SIM card in a tablet

[witch]

mrwITch has bought himself a 9 in phablet (says "mediatek" when it boots) but he cannot get the microSIM from his phone to work with it. He bought an adaptor but can still not get it to be detected in either SIM card slot. It seems to be quite a tight fit but still doesn't work.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

(no comments about the phablet please - I've probably said it all already )

[elsiegee40]

Which operator is the SIM for? Do they have a restriction stopping a voice sim from working in a tablet?

 

It is probably simpler just to use the phone as a personal hotspot so you don't have to transfer the sim.

Edited June 26, 2016 by elsiegee40

[witch]

You'd think so - but we couldn't get the hotspot thing working with either my phone or his and my tablet. His phone is Vodaphone. I will try mine though and see if it works

[elsiegee40]

Some operators don't allow Personal Hotspot. I was with Tesco and they didn't. Vodafone should be OK I would have thought

[witch]

hmm. I'm sure we are probably doing something really dumb

[Steve21]

Take it you don't have a pincode on the actual SIM card etc? Lot of cheaper tablets etc don't support unlocking them.

 

If it's a cheaper import from your comments I assume, is it definitely on the right frequencies for our SIMs? CDMA/GSM etc?

 

But other options from your comments, if it's a dual SIM one (again lets say of the cheaper foreign brands) not all networks will allow dual of the same IMEI etc so might need to change on of the slots in engineer mode.

 

Steve

[witch]

It is a dual SIM but he is only using one. He just wants to swap out his phone for this phablet for when we go on holiday. TBH using a phone as a hotspot with my tablet seemed the best idea but it just wouldnt work

[Arthur]

It is a dual SIM but he is only using one.

Did you try the sim card in both slots? Only one of them might be capable of 3G?

[witch]

Yes, sadly

[sted]

is it worth getting a cheap payg data only sim see if that works?

[witch]

Maybe. but the whole point was to use his data allowance whilst on holiday for maps, culture etc

[sted]

Maybe. but the whole point was to use his data allowance whilst on holiday for maps, culture etc

 

might still be cheaper to buy a local payg sim anyway depending on network

[Meldrew]

You're not putting the SIM card in upside down are you? To my embarrassment I did on my phone... it wasn't obvious, however.

 

Meldrew.

[witch]

He dug out his old phone and the sim is recognised. he thinks it might be an issue with the microsim in his new phone, he bought an adaptor but maybe that doesn't work properly?

[redwood]

Could it be a voltage issue? SIMS cards have over the years have come in a range of voltages 5V, 3.3V and 1.8V. Really old ones only did 5V later ones compatible with 5V and 3.3V and recent ones compatible with all three voltages.

[witch]

Right well what has happened now is that, with a bit of sellotape, the micro sim and adaptor are now recognised and he can make calls.

BUT he can't connect to the internet - could be a phone provider thing - but it is 3 not Vodafone (keep up, witch!!)