maybe he didn't want his mom to call him. If a third party calls you to inquire about me, why is that my problem?

Re: Living without a SIM card

#14

Post by AdrianB1 »

valgeirg wrote: post #7

use tor, brave, vpn whatever. use prepaid unregistered sim. get online when you want, live :-) or just cut off you leg to fix your toe.

Getting a prepaid unregistered SIM is no longer possible in an increasing number of countries. I think most of Europe requires identification to buy a prepaid SIM.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#15

Post by paper-boat »

I've also tried going SIM-less for a few years. Wifi hotspots are frequently around you rarely find yourself in a situation needing a data plan.

But the main problem is 2FA many services force you to use now.

Going without a data plan is wonderful, but every now and then, having a couple minutes are SMS services is great.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#16

Post by [deleted] »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #13
njitbew wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sister’s former boyfriend used to carry a phone without a SIM. His mom ended up calling my sister or our landline to check up on her son. It was annoying AF. Feel free to live off the grid, but please make sure you don’t leech off of those around you.

The example doesn't quite seem to connect to the moral. Maybe he didn't want his mom to call him. If a third party calls you to inquire about me, why is that my problem?

[deleted]

Re: Living without a SIM card

#18

Post by wh1t3n01s3 »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #14
valgeirg wrote: post #7

use tor, brave, vpn whatever. use prepaid unregistered sim. get online when you want, live :-) or just cut off you leg to fix your toe.

Getting a prepaid unregistered SIM is no longer possible in an increasing number of countries. I think most of Europe requires identification to buy a prepaid SIM.

Have you ever heard of LycaMobile?

Re: Living without a SIM card

#19

Post by torh »

Without a SIM card it would be a lot harder to do my taxes, access my online bank, check my insurance, etc., because the SIM card is used to veriy my identity using a solution called BankID. (https://www.bankid.no/en/company/) It's a lot easier then the alternative with OTP codes, especially since BankID is now supported by a lot of different sites and services. From government, banking, phone companies, etc.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#20

Post by dmos62 »

I used a dumb phone until recently. It was only possible, because my partner's phone could fulfil both of our "smart" needs. It's not easy to get around that. If there's just 1 service that requires a smartphone that you can't do without, you have to get one.
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