How to create your own Micro SIM card using a chef knife and some scissors
By Vlad Savov 
posted May 6th 2010 8:42AM
posted May 6th 2010 8:42AM
[Thanks, Brandon]
posted May 6th 2010 8:42AM
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Yeah I agree. Get some esle to help do this. It's hard to pinch to zoom when you cut off most of your fingers.
*Get someone else to help do this.
But you guys get the idea. I can barely spell, so ALL of MY fingers would be gone if I attempted this.
@SNESimon Ask an adult to help you?
@SNESimon
But I think 2 fingers are enough. So you'll have 8 (in most cases) spare ones to practice on.
@SNESimon
I agree. Only a pro with years of training is able to distinguish between a sim card and a human finger. Lay people will just wonder 'what is that red stuff coming out of my sim card?'.
@LeJay
O lol'd. Why aren't you highly ranked yet?
Guys, there is a way to use microSIM card in every mobile phone, and not only in the Iphone 4 or Ipad! I heard there is a thing called micro sim adapter. Basically, you put your microSIM card inside it and use it in any phone. I googlesearched it and found it here: www.gomicrosim.com They say it costs 4.5 EUR. They also seem to offer the sticker guide to cut the regular simcard into the microsim. IMHO their price and quality is the best so far.
this is really sad.. we all pay for "unlimited" data plans for our cellphones why cant we use it with whatever device we want?
Itll be a cold day in hell when i sign up for another unlimited data plan just for 1 device. iv been tethering with sprint for years and i dont plan on stopping unless i have to.
@neeko18
you basically can.
you cut down your sim to micro sim for iPad use and then put it back into your cell with one of those nifty $7 adapters.
only problem is the fact that you can't receive cellphone calls during your iPad sessions ;)
@Fliesen
i understand that.. what sad is the fact you have to jump thru these hoops to use data you already pay for.
@neeko18
All you need is a phone that can rebroadcast your data signal via WiFi (iPhone + PDAnet). I don't know what the android/WebOS wifi tether program is, but buying a separate data plan is literally the most absurd thing I've heard of any smartphone user doing.
@neeko18
you're paying for "unlimited data" on this one contract, 1 contract - 1 working SIM :(. It's not "you" who gets the unlimited data, it's basically just your SIM.
if you want to have a 2nd car, you'll pay insurance for that aswell. :/
@Fliesen
I also don't buy "unlimited" insurance...
If I buy "unlimited data" I expect just that. Not unlimited to 5GB, not unlimited but limited to one device. You provide me with the ability to take in as much data as I can possibly consume, or you remove the word "unlimited". And drop the price.
@BigJayDogg3
this'll bring up the whole "it doesn't say 'all you can eat _HERE_' at the door" discussion though ;)
or the "i'll use the buffet" - "and you ma'am?" - "i'll have a plain plate and a glass of water, thank you" idea :P
you pay for your car to be insured, for your plate to be refilled, for your sim to suck 5gigs (or unlimited, depends on your plan) of data.
@neeko18
Just wait till US wireless providers end "unlimited data plans" and start charging by the byte. You'll be able to tether tether tether up the wazoo but you'll pay for it.
@neeko18
Because I will bet you that your Contract state "unlimited data for ONE device..." right?
So, you need to upgrade your plan to a twin-SIM plan.. if they have that option..
@chorx It is also PDAnet, which is was available for WinMo long before iPhones, think it works on Symbian too.
@Fliesen i understand the legal aspects of it. but iv been with Sprint for years and have tethered with 3 phones and have never had a problem with them. Hell one month i used it as my main line.
my problem is its 2010 and every carrier sells their 3G service and smartphones as so fast and media capable but doesnt want u actually using it for those purposes when they impose caps and force you to buy a seperate line for every device.
So they expect a person to pay for cell 3G, laptop 3G and ipad 3G? yeah ok, when all three offer u the same service and same limitations and none of them should be device specific.
@neeko18 the answer is simple. the laws don't require it. Until it is the law that companies have to have one plan for every capable device you own, they will nickel and dime you.
that said, the ATT thing is actually pretty sweet. No contract, I log in from home and set it up, use it the month I need it and then cut it. You can even use a prepaid credit card so long as it has the option to go online and 'register' it with a street address. I don't even have to put my real card number in.
way better than being locked into a contract for X months or pay a huge ETF.
@fourthletter It's available for jailbroken iPhones, Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and PalmOS.
So if the SIMs never had to be that large to begin with (if you can cut off the extra without losing any functionality), why weren't they just originally made the MicroSIM size?
@mr88
Because the grown-ups have bigger hands, and SIM cards are fiddly enough as it is?
@mr88 : A balance of ease-of-use and size. The original SIM card was the entire credit-card-sized smartcard, because it didn't need to be any smaller. Then it was decided that it needed to be smaller, so it was cut right down to just the chip itself plus a plastic segment to give you something other than the contacts to hold onto. Now we've finally reached the stage where that little bit of extra plastic isn't worth the space it takes up.
@bjs @sockatume
Fair enough, I guess. I have Verizon anyway so no SIM cards for me. I didn't think people really changed cards that frequently that it would be a major issue if it was small (I'd think people would change memory cards more frequently, and that hasn't stopped MicroSD from existing).
@mr88
I can't imagine being a CDMA user... in the past year, I've changed 3 different providers (3, T-Mobile, O2) and also been on holiday twice (used China Unicom and PCCW), so yes, people do change SIM cards.
Out of curiosity, how do you make phonecalls when you go on holiday?
@Hmm
Generally speaking, Americans don't leave the country as much as Europeans do.
Or at least that's what I was told.
And I still read China Unicorn.
@BigJayDogg3
... cannot ... unread ... unicorn ... ... haunts ... me !
@Hmm
I'm pretty sure CDMA is U.S. only so I would guess most people either don't leave the country, or get a disposable phone in the country they decide to visit.
Of course there are hybrid GSM/CDMA phones that people who travel internationally use, but most people have no need for them.
@Hmm
As others have pointed out, I don't leave the country that often. Most recently was last summer I went to Japan for two weeks, but at that time I had a BlackBerry which worked overseas. It was a vacation and not a business trip, so if I didn't have a world phone I probably would have just done without a phone for the two weeks, as hard as it would have been. 98% of my traveling happens within the US (and a majority of that even, is along the east coast, for what it's worth).
I'm surprised someone hasn't fabricated SIM to MicroSIM Cutting/Punch thingamajig
I see why Apple made the move to MicroSIM. It only made sense, and getting the extra space that the bigger SIM took, can make a whole amount of difference even if you don't realize it.
@blenderman345
the only funny part is that they made the move with the iPad and teardowns pretty much show that there was PLENTY of extra space anyways ;)
when it comes to phones, i agree though
If I did this the scissors would slip and go straight through the microchip.
Maybe this is the real reason all the networks over here in the UK like to give away so many “free” sim cards.
Has anyone tried this w/ success in the U.S. yet using an iPhone AT&T 3g SIM cut down to microSIM size? If so, what's the APN?
@LSUScott question is referencing unlocked iPhone SIMs of course, I've seen reports of it working on jailbroken iPhones...
...or you can just use one of those nifty adapters, so that you can still use your larger card.
@EPA2000
I meant use with other phones
I'm for tethering with MyWi on my iPhone and just buying an iPad without 3G. Keep the phone in your pocket, but still have 3G speeds on your wifi-only iPad.
@g00dni9ht Just not the front pocket... The heat MyWi generates may effect your sperm count...
@g00dni9ht
has anybody ever been caught for
using these jailbreak tethering apps? I see they are very popular, and pretty much the main reason (after multitasking was introduced in 4.0) to jailbreak... Only, it scares the hell outta me, because pay-as-you-go data rates on AT&T are nightmarish, and if they caught up with you and retroactively charged for even just a couple months of tethering, it could skyrocket your phone bill.
But if nobody ever gets caught, I might try it. I'd certainly use it for web browsing on an iPad if I had one.
I'm glad this is possible and everything, but weren't sim cards small enough to begin with?
@Karate Tortoise Of course, especially in a humungously sized phone you cant use to make phone calls. Apple still felt its a cool idea to pave the road for the telcos to your wallet with bullshit like this.
Ahhh... Apple sure loves to go "hey look everyone, we have the world's smallest ______!!"
Ususally you use a big ego to compensate for small things, but Apple is using small things to back up their big ego.
@Karate Tortoise No, they aren't small enough. Halving the size of the sim card in a modern phone is a fairly considerable amount of space, especially if you take into account that you are not only saving the space you have reduced the card but also the docking compartment that that card has to fit into.
These devices are fighting for space as it is so removing a piece of plastic from the internals that does nothing will go far I'd image.
The iPad won't benefit, but I imagine that was motivated by a desire to get Telcos prepared for the iPhone.
I wish it was still easy to clone a SIM card to use in a data only device. I don't have to pay to use multiple TVs on my cable account unless I want extra services, I don't have to pay per phone I put on my land line, I don't have to pay per computer to plug into my cable modem. Why pay more to use the same amount of bandwidth. I won't be using my iPad AND my iPhone data at the same time.
@icase81
well, you pay per 'land line', you pay per internet connection ('per modem')
the cellular equivalent is that you pay per SIM
and just because _you_ won't be using both at the same time doesn't mean noone would consider "sharing" one data plan.
@icase81
add the "car insurance" example to that .... you won't use both cars at the same time, you pay the insurance for both though.
@Fliesen
but you get a second car discount not full rate
@WizWithTheBone Strange because I was told you are. Greater risk if you have more than one car, and u dont mean it getting nicked. Some thing on the lines of how different each car gets driven.
@Fliesen
Car insurance is a lousy example, your car can suffer a total loss, and be parked in your garage. Also, insurance isn't a service in the same way that Internet, Telephone, and Cable are. I don't know about you, but I hope to never have to use my Auto and Homeowners insurance, on the other hand, I use my voice minutes, internet (wired and wireless), and cable (iptv) daily.