here is what I want to do. Go to my ipad add a prepaid verizon account and use it for a month or two. Then not use it again for a few months without being charged, then add it again when i want to use the service. Is this possible without having to get a new sim card. I was told stopping payment will cause the sim card to burn out? How do i do this? Thanks
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iPad Verizon prepaid plan?
- Thread starter Tbdbuckeyeitl
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The only thing I can see is that they will need to reactivate the SIM after its inactive for 3 months- not sure if this will bring about additional activation fees. I also just bought a 1GB plan for this month and I only plan on reactivating it again if I need it. I don't think you need to worry about getting a new SIM card though.
I think one has either five or six months of inactivity before the sims card is "burned". If it is indeed burned. Personally, I left my account inactive for five months without a hiccup. And, after reading your op, you should be able do that without a hitch or red tape.
A few weeks ago my sim card failed. After a trip to my friendly, neighborhood Verizon store, they replaced the card and I still have prepay service. Of course the sales rep tried to sell me a monthly contract, which I politely refused. Hope this helps and happy trails!
Edit: I think, but I may be wrong though: if your account is inactive for six months plus, a Verizon store should be able to help you get back on track. Not that I would do this but, you could lie and say you bought your iPad used etc.... Not ethical, but productive nonetheless!
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sign up for the plan you want. then when you want to cancel just suspend the account / cancel auto-pay. do not fully cancel the account. after 6 months of inactivity they will brick the SIM and delete your account. you will have to create an entirely new account with a new username and password. you can get a new SIM at your local verizon store or call the 1-800 # and they will mail one to you.
i found this out the hard way
i found this out the hard way
I talked with Verizon for about 15 min on Friday, their data plans for tablets are a bit complicated.
Tried to get a refund on the activation fee because of a discount through my employer that gives me free activation, no go, and it seems there are prepaid data plans and post paid data plans for tablets.
I'm tempted to buy an unlimited phone data plan on eBay and see if Verizon allows me to put it in my iPad.
Tried to get a refund on the activation fee because of a discount through my employer that gives me free activation, no go, and it seems there are prepaid data plans and post paid data plans for tablets.
I'm tempted to buy an unlimited phone data plan on eBay and see if Verizon allows me to put it in my iPad.
It should be month to month with no sim burn. It's not fair. I would of never activated it if I would of know it would burn the sim
Right, it's completely stupid. I didn't even know they would permanently deactivate the SIM cards like that. Perhaps its for security purposes...
Do you have a Verizon acct now? Is it a prepaid or monthly bill?
I got the prepaid ($20/mo) plan when I bought my iPad, to use on vacation. Afterwards, I suspended auto- billing. You can do so for 5 (?) months then they'll cancel your account, SIM card useless.
Epic fail: when doing it a second time I accidentally cancelled my acct, had to get new sim at Verizon store.
They told me they couldn't set it up prepaid, had to pay monthly, $10 more, plus set-up charge. After I pay initial bill, I'll change it back to a prepaid, and CAREFULLY suspend auto payments, until I need it again.
I got the prepaid ($20/mo) plan when I bought my iPad, to use on vacation. Afterwards, I suspended auto- billing. You can do so for 5 (?) months then they'll cancel your account, SIM card useless.
Epic fail: when doing it a second time I accidentally cancelled my acct, had to get new sim at Verizon store.
They told me they couldn't set it up prepaid, had to pay monthly, $10 more, plus set-up charge. After I pay initial bill, I'll change it back to a prepaid, and CAREFULLY suspend auto payments, until I need it again.
The AT&T prepaid works perfectly. I use it 1-2 months per year when I'm back in the U.S. and never had a problem. I got a verizon mini because it's more compatible internationally and assumed it would work the same way.
Apple and Verizon should do something about this since it's very misleading.
Apple and Verizon should do something about this since it's very misleading.
Each time you go to stop your pre-paid service, your iPad will pop up a message that clearly explains how many months you have before your Verizon account (and the SIM associated with it) is deleted.
I wish I had grabbed a screenshot of the exact message when I canceled my pre-paid (to add my iPad to my Share Everything account), because Googling for an example, I couldn't find one. Maybe someone on here with a pre-paid plan can try to cancel, get the message, take the screenshot, and then cancel the cancel.
Anyhow, yeah, you can not use it for a few months (and not be charged). If by "a few months" you mean more than five or six, you just have to call Verizon and have them mail you a new SIM before you resume again.
Also FWIW, if you ever activate your iPad on a pre-paid plan, and you later want to add it to one of their Share Everything plans, you also need a new SIM for that. Fun, huh?
That was not my experience. I had my verizon iPad 4 on the out-of-the-box standard month to month prepaid plan and a few months later bought an iPhone 5. I called Verizon about adding the iPad to the iPhone's shared data plan and they were able to set it up completely over the phone - no need for new sim.
If you later decide (as I did) to switch the iPad back to the regular month to month plan (because for me, the overall savings of adding the iPad to verizon's shared data plan were, at most, negligible), then you will need a new sim. There are horror stories floating around about getting a replacement sim from a verizon or apple store, but I had no problem waltzing in to a local verizon store and getting a new sim.
Did you cancel your prepaid plan before you called Verizon to have them add your iPad to your Share Everything plan?
Nope. All set up and working fine when I called them to switch it over to the shared data plan.
Good to know. The first time I called them to move mine over, they suggested I cancel my prepaid plan and call back the day it expires, as they had no way of crediting for the remainder of the prepaid plan, if swapped over during the middle of a month.