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Can T-Mobile Really Distinguish Between SIM Card Usage in a Phone vs. a Router? (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi everyone,

I'm in a bit of a unique and challenging situation regarding internet access and would really appreciate some insights from this community.

I live in an area with limited internet options – no fiber and subpar 5G connectivity. The only available wired internet is via an outdated telephone line, offering a mere 2mb download speed, which is far from sufficient for my needs. My job involves sending and downloading large files regularly, often exceeding 100GB, so a fast and reliable internet connection is crucial.

Currently, I'm using T-Mobile's Mobile Unlimited plan on my phone, which gives me about 50mb download speed. It is called „L Nielimitowana” (I'm from Poland). It's manageable but not ideal, especially since I need to keep my phone constantly connected to my PC. This setup is far from ideal for my work.

I approached T-Mobile about a 5G router plan, but they informed me that they don't offer 5G router plans in areas with suboptimal connections to avoid providing unsatisfactory service. However, they did propose an alternative: getting a second SIM card with unlimited 5G internet at half the price of my current plan. But here's the catch – the representative and the contract clearly state that this SIM card will not work in a mobile router, only in phones.

This brings me to my main questions for you knowledgeable folks:

Is it true that T-Mobile (or other carriers) can distinguish if a SIM card is being used in a router instead of a phone? If so, how do they do it?

Are there any workarounds or specific types of routers that might bypass this limitation?

Having a router with this type of internet would be a game-changer for me, so any advice, insights, or experiences you can share would be immensely helpful.
Thanks in advance!

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

But here's the catch – the representative and the contract clearly state that this SIM card will not work in a mobile router, only in phones.

Try it, I bet it will work anyway (it does in the US)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I suspect this all boils down to commercial factors for the carrier, and this is triggered via the the amout of data you download.

If you are in the top few percentile of all plan users you will absolutely draw attention to yourself. I tend to believe that these sorts of scans are only performed against top abusers. Like small credit card fraud there is a an accepted cost built in because the cost of surveillance and correction can be much higher that the cost of the fraud itself.

If you just use a common about of data you may never have any issue becasue it takes resources to track and manage abusers, and if that user is within an average user profile it actually works against the carrier to cut you off because its just revenue.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It works until the vendor does a scan and shuts the SIM off for violation of the terms of service. It's happened more than once to a buddy the has bought this kind of solution from shady dealers that don't mention they are using a phone SIM.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Yes this is likely, which is why using a device that reports voice capabilties to the carrier (ideally a 2nd phone) as the modem is the safest way. The rest is sort of mid level TCP/IP networking fun. I've been running for 3 years with no issues this way.