Am I misunderstanding iOS 8.1 continuity text messages? I don't have a Mac; just an iPhone 6 and iPad. I tried to send a text message (iMessages work fine) from my iPad and it doesn't work. I thought iOS 8.1 was supposed to allow us to send text messages to non iOS devices?
Have you gone through the configuration steps to set it up?
To enable "Text Message Forwarding", both (all) devices must be signed into the same iCloud account and connected to the same WiFi network. You set the SMS Message Forwarding from your iPhone:
1. Make sure both (all) devices are signed into the same iCloud account
2. Make sure both (all) devices are on the same WiFi network
3. Make sure both (all) devices have the iCloud account checked (active) in the Send & Receive setting
4. Go to Settings > Messages
5. Tap Text Message Forwarding
6. Turn on forwarding for the computers/tablets that you want to use
7. Each computer/tablet will get a popup with a 6 digit code
8. Enter that code on your iPhone to activate the Text Message Forwarding on that computer/tablet