I've decided to get a Verizon iPad Air, but there will be months that I may want to use T-Mobile and some months that AT&T will be better for my use. Will any T-Mobile or AT&T nano sim card work in the iPad? For T-mobile, for example, they seem to have sim cards for tablets ($10) and others for the iPhone (currently free), but I have heard they are the same. The AT&T cards I have seen on Amazon say the are for the iPhone 5.
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All iPads T-Mobile and AT&T sim cards for iPad Air
- Thread starter jazzer15
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An AT&T store should give you a SIM free. If you have an Apple store near you they will do the same.
MOST ATT stores won't even give you the right time for FREE!
Best bet is an Apple store. Most ATT stores will charge $25 for an iPad sim unless they first set it up on an account for you which ends up being a POSTPAID but not contract despite what they tell you. Then when you go to cancel it for a month or two they kill off the sim unlike when you set it up as an "as needed" account on your own from the iPad and can put it on hold as needed. Verizon is another story. They are so bad with getting sim for an iPad they make ATT look like the good guys.
MOST ATT stores won't even give you the right time for FREE!
I haven't heard of any problems at the AT&T stores here from a few people that I know who have gotten a free SIM there. Best way is to get the SIM and set up the account yourself. There are two corporate stores in my area that are pretty good. I don't doubt that many reps will try to put you on postpaid so they make a commission. They don't want to waste their time with prepaid.
I walked into a corporate ATT store, asked for a sim for my iPad and the guy just handed me one and asked if I needed help setting it up. I said no thanks and walked out. Put it in and set it up myself. Maybe the difference is whether it's a corporate store or a reseller.
Where did you find instructions on using a T-Mobile phone sim in an iPad? Every time I've tried I get the Welcome t-mo screen.
Turn off your Wi-Fi. Turn off your iPad and re-start. Go to settings, cellular data, View Account, and you should then get a sign up screen. After the activation is complete you can turn your Wi-Fi back on.
MOST ATT stores won't even give you the right time for FREE!
How recently have you tried to get a SIM from an AT&T store, and is the above from one experience, multiple experiences, or someone else's experience?
Just curious since I had a completely opposite experience a couple weeks ago. It literally couldn't have been easier. I walked into an AT&T corp store, asked for a SIM for my ipad3 to use on prepaid data. They did run it though checkout (inventory) but didn't ask for any personal info, didn't try to sell a thing, didn't charge a dime.
About 2-3 weeks ago for my new Mini and multiple times over the last couple years. AT&T Short Hill Mall (NJ), AT&T RT 22 in Union NJ. Always $25 for a card for an iPad. I just walk into Apple store and they give me one without hassle. The AT&T stores always say "If you want one for free we have to setup an account for you." They tell me the account has no contract (it doesn't but you can't suspend it - skip a month - without killing off the card). Always corp stores. Maybe NJ is "special" ?
How strange. A corp store in Raleigh NC simply gave me a card and said I'd need to call customer service to activate it. (which was actually wrong, I was able to activate from the ipad without calling customer service)
Oh it most certainly is... Only place I know where you have to turn right to make a left turn...
Huh? The issue is they seem to block iPads. When I use my phone sim in my iPad and launch my browser it says login to my tmobile to select a plan.
About 2-3 weeks ago for my new Mini and multiple times over the last couple years. AT&T Short Hill Mall (NJ), AT&T RT 22 in Union NJ. Always $25 for a card for an iPad. I just walk into Apple store and they give me one without hassle. The AT&T stores always say "If you want one for free we have to setup an account for you." They tell me the account has no contract (it doesn't but you can't suspend it - skip a month - without killing off the card). Always corp stores. Maybe NJ is "special" ?
I just got one yesterday from the store in the Brunswick Square mall for free. They did give me a bit of a hassle first, wanting me to sign up for an account and activate the sim. After a few minutes of me telling them I just wanted the sim and would activate it from home they finally relented.
Is this a brand new sim or are you using an already activated SIM?
If it is a new sim, that is why you turn off you Wi-Fi connection and do not launch your browser. Most of the time with a new T-Mobile SIM you can activate it (As long as you are getting reception via the T-Mibile Cell) via settings, cellular data, view account.
Did you not read my post? I was referring to a sim from a tmobile iPhone. Already activated obviously.
Sorry misunderstood your post. Most of the discussion was about purchasing T-Mobile unactivated phone and data SIMS to use in the iPads for the free 200 MB of monthly data.
Tmobile blocks sims that are already active on a phone plan from working in iPads or other tablets. It was a response to too many people using the $30/month 5 gig prepaid phone plan in their tablets.
You need to get a dedicated sim for your ipad. See the thread on free sims for a possible link, or go to a store to get one.
Makes no sense. I pay for 500gb high speed and then throttled data. An iPAd and Iphone's data usage technology is the same. Who are they to block how I use the data? BS!
Just more ?'s about activating SIM cards
Well, I am joining this at a late stage....everyone here seems to be able to activate SIM cards from their iPad air...NOTHING I do seems to work! I tried the "turn off you wi-fi, turn of iPad" and try again with wi-fi turned off. When I go to settings it STILL says "connection could not be established". If wi-fi is turned ON, it says "session has timed out". I do not have any accounts with any of the carriers...is a pre-existing account needed? None of the info that I have researched says anything about having to have a pre-existing relationship with the carrier.
Well, I am joining this at a late stage....everyone here seems to be able to activate SIM cards from their iPad air...NOTHING I do seems to work! I tried the "turn off you wi-fi, turn of iPad" and try again with wi-fi turned off. When I go to settings it STILL says "connection could not be established". If wi-fi is turned ON, it says "session has timed out". I do not have any accounts with any of the carriers...is a pre-existing account needed? None of the info that I have researched says anything about having to have a pre-existing relationship with the carrier.
Which iPad Air do you own (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T) and which company SIM are you trying to activate? You do not need to have a pre-existing account. The SIM card you are trying to use may be defective or something wrong with the iPad. You should get a help screen once you go to view account under cellular data.
I have a Verizon iPad Air. Just got my T-mo sim in the mail yesterday. Installed it and the iPad read it perfectly. If Wifi is turned on then then it will ask for a T-mo sim phone number. I just turned off the Wifi and it doesn't ask for that. The issue is T-mo 4G LTE has very poor coverage in my area so I got lucky and it still connected and I was able to set up my account very easily.
In your case you may need to set it up via Wifi and call T-mo and let them set up your account with a mobile number for your sim. You end up with one anyway if you were to activate it directly from the iPad.
That being said, it's to my understanding (from reading here) that the Verizon iPad is far more compatible with the other carrier's sims.