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There are memory card readers and SIM card readers. Can a SIM card reader be used to access mobile data? As in, use 4G/mobile broadband?

Or any other way to access the SIM's mobile data from the laptop, which does not support the insertion of a SIM to the laptop itself (without using the phone's hotspot, because that will drain phone's battery faster). Laptop doesn't support eSIM either.

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  • Sure you can -Google search-, but what data do people store on a SIM these days? I haven't stored even so much as a phone number on a SIM since the late 90s. The phone holds all the data, the SIM merely enables the provider connectivity.
    – Tetsujin
    Jan 16, 2022 at 16:28
  • Thank you @Tetsujin by "mobile data" I meant a wifi. Like you know we can create a hotspot when the sim is in the mobile phone and access internet from laptop, by connecting to the hotspot. Similarly, can internet be accessed if the sim in sim card reader is connected to the laptop too? Sorry about the confusion occured.
    – Hasini
    Jan 17, 2022 at 5:50
  • @Tetsujin On an Android smartphone, they call mobile broadband/4G "mobile data", and in that way they distinguish it from WiFi
    – barlop
    Aug 7, 2022 at 0:27

2 Answers 2

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A SIM card reader gets information from the SIM card. Nothing more and nothing less. Just having that information does not mean you can use "mobile data".

The question becomes what do you intend to do with that information? How do you intend to exchange that information with someone who can allow you to use mobile data?

The SIM card does not contain a mobile phone radio, it just contains the information used by a mobile phone radio to connect to a mobile phone network.

The frequencies used by mobile networks are very different from those used by Wifi or Bluetooth, and the encoding of data and power levels used are also very different. None of the "normal" radios present in a PC can communicate with cellphone towers as they lack the radios and protocols necessary.

A SIM Card Reader is only a small part of the hardware necessary to allow a computer to talk to cellphone towers and so "use mobile data"

You can get LTE adapters (or laptops that already contain LTE modules) that contain all the radio electronics necessary to talk to a cellphone tower, but normally these also contain a SIM card slot so your SIM Card Reader is completely redundant and useless in this case.

So no, a SIM card reader alone is not enough.

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  • Thank you @Mokubai by "mobile data" I meant a wifi. Like you know we can create a hotspot when the sim is in the mobile phone and access internet from laptop, by connecting to the hotspot. Similarly, can internet be accessed if the sim in sim card reader is connected to the laptop too? Sorry about the confusion occured. So, according to your answer, a card reader is not enough?
    – Hasini
    Jan 17, 2022 at 5:49
  • do the adaptors give a way to receive texts?
    – barlop
    Aug 7, 2022 at 0:33
  • @barlop try Googling your chosen adaptor and including the term "sms". For example the first device I seen on that Amazon page gives google.com/search?q=zte+mf833u1+sms and among the first results is "Your modem supports data and SMS services through the mobile phone network"
    – Mokubai ♦
    Aug 7, 2022 at 11:18
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The only way to access a SIM card is via a SIM card reader. You can use the one already build e.g. into your phone (use an USB cable if you don't want to access the WLAN connection through your phone) or you can pick one up for a few bucks. Make sure to get the appropriate software to read the SIM card as well (depending on the data you want to read from the card).

Update No, you can not connect to the internet via a SIM card reader because a SIM card reader has no way to access the mobile network (G4, G5, etc.). You'll need a "mobile USB modem (for SIM cards)", a "mobile WiFi Hotspot"/"mobile router", there are several options available on Amazon, eBay, etc. Alternatively, you can connect your smartphone via a USB cable.

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  • Thank you @Albin by "mobile data" I meant a wifi. Like you know we can create a hotspot when the sim is in the mobile phone and access internet from laptop, by connecting to the hotspot. Similarly, can internet be accessed if the sim in sim card reader is connected to the laptop too? Sorry about the confusion occured.
    – Hasini
    Jan 17, 2022 at 5:48
  • @Hasini so your goal is to use the SIM card to establish an internet connection? See update to my answer.
    – Albin
    Jan 17, 2022 at 8:39
  • to the downvoter: If you downvote, which is perfectly acceptable, please be a team player, and please consider leaving a suggestion on how to improve the answer. Thank you.
    – Albin
    Jan 17, 2022 at 8:41

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