• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help Sim cards

S

Sionet

Newbie
When you insert a Sim card to use a Tablet like my Android Nexus as a Phone will it always include an Answerphone. Otherwise I presume I must install a suitable Google App.
 
Hi

Putting a SIM is a tablet allows you to use the tablet with mobile data, not as a phone. Tablets do not have the necessary hardware to be a "real" phone. But, you may be able to use apps such as hangouts for calls, just not over the gsm network. If you are in a country where google voice is available, I believe you should be able to get a phone number and use it as a phone over wifi or LTE.

Here is a link describing how to install and use whatsapp on a tablet (which has calls but requires the other person to have whatsapp too) https://www.androidpit.com/get-whatsapp-on-your-tablet
 
I am trying to prepare for the day if my Fibre broadband speed starts dropping again so that it will more reliable to use a tablet with Gmail and 4 G to access my site. I can already use Turbo FTP online. It seems therefore to stick to a simple mobile phone with another Sim card as I do now with an old Wooworths Alcatel mobile I rarely use.
 
I am baffled with your apparent claim inserting a SIM card in a Tablet only allows you to deal with Data and it cannot handle a Phone. Yet often use of a phone is referred to on my 7 inch Android Google Tablet such as when installing an APP. There are even apps claiming to install some sort of Answerphone.
 
Not sure why you are baffled... tablets will only work as a phone (with a sim card) If the hardware support supports voice calling. In general they don't...
 
Thanks so if I have a tablet that accepts a SIM card once I insert either a standard card or say 4G I should them be able to use it as Mobile phone as well as browse the Internet also up/download to my site and use email?
 
No...

If you have a tablet that accepts a sim card AND has the required hardware in it to support phone calling then (and only then) will you be able to use it as a phone.
 
A generic example would be an iPad 3G. It takes SIM cards but cannot do calls. I gather that several tablets launched in the US and Europe are similar. In Asia, the norm are tablets that can also do voice calls over SIM.
 
chanchan05 said:
Apart from what mikedt said, you have to nake sure that it works with your carrier. Unlike the rest of the world, US often uses different bands.
Click to expand...

That's a point, a cheap imported device like this and apparently the vendor is in the UK, it's not very likely to have the North American 3G and 4G LTE bands at all, definitely no CDMA. So you'll probably get 2G GSM/EDGE data plus phone calls, and that will be it. Many cheap Chinese phones don't either, unless they're specifically intended for sale and use in the US or Canada. These phone/tablets are most common here in China and Asia in general.

Another example of a definite data only tablet that I know of is the Verizon Ellipsis, supplied by them for exclusive use on their network only. We've had quite a few posts about them, and thats why I've heard of them.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom