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ACint24

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 13, 2011
47
0
Hi all,

I currently own an iPhone Plus which I use for my personal phone. I would like to buy a Galaxy Note 4 unlocked to use as a secondary work phone.

Would it be possible to just tether the note 4 to my iPhone and use it without a SIM card? I would use google voice for phone and SMS.

If not, how do others handle carrying two phones?
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
Yes you could likely do that using the hotspot feature of the iPhone. But not sure it's best way to go or reliable. You could just get a sim with data plan only and put that in the Note 4.
 

ACint24

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 13, 2011
47
0
Yes you could likely do that using the hotspot feature of the iPhone. But not sure it's best way to go or reliable. You could just get a sim with data plan only and put that in the Note 4.

How much would that cost? Right now I have a 30GB value share plan on AT&T with 2 phones on it.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
Question about carrying 2 Phones

I don't know I'm in Europe (Ireland). Here I can get a sim with data only (around 3gb) for €10 per month...

I just think using your iPhone continuously in hotspot mode is going to hammer the battery life on it, making getting through the day tough.
 

rhinosrcool

macrumors 68000
Sep 5, 2009
1,761
695
MN
On att, to add a device to your share plan costs $10/mo. You just share the data with your plan.That's for something like a tablet. However, I don't think you can do that with a phone. So, like the above poster, it's $15/mo which for me comes to $19.82/mo (counting taxes and fees). That's for the line only. How you pay for the phone is a separate matter.
 

Oohara

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2012
3,050
2,423
If you end up tethering a lot, I would put the sim in the Note 4 and use its hotspot instead (if that works with your plan ofc).

The wifi hotspot on my Note 2 is 100% reliable and can be toggled on/off directly from the home screen using a widget (Power Toggles). Whereas my iPhone 6 Plus hotspot likes to drop the connection every 10-20 minutes or so, and then I have to go into Settings to restart it, and have that settings page open with the screen on to establish a new connection.

Also the battery drain would be easier to manage on the Note 4. If your wifi regularly empties battery, just carry a spare one for an instantaneous full recharge when needed.
 

Dontazemebro

macrumors 68020
Jul 23, 2010
2,173
0
I dunno, somewhere in West Texas
Hey I've done that before with the Note 3/iPhone 5s combo even though both had separate lines, the poor radio signal in the Note would force me to use my 5s as a hotspot the whole day. Battery drains faster than a sieve .
 

spriter

macrumors 65816
May 13, 2004
1,460
586
Agree with the battery comments - whichever way around you do it, you'll be charging/changing batteries more than you'd like.

I tried a Note 4 on a 5S (I know, small battery) and the opposite way, and even with a spare battery, I eventually just got a separate data SIM. I do have the dual SIM Note 4 which helps in this regard.

Suppose it depends how often you'll be tethering and for how long.
 
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