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Tablets that can be used like a phone

  • 9 February 2017
  • 12 replies
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frederickdawg

Are there any tablets folks have used that work like a phone to make and receive phone calls. Not talking about voip whatsapp or Hang outs or Skype.

Basically an LTE device fully functional with a in built dialer that one can insert and use their t mobile voice sim card into.

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Best answer by tmo_mike_c 16 February 2017, 20:36

Ah. That's kinda tricky because when we set up the tablets, the lines are created with plans that do not have voice capability included. So, even with a pre-installed or downloaded dialing app, trying to call from the tablet will result in an error message.

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tmo_mike_c
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Which tablet are you trying to use @frederickdawg? Do you already have a SIM with voice service that you're trying to test?

frederickdawg

Hi tmo_mike_c , I was asking to see what tablets with cellular capabilities would work like a phone on T Mobile, since I believe most tablets sold by network providers have that functionality disabled.

tmo_mike_c
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Ah. That's kinda tricky because when we set up the tablets, the lines are created with plans that do not have voice capability included. So, even with a pre-installed or downloaded dialing app, trying to call from the tablet will result in an error message.

L

Hi @tmo__mike_c,

Is voice capability disabled because of an FCC regulation?

I don't want to use my tablet in this way, per say, but if my cell phone battery ever died, I thought I could use the tablet for calls in case of emergency.

tmo_mike_c
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You brought up a good point. It's not a regulation but the plans we have for our tablets are more geared for data usage instead of voice services.

T

so if you used a sim card from a phone, wouldn't that be able to be used to make calls on a tablet?  Or am I missing something?

tmo_mike_c
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Does the tablet you're using have call capability? We have dedicated tablet plans but those service include messaging and data.

P

I use the tab s4 works great with any carrier tmobile a little tricky using digits a tmobile app. You have to tie your tablet sim number to your cell phone number as a digits line.  I think it costs me 10$/mon for the digits line.  You don't have to keep the devices in proximity either.  A lot of tablets can be used this way you just have to make sure they support tmobile bands for calls

bigapplegreg

https://www.plum-mobile.com/product-category/all-models/phabletstablets/ (Not that I've used any of them.)

M

Ah. That's kinda tricky because when we set up the tablets, the lines are created with plans that do not have voice capability included. So, even with a pre-installed or downloaded dialing app, trying to call from the tablet will result in an error message.

Hi Mike,

I know that this here is more than a year old, but I’m still dealing with the same question/issue. 

I have an additional line in my family plan, which I used with a smart phone before. I bought a Samsung tablet and wanted to make “normal” phone calls with it, but that doesn’t work. So when you setup the tablets, the NEW lines don’t have a voice capability included. What about a line, which I used already with a smart phone? So the moment I insert the sim card in a tablet, T-Mobile converts it to a “tablet line” - means you taking out the voice capability (blocking the voice capability)?

 

so if you used a sim card from a phone, wouldn't that be able to be used to make calls on a tablet?  Or am I missing something?

Does the tablet you're using have call capability? We have dedicated tablet plans but those service include messaging and data.

 

Well… in my opinion you didn’t answer the question from timmat1.

I don’t care about your dedicated tablet plans - I want to use the tablet as a big smart phone - with the line that had messaging and data and call capability in my phone before. 

The tablet I bought is an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Tab E 8.0 SM-T377T. It didn’t had the pre-installed standard dialing app on it. I installed the standard dialing app - hoping it would give me the call ability, but - No - I’m still not able to make calls.

The same unlocked tablet from At&T has the dialing app installed - as far as I know, but I didn’t had a chance to try that version with my t-mobile sim card.

So is just T-Mobile taking out the calling function on this t-mobile branded tablet version - or basically on ALL tablets?

So back to the original question: 
Is there any tablet, which I can use with T-Mobile - including the standard voice capability?

Thanks

M

Ah. That's kinda tricky because when we set up the tablets, the lines are created with plans that do not have voice capability included. So, even with a pre-installed or downloaded dialing app, trying to call from the tablet will result in an error message.

Hi Mike,

I know that this here is more than a year old, but I’m still dealing with the same question/issue. 

I have an additional line in my family plan, which I used with a smart phone before. I bought a Samsung tablet and wanted to make “normal” phone calls with it, but that doesn’t work. So when you setup the tablets, the NEW lines don’t have a voice capability included. What about a line, which I used already with a smart phone? So the moment I insert the sim card in a tablet, T-Mobile converts it to a “tablet line” - means you taking out the voice capability (blocking the voice capability)?

 

so if you used a sim card from a phone, wouldn't that be able to be used to make calls on a tablet?  Or am I missing something?

Does the tablet you're using have call capability? We have dedicated tablet plans but those service include messaging and data.

 

Well… in my opinion you didn’t answer the question from timmat1.

I don’t care about your dedicated tablet plans - I want to use the tablet as a big smart phone - with the line that had messaging and data and call capability in my phone before. 

The tablet I bought is an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Tab E 8.0 SM-T377T. It didn’t had the pre-installed standard dialing app on it. I installed the standard dialing app - hoping it would give me the call ability, but - No - I’m still not able to make calls.

The same unlocked tablet from At&T has the dialing app installed - as far as I know, but I didn’t had a chance to try that version with my t-mobile sim card.

So is just T-Mobile taking out the calling function on this t-mobile branded tablet version - or basically on ALL tablets?

So back to the original question: 
Is there any tablet, which I can use with T-Mobile - including the standard voice capability?

Thanks

Did data work?

N
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I read a lot, and what I’ve read on this seems to be a little rabbit warren of people agreeing that getting carriers to support Phablets as Real Mobility Devices is tilting at windmills, but that tethering a tablet to a phone (and a number of headsets) by bluetooth or WiFi or even USB cables is a world of possibilities and self-determination.

Wearing an arbitrary number of computers at once is a slightly different warren of long strange trips. Hey, all your outfits match if they’re all behind a giant  courier bag! Cool.

 

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