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Everything Related to Sim Cards

What is Duplicate SIM Card

Duplicate SIM Card

The functionality of a SIM card is to identify your device on a network, allow you to send and receive text messages and calls, give you a unique phone number, and more. A SIM card is the most important thing you need to have when you have a cell phone, and there are certain cases when you lose your SIM card or damage it accidentally. In such a situation, you have no other option but to obtain a duplicate SIM card from your mobile operator.

The process is simple—you just need to contact the customer support executive. Then, ask for a new SIM card, submit your required documents, and you will get your new SIM card with all your old data on it at a very nominal fee. This is a fair and legal way to obtain a SIM card duplicate.

But there is one more way to make a duplicate SIM card on your own. However, this practice is illegal in many countries, hence it is not recommended. This practice is called SIM cloning, and it is very helpful in certain cases, such as when you require a backup of your SIM card data. Remember, you will need to have the original SIM card with you to make a duplicate SIM card. Let’s learn in detail about what a duplicate SIM card is, and some other related aspects.

Is it possible to make a duplicate SIM card on your own?

Yes, you can create a SIM card duplicate yourself. There are three versions of SIM cards available in the market i.e., COMP128v1, COMP128v2, and COMP128v3. Out of all the three versions, only the first can be cloned, and the two others cannot. Although a SIM card can be cloned, there is no guarantee if two mobile phones can function properly with the cloned SIM card.

Rather than cloning the SIM card, the better alternative would be to get a “multiSIM”. It is legal, ethical, and many operators provide this system. It allows you to use up to 4 mobile phones with the same mobile number and that too at the same data rate simultaneously.  Vodafone UK is one such provider that provides a multiSIM system, but you will need to pay extra tariffs for this. There is one more problem with multiSIM. That is: all four mobile phones will start ringing at the same time when somebody calls you.

How to make a duplicate SIM card?

Creating a duplicate SIM card means having a SIM card different from the original SIM card that behaves identically to it. As we already mentioned, only the COMP128v1 version of SIM cards can be duplicated. Therefore, the steps given below are related to that version. First, you must know what you need for the process of SIM duplication, which is:

  1. A SIM card reader you can easily buy online.
  2. An empty SIM card also known as Wafer (also available online).
  3. Download and install a software named MagicSIM on your computer. The software is used to copy the SIM card data.

Now follow the steps given below to make the duplicate SIM card. 

  1. Call your mobile operator customer support executive and ask him for your SIM card’s security code. Provide him with your name and phone number for verification purposes.
  2. After receiving the code on your phone, go to Tools → Select the SIM card → Unlock SIM → enter the security code. Your SIM card will be unlocked.
  3. Remove the SIM card from your device and insert it into the card reader. Connect the card reader to the computer and open the MagicSIM software.
  4. On the MagicSIM window, click on the Read From The SIM Card option.
  5. Next, on the software toolbar, click on the Crack button.
  6. Select the Strong Mode option and then click the Start button. 
  7. While doing the 6th step, it will show you the KI number. Note it down.
  8. After that, click on File → Save As → name the file with a .dat extension.
  9. Wait for the process to complete. Until then, don’t remove the SIM card from the reader, otherwise the SIM card may get damaged.

Moving data to the new SIM card

The above steps have saved your original SIM card data on the computer. Now we will move to the next steps to copy all the saved data onto another SIM card.

  1. Remove the original SIM card from the card reader.
  2. Insert the empty SIM card/wafer and click on the Connect button on the MagicSIM software window.
  3. Select the Write To SIM option.
  4. It will ask you to select a .dat file. Select the .dat file you have saved in the previous steps and then click the Start button.
  5. When the process finishes, it will ask you to enter the security code.
  6. Enter the security code your mobile operator has provided you and then click the Finish button. The new duplicate SIM card is ready to use.

It is important to note that the SIM duplication process neither damages the original SIM card nor modifies anything on it.

What is KI and how to obtain it?

KI is the secret key that each SIM card possesses. It is 16 bytes in size and has 16 numbers ranging from 0 to 255. Its extraction is a complicated process and may take up to 8 hours. Once the KI is extracted, SIM duplication is possible. To extract the KI number, download a software on your computer named XSIM.

Conclusion

A duplicate SIM is quite useful if you use many mobile phones but don’t want to have different phone numbers for each. You may have different reasons to keep more than one smartphone, say, you are fond of them or want to offer them to your children to play games. The reason could be anything, but the solution is to keep duplicate SIM cards.

If you think you can obtain such a SIM card from the operator and start using your original SIM and the duplicate one concurrently, you are wrong. As soon as a duplicate SIM card is issued, the original one gets canceled. Hence, making a duplicate SIM card is more feasible but not recommended.