Those used to be things in the early 2000's; cellular cards with sims that went into a PCI slot. Surely they still exist?
this post was submitted on 03 May 2025
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At least in Finland we had USB cellular data adapters (I belive that's the full term) back in the 3G/maybe early 4G days. I haven't checked if they're still a thing.
(Never had one myself. Got a WiFi dongle instead because the city had a decent municipal WiFi coverage.)
I had one in 2010 in Germany. Was basically a UMTS modem plus some really shitty phone software
That is absolutely an option, you can spec out multiple laptops with cellular radios. It isn't standard because it costs extra and most people aren't going to pay an additional bill for another cell line. Typically they're more common to enterprise environments with people out in the field a lot.
Hotspots are probably still the more common option though, at least in my experience.
I really wish you could buy sim cards in like, packs of 2-3 and have multiple sims for your devices using the same plan / line.
So your phone, laptop, tablet, etc can all share the same data and potentially voice/text service if they have the right software.
I've seen this for data sharing between different cell plans before (2 numbers 1 data plan) and I've seen it as a $10 add on to an existing line, but you always had to be paying for 2 things (extra line or small monthy fee)
This is why I just use my phone's hotspot.
I do, too, but it is quite taxing on the battery, which sucks.
Just plug it in to the laptop? Surely the laptop has USB ports?
Don't really get why we have an argument here. It would be way more ergonomic to just use mobile data instead of having to
- take your phone
- turn hotspot on
- bring your charging cable (and don't forget it)
If you're in a train, for example, space is sparse so now you'd additionally need to put your phone somewhere.
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Because most people don't need it.
My old Thinkpads and even my first iPad had SIM slots. I kinda miss that as it’d be much more handy now. LTE and the precursors were painful to use at the time.
My new(ish) IdeaPad had the SIM option, but it was like 160 euros, and using my phone costs 0 euros.
You would need a massive pocket
Because it costs extra for little benefit. LTE was a choice for my notebook. I just set my phone to wifi tether, saved me $200.
Edit: or did you mean being able to make calls from your computer? I looked into this a while ago, since digitized call processing is just VOIP on a large scale. In my country at least, the providers only sell whole packages of numbers, usually to companies where you can rent one for use with your run-of-the-mill VOIP software. Of course it's nonetheless thightly regulated, because of regional and limited numbers and against abuse.
There are different cellular networks and frequencies in different places so computer manufacturers can't pick one module and expect it to work everywhere. If you're paying for service, you'll want to get the most out of it by having a modem that's up to date and maximally compatible with the network. So it makes sense to get a plugin device or a WiFi mobile hotspot from your carrier. A WiFi mobile hotspot can additionally be used with other devices.
Also mobile network hardware updates at a decent pace so it's nice to be able to update those single purpose devices at their own pace independent of your laptop upgrade.
And then carrier and FCC certification are an extra hassle for laptop makers.
Localized parts are really a thing for electronics. (See keyboards)
I know Dell offers optional cell capabilities in some models. Just like the heated steering wheel in a car, this usually is an option you want to get at purchase. Expansion slots can offer the same capabilities.
One thing about having a computer on a mobile connection that's not as great as you might think: it's easy for something like a software update to blow through a ton of data and cost a lot of money.
Something like a removable "mobile chip" for a laptop could address this problem. Framework could probably pull it off, but I don't know if the market incentives it.
Framework already released the specification for the add-ons. So some other folk can also make it if they want.
Because most places you'd use it already has free WiFi (home, office, train, coffee shop, etc), and everywhere else you can just tether from the phone, so there's no point paying a separate bill just for the laptop.
But you can still get a laptop with lte, it's an option if you need it. My x1 yoga has a sim slot. Or you can get a usb dongle.
They are. Skype, Signal, Telegram, whatever other million chat apps. The only thing stopping you using the big cell networks is the telcos stopping it to sell their access, and phones. And some of them may allow it for a fee, but I don't care enough to find out.
RIP Skype
It was decent before Microsoft had to "dogfood" it, rewrite it with their own shitty code, by incompetent programmers.
This is a thing, but its not very popular outside of corporate machines as I would guess most people don't want to pay for an extra phone data plan specifically for their laptop, and the manufacturers want to cut costs for their laptops. It usually isn't available to normal consumer line laptops though, like I said, its mostly only supported on business line laptops.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_WAN
Yeah, most people don't really need it because most people have Wi-Fi at home and most people use their laptops at home. Business users may actually need to use them on the go and potentially in places with no Wi-Fi. But even most business laptops only get used at the office, at home, or maybe on a train (those also tend to have Wi-Fi).
So it's optional for business laptops and not even available for most consumer laptops because if a business can save 20 euros per device on a thousand devices every 3 years, they absolutely are gonna take that option and a lot of home users are already buying 200-300 euro laptops that are basically good for nothing. They ain't gonna pay extra. Unless it's a gaming laptop, but those are tethered to the wall at home 90% of the time too.
Really, the only people who really need it are those who have to go work in the field somewhere sometimes.
In Denmark, you can buy an additional "data sim" with the same number for your tablet or car. I don't have it and never checked if you can just call but you can definitely use telegram or whatsapp for audio/videocalls
There are loads of laptops with mobile data. For calling its the phone company stopping it
Because not all use cases call for it.
If you are working in a city with wifi everywhere you don't need a LTE module.
If you are a mobile worker like a field tech thn it makes more sense to have an LTE module.
At the ISP I worked at we did that. Office monkeys has laptops with no LTE while us field engineers did have LTE modules.
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PC with phone capability: this is already very much a thing.
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Desktop OS + mobile formfactor: this can be done, but I'm not sure how it's any different from what we have right now, especially if you use Android.
There are laptops that come with LTE chips... they're just not popular. You're right though, there is the increasing mentality of "always online" that some people just expect to have. I'm not one of them but I can see why the technical argument could be made. Broadband home routers are starting to show up with support for this already and so it's only a matter of time. As another commenter said, it will drive up the price for artificially no reason...
Regulation. Where I'm at, a device capable of making phone calls, must allow emergency calls by any user. Data is all you can get
If you were using your laptop as your only communication device, you'd need it switched on all the time you were awake. Not convenient.
If you choose to pack a portable monitor+kb+dock combo, you can use your phone as a computer instead with Dex or similar. Seems more practical to me in 2025.
I prefer the laptop-size screen and keyboard vs miniaturized versions of them
Nexdock
I plug my phone into a DEX dock under my desk that connects to a 22” monitor and a normal keyboard and mouse. I think the other person was offering that type of solution already exists.
I was gifted a 4g router for my birthday or Christmas or something. It was the better solution for me because one plan gets me internet access on however many devices I attach to it where I would otherwise need a sim card for every tablet and laptop I use.
I've got a little netbook from ages ago that takes a 3G SIM, I used it occasionally as phones didn't really do tethering back then, no real need now I can tether.
Because it doesn't fit in my pocket.
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