Step 1: Get Another SIM Card
Last Friday I went down to my local T-Mobile shop and had my personal cellular plan converted to a family plan. Then I had them issue me a second SIM card, adding a new line to the plan. I told them that I’d use my old phone, an old Motorola Razr v3. I even brought it with me to the store. We used it to confirm that the SIM worked as expected.
A number of people in the VOIP user community have deployed this device already, some have even documented their efforts. Such prior art will no doubt help me get mine working also. Here are their notes: The VOIP wiki: http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Setup+MV-370+GSM+Gateway+with+Asterisk…
The postal carrier left a tag on Friday. The Portech GSM gateway will arrive this week. Sadly, I must to be out of town most of the week. Perhaps I'll be able to get started with it next weekend.
The other day I called my cellular carrier, T-Mobile. They tell me that I can convert my plan to a “family plan” and add another phone. Further, it’d be ok if I provided the phone myself, perhaps an old GSM phone that I haven’t used in a while. I have an old Razr sitting a drawer somewhere. But I have other plans for the hardware.
I have a huge number of minutes on my plan as I often use my cell for tech support work that can go for hours. Then this week the US cellular market is rocked by new offers of “unlimited” minutes for $99/mo. That’s what I presently pay for my 2500 minute plan. Might have to change that plan soon. This just makes me think that I really should go forward with a plan to add a SIP-GSM gateway to my Astlinux setup.