Prepaid MiFi Plan To Turn iPad Into Cell Phone

I rarely use a cell phone, so long term contracts are not for me, but I would like to have a cell phone just in case I might need it. I had an at&t pay as you go plan, but let it expire because I went several months, maybe even close to a year without using it even though I added money every 3 months just to keep it going.


I purchased the iPod and iPad earlier this year, both with wi-fi connectivity only. I would like to use them outside my home to connect to the internet to play games and do occasional searches. I plan on getting a mi-fi prepaid plan for that reason but thought it would be great to kill two birds with one stone, thus, can I use the same mi-fi plan to connect a cell phone without having a separate prepaid plan for the phone?

And, if so, how does it work? This is where I get confused because, I think I would have to activate the phone to be able to use it. But doesn't activation require that I add minutes--pay money to activate it??? I hope I am making sense to someone, please help!

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Oct 11, 2012
 Don't Forget A Car Charger!
by: Anonymous

Don't forget that your MiFi will only last a few hours, so if you want access all day, you'll either need an inverter for your car, or a cigarette lighter charger for the modem.
Oct 11, 2012
 Using MiFi To Create A Mobile Phone
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

This is a fantastic and very relevant question. If all you want to do is make calls on occasion or for emergency, getting a phone (even prepaid) doesn’t seem worthwhile. You can buy a $30 prepaid phone with a carrier that lets you add $10 at a time with a 90 day expiry, and set it up on autopay. That would effectively give you a phone that you can maintain for $3.33 per month, and never have to worry about losing the account from non-use. HOWEVER, you still have to bring it with you (along with your other gadgets), maintain the battery, etc. So although the cost of that approach is almost negligible, the convenience factor may not be there for someone like you who’s already carrying around multiple devices. In other words, yes, I understand exactly what you’re talking about!

If you live in the U.S. (I assume you do), a great option to consider is using Google Voice. That allows you to get a phone number without having an account with a wireless carrier. You can give people that number, and even receive emails and text messages when you don’t even have a phone. Just download the iOS Google Voice app onto your iPad and iPod, login and you’re good to go.

Note that you’ll need to be connected to your prepaid MiFi device if you’re away from your home WiFi network (if you have one). You can set it to automatically connect to your devices in your WiFi settings. You can then use Google Voice to make phone calls using the Internet. So, no, you don’t need to activate another special prepaid wireless service, or add minutes, etc. Calling will be free to the U.S. and Canada, and you can add money to your Google account if you want to make inexpensive calls to other parts of the world.

Note that if people call your Google number, it won’t ring through to you, but rather it will go right to voicemail. If you have another phone number (landline or wireless), you can set it up to ring through to that phone, which is a nice feature.

Note that there are other services that allow you to make VoIP (Voice over IP; i.e. voice over Internet) calls; however, Google Voice is the only one with which I have personal experience. You can search the Apple Apps store to experiment with other options and determine which one best meets your needs.

Once you’re ready, check out the following page to select a no contract MiFi Plan.

I hope this has helped. Please circle back to let us know what you decided, and how things are working!

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