How to get my own phone number on my iPad.

CPistol wrote:

Okay, I beg to differ here. If your iPad is a cellular model, then would you not be able to purchase a “phone” plan for your iPad? If you did, that would give it a phone number, or the customer could link that with his/her phone number and you would be able to get cell service on both the iPad or the iPhone. If the person making the question here says he/she wants a separate phone number on his iPad, if it is a cellular model, he/she should be able purchase that.

You would be wrong.

You’re buying a “data” plan, not a “phone” plan.

There is no number you can call.

There is no number you can text.

There is a number that can be used by the carrier for accounting and billing purposes.

An iPad is not a phone, cannot make or receive cellular calls, and cannot send or receive SMS.

An iPad (with an active cellular plan) can use cellular data for other purposes, including other chat tools, including FaceTime and Messages.

An iPad, whether a Cellular model or not, is not capable of directly accessing Cellular Voice or Messaging features. An iPad with Cellular connectivity alone can only access IP-data services. An iPad is not, and can never be, a standalone substitute for an iPhone.

However, when coupled with an iPhone, the capabilities of iPad significantly broaden to include access to Cellular Voice and Messaging services of the associated iPhone - relayed to the iPad over WiFi using Apple’s Continuity features.

In all cases, the iPad will be using the iPhone's cellular calling plan.

Do you have just an iPad, or also an iPhone?

An iPad, whether a Cellular model or not, is not capable of directly accessing Cellular Voice or Messaging features. An iPad with Cellular connectivity alone can only access IP-data services. An iPad is not, and can never be, a standalone substitute for an iPhone.

However, when coupled with an iPhone, the capabilities of iPad significantly broaden to include access to Cellular Voice and Messaging services of the associated iPhone - relayed to the iPad over WiFi using Apple’s Continuity features. For the most part, an iPad using Continuity is able to access Cellular calling features, of the iPhone, when both the iPad an iPhone are in close physical proximity and are connected to the same WiFi network - but this is not the end of the story.

Now, if your both your Cellular Carrier and your calling plan support WiFi Calling, your iPad can make and receive calls independently of the iPhone - even when the iPhone is switched off, elsewhere, or using a different WiFi network. Not all carriers support full WiFi calling.

The settings that you need to change/verify on your iPhone and iPad are:

On your iPhone

Settings > Mobile Data >WiFi Calling > 

• WiFi Calling on This iPhone - set to ON
• Add WiFi Calling for Other Devices - set to ON

Settings > Mobile Data > Calls on Other Devices > 

• Allow Calls on Other Devices - set to ON
• [Allow Calls On] - explicitly enable your new iPad from the list of devices.

On your iPad

Settings > FaceTime > Calls from iPhone > Calls from iPhone - set to ON

Additional information about Continuity and the relevant Cellular services can be found here:

Continuity

Work across all of your devices seamlessly – Apple Support

SMS/MMS Messaging

Forward SMS/MMS text messages from your iPhone to your Mac or iPad - Apple Support

WiFi Calling

Make a call with Wi-Fi Calling – Apple Support

Making and receiving calls on iPad

Make and receive phone calls on iPad - Apple Support

When correctly configured, the iPad FaceTime App provides access to Cellular Voice Calling features - whilst Messages supports SMS/MMS messaging services. In all cases, the iPad will be using the iPhone's cellular calling plan.

Please give context. Is your iPad a cellular model? What model is the iPad?

Here is how to find what model your iPad is:

Go to Settings, General, About, and find “Model Name”. Please tell me what is in that field.

An iPad does not have a telephone number for voice or SMS.

It does have a number that looks a whole lot like a telephone number.

That is used for cellular network data and related accounting.

But not for calls, nor for SMS messages.

Okay, I beg to differ here. If your iPad is a cellular model, then would you not be able to purchase a “phone” plan for your iPad? If you did, that would give it a phone number, or the customer could link that with his/her phone number and you would be able to get cell service on both the iPad or the iPhone. If the person making the question here says he/she wants a separate phone number on his iPad, if it is a cellular model, he/she should be able purchase that.

CPistol wrote:

Okay, thanks for clarifying that! I will keep that in mind.

To further clarify, for iPad, the phone number associated with an eSIM or physical DataSIM card is only used to identify the Cellular account for billing purposes. This number is not used for making calls or sending messages.

Okay, thanks for clarifying that! I will keep that in mind.