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Do you have a tablet through a carrier?

I have a WiFi 10" tab (Asus Transformer TF700) and my GF has an LTE Nexus 7 on T-Mobile using their 200MB of free data each month. If my tablet could do mobile data, it would be on that plan as well.
 
Where I am all tablets are free of carriers, i.e. they're not locked, or subsidised or anything like that. Some of the carrier's larger stores do sell cellular enabled tablets, but there's no requirement to take their data services.

So what some might do is to buy 3G/4G enabled devices and put data enabled SIMs in them.
 
i recently got a 2012 nexus 7, wifi only and just tether it to my phone (unlimited data)
I dont even have home internet but the tethering works fine most of the time :)
 
I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro and my wife has a Galaxy Tab 3 7 in. Both are wifi only. Honestly, there would be no point of including them on our plan. It would be a waste of $10 every month. If I was ever out and wanted to connect to the internet on my tablet I could just put my phone, which I always have with me, in mobile hotspot mode. I guess that would make it so that I couldn't get calls at the time, but I'm sure there are ways around that. I just haven't looked.
 
Yeah you can still get calls, infact you can do everything on the phone while its a hotspot (apart from connect to wifi i think lol) :)
 
The tethering option is always a possibility, but I've never been a fan of it due to battery drainage the phone suffers. Plus no carrier here offers official unlimited tethering unless you still have unlimited on Verizon and sign up for the plan. I also am not a fan that though Sprint & T-Mobile offer unlimited unthrottled data on phones, they won't offer it on tablets.
 
I don't have a tablet, but there are a couple in the family. WiFi only.

If I bought one myself it would be WiFi only as well.
 
Yeah you can still get calls, infact you can do everything on the phone while its a hotspot (apart from connect to wifi i think lol) :)
Not on Verizon (CDMA).

The tethering option is always a possibility, but I've never been a fan of it due to battery drainage the phone suffers.
Yep, tethering really kills the battery.

If you anticipate needing some mobile data, the free 200MB from T-Mobile jhawkkw mentioned is a great deal.
This is what I use on the Nexus 7. :D

Both my mom and I have iPad with LTE (on Verizon prepaid) but they were bought from Apple Store so not exactly through carrier. Our phones are on AT&T Mobile Share which includes tethering but we both use our iPads in areas without free wi-fi quite often so having data built-in is just more convenient and less of a drain on the phone's battery. Heck, I often use the iPad as hotspot for my laptop. Another upside, with AT&T on the phones and Verizon on the iPad, we pretty much always have coverage. Oftentimes, we've had to rely on GPS and data on the iPad in areas without AT&T coverage so that's saved us quite a few times.
 
Sorry man. I sometimes forget things can be different in the US.
is there any reason why CDMA phones dont function fully while being used as a hotspot? :beer:
 
Sorry man. I sometimes forget things can be different in the US.
is there any reason why CDMA phones dont function fully while being used as a hotspot? :beer:

Most cdma phones don't support data and voice simultaneously over the cdma network. The are a very small handful that could, but most do not. It's not a problem if you're getting data over lte though because that keeps the cdma network free to receive calls.
 
...tethering really kills the battery.

Wi-Fi tethering is, but Bluetooth tethering barely puts a dent in my battery. The bandwidth is a lot lower, but depending on your need it may be sufficient.

Sorry man. I sometimes forget things can be different in the US.
is there any reason why CDMA phones dont function fully while being used as a hotspot? :beer:

CDMA can't do voice and data at the same time. I don't know the technical reason behind it. At one point AT&T (GSM) was using their ability to simultaneous voice and data in their marketing.
 
CDMA can't do voice and data at the same time. I don't know the technical reason behind it. At one point AT&T (GSM) was using their ability to simultaneous voice and data in their marketing.
Most phones can't, but certain phones in the past where able to due to having special radio hardware (SDVO). The most recent one I remember was the HTC Rezound on Verizon, though that is two years old. I don't think they make them anymore given how widespread their lte is on Verizon.
 
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