Dumb Olde Pharte questions on burner/disposable phones

[230RN]

Looks like the ReadySIM cards are still available.  $15 for a 3 day, $20 for a 7 day or $55 for a 30 day.  Really not a bad monthly price for unlimited talk/text/4G compared to a lot of plans. 

Well, my own parameters were either "free" or a one time charge forever.  (I'm already only paying $12/month.)

Looks like the only "free' option is to drop the AARP connection and test the 911 function out somehow --hopefully with their permission.

[Firethorn]

Tell them you done goofed trying to call a 916 area code?

Just don't hang up on them, they have to follow up on that.

[Perd Hapley]

If I could use my old Nokia phone this way, how do you test for 911 calling capabilities without ticking the 911 operators off because  it isn't a real emergency?  Is "testing" 911 this way (sans a legitimate emergency) OK with them?

The whole point of a burner phone is that they can't trace it back to you. 

[Tallpine]

The whole point of a burner phone is that they can't trace it back to you. 

Be sure to watch with binoculars as they drive up and down the road looking for the source of the call 

[230RN]

As I mentioned, I'm not all that interested in security.  If I have an emergency, I sure as heck want them to know where I am.

The "need" for on-the-road calls to my sons to tell them I'm running late has only developed twice, and if push comes to shove, we can always use the 2M Mt. Thorodin repeater*, through which you can also dial a phone number, BTW.

A little "awkwarder," but do-able.

All in all, it's a question of separating need from want.

The only other cell phone call I ever made was to my LGS to see if something I ordered was in.  Saved me a re-routing of a trip to actually go there and find out.

So I'm starting to lean towards cutting off all cell phone service and relying on the 911 calling ability, which supposedly always works.

I think I'll charge up that old Nokia and check that out.

Terry

*
http://www.colcon.org/mt_thorodin_repeater.html

[Tallpine]

It's amazing how the pioneers made it all the way across the prairie to Oregon, when they didn't even have decent cell phone service west of St. Louis 

[KD5NRH]

Tell them you done goofed trying to call a 916 area code?

Yeah, ours still gets a ton of calls due to the university's 918 exchange.  They've resisted going to 10-digit for internal dialing, and some of them forget when they're off campus and still leave off the area code.

[Hawkmoon]

http://www.readysim.com/where-to-buy

Plenty of cash dealers all over the place.

Not for me. The only one that shows on the map when I enter my zip code is about 100 miles away (one way), and there's basically only one route to get there (unless I want to take a ferry). The drive would be about 3-1/2 hours each way.

On the other hand, Wal-Mart sells Tracfones ...

[Firethorn]

On the other hand, Wal-Mart sells Tracfones ...

Pay cash for one?  See what sort of registration they need.

As for Amazon and credit cards, you can now buy anonymous pre-paid visas via cash to break that trace, but they could still theoretically trace you via the IP address you purchase from and the address they deliver it to.

[Monkeyleg]

Pay cash for one?  See what sort of registration they need.

As for Amazon and credit cards, you can now buy anonymous pre-paid visas via cash to break that trace, but they could still theoretically trace you via the IP address you purchase from and the address they deliver it to.

I've tried buying the pre-paid cards with cash, but the stores I've tried require ID. Money Packs, which once could be bought anonymously with cash, can no longer be purchased.

[Triphammer]

Patriot Act at work. I tried buying a prepaid card a year ago & it had to be registered.

[RevDisk]

Look at "Trac-fone" when cellphones were new these were the affordable ones. Twenty dollar phone that came with 10 minutes. You can recharge by buying cards @ Wal-Mart or circle K & never have a name attached. Really expensive ( comparatively) for daily use but usable if you occasional or emergency communications. 

 The movie "burner phones" are the illegal black market cloned phones using someone else's account. Available as movie guns and just as realistic.

There's three kinds.

Simplest and best: Ayep, Trac-fone. Easiest way to go. And honestly, superior to cloned phones.

Cloning was trivial during AMPS/NAMPS. It's possible to clone GSM phones but more expensive. So, more realistic than movie guns a while ago. Years ago, it was very very popular for document challenged individuals wishing to call home to Latin America. Now it's pretty uncommon but possible.

The more modern burner phone is buying normal phone service with fake information and paying the bill with credit cards or check based on accounts with also fake information. Smarter way is to set up a corporate account, needs somewhat less amount faked personal information. If your lawyer fu is very good and you have a disturbing amount of money to blow, doesn't even have to be illegal/fake documentation if you loop the ownership of said company through foreign entities. Doesn't set off the flags that prepaid phones can do. Just more expensive because you need the background documentation. So long as the bill is paid, no one other than the feds will ever know anything about it. Even with the feds, can be a needle in a sea of needles.