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iPad Bought an Air off of craigslist. Cellular options?

Natesac

Natesac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 29, 2008
816
47
Dallas,Tx
So two weeks ago I sold my iPad 3 retina to a friend of mine and picked up a new sealed in box iPad Air off of Craigslist. Got it for $460US thinking it was a 16gig wifi. Got it home opened it up and it's a sprint LTE model (BONUS!).

So I power it up and it's already got a sprint SIM card and it's already on a 25MB data plan. So I talk to the seller and we figure out I just need to eject the sim and I'll be set. Btw the seller has a business account with sprint and has to order more than he needs.

So my question is: can I take this to another carrier? I know these iPads are technically "unlocked". I usually just tether to my iPhone but I might like having a very small data plan to use in a pinch and be able to use the find my iPhone tracking.
 
I would think that you could use any carrier's sim card if it is a GSM, right? I know Verizon is cdma so you couldn't use that.

Most carriers have a plan where you can add the ipad to your existing plan for an additional $10-20 a month. Or you can get a month by month plan if you only want to use it for vacation etc rather than all the time.
 
kwajkat said:
I would think that you could use any carrier's sim card if it is a GSM, right? I know Verizon is cdma so you couldn't use that.
Click to expand...

No. The Air is unlocked for all LTE channels. Don't mistake data w/ voice. You can use VZW with any cellular Air IF you can get hold of a VZW SIM.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
No. The Air is unlocked for all LTE channels. Don't mistake data w/ voice. You can use VZW with any cellular Air IF you can get hold of a VZW SIM.
Click to expand...

Yup, the problem is they won't give out or activate a sim on a device you didn't buy from them, lol. They must have so much business they can afford to not care about new customers with existing devices.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
No. The Air is unlocked for all LTE channels. Don't mistake data w/ voice. You can use VZW with any cellular Air IF you can get hold of a VZW SIM.
Click to expand...

But realistically, its not hard to find a SIM. So, in effect, yes, any LTE iPad should work on any LTE carrier.
 
Becact said:
Yup, the problem is they won't give out or activate a sim on a device you didn't buy from them, lol. They must have so much business they can afford to not care about new customers with existing devices.
Click to expand...

It's been that way for a long time - "We don't care; we don't have to. We're the phone company" :rolleyes:
 
for this T-Mobile sim. does it need to be from that specific link? that item seems to not want to be added to cart. Would any tmobile nano sim work?
 
That link above didn't work for me either, but this link did.

If that doesn't work just Google "tmoble free nano sim" and the first one that came up (Nano Sim Card for Unlocked iPhone 5 | T-Mobile) worked for me.
 
theRick119 said:
That link above didn't work for me either, but this link did.

If that doesn't work just Google "tmoble free nano sim" and the first one that came up (Nano Sim Card for Unlocked iPhone 5 | T-Mobile) worked for me.
Click to expand...

alright, its ordered. We will see if this works. Awesome thanks guys.
 
ZBoater said:
I guess it is irrelevant but this sounds very odd.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was a little suspecious at first. But once I met up with the guy and talked with him for a while it seemed pretty legit. Said he had to order 5 at a time if I remember correctly.
 
theRick119 said:
That link above didn't work for me either, but this link did.

If that doesn't work just Google "tmoble free nano sim" and the first one that came up (Nano Sim Card for Unlocked iPhone 5 | T-Mobile) worked for me.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link! Ordered it as well. You said it worked on your iPad and you got the free 200MB data plan?
 
Natesac said:
Yeah I was a little suspecious at first. But once I met up with the guy and talked with him for a while it seemed pretty legit. Said he had to order 5 at a time if I remember correctly.
Click to expand...

The box specifies whether the ipad is a cellular unit or not, so it seems a bit odd that the seller sold it at that price, especially if he does business with sprint. If he bought it through sprint, then he must have known that he is selling a cellular unit, in which case makes it a bit odd that he would price the ipad at 460.

Anyways, if you got it to work then i guess it doesnt really matter at this point. Enjoy your new ipad!
 
So I've got my free T-mobile SIM card loaded up, do I select "on demand only" to get the free 200mb a month?
 
everydayCARD said:
The box specifies whether the ipad is a cellular unit or not, so it seems a bit odd that the seller sold it at that price, especially if he does business with sprint. If he bought it through sprint, then he must have known that he is selling a cellular unit, in which case makes it a bit odd that he would price the ipad at 460.

Anyways, if you got it to work then i guess it doesnt really matter at this point. Enjoy your new ipad!
Click to expand...

Especially odd that he paid at least $650 for it and lost $200 on the deal.
 
Sigh...not everything on CL is stolen, you know. I love how every time someone posts how they got something there it's "suspicious".
 
The seller did not mention what he paid for them. I got the impression he was getting them below retail.
 
I know a guy who was selling stuff real cheap on craigslist because he wife divorced him and he wanted nothing to remind him of her.

Usually the stolen stuff is horribly obvious, like if you search you may see 'Brand new MacBook Air $350'. Small time thieves with lots of stock usually sell things extra cheap to get rid of it fast. There is a chance this guy could working with 'shady people', like the mob though. But honestly, this sounds odd, but not obviously shady like a lot of stolen goods on craigslist are.

Also, products can end up in wrong packages, or firmware could be turned on. I have a Samsung 51" 1080p plasma tv that I got a couple years ago for $400. How did I do that? Because the tv I bought was supposed to be 720p, and mine plays 1080p!

I heard some plasmas can do that, and you may say that it says 1080p but doesn't play it, but the simple lack of a screen door effect unless you get close to the tv proves that it's doing 1080p.

Ironically, the tv I had before it, was a 32" lcd that was supposed to only play 720p but also played 1080p (Using the pc on it proved it)
 
Last edited:
Natesac said:
So two weeks ago I sold my iPad 3 retina to a friend of mine and picked up a new sealed in box iPad Air off of Craigslist. Got it for $460US thinking it was a 16gig wifi. Got it home opened it up and it's a sprint LTE model (BONUS!).

So I power it up and it's already got a sprint SIM card and it's already on a 25MB data plan. So I talk to the seller and we figure out I just need to eject the sim and I'll be set. Btw the seller has a business account with sprint and has to order more than he needs.

So my question is: can I take this to another carrier? I know these iPads are technically "unlocked". I usually just tether to my iPhone but I might like having a very small data plan to use in a pinch and be able to use the find my iPhone tracking.
Click to expand...

So, its sounds to me like the seller sold you an ipad with service. Why didn't you just use it until he realized and shut it off?

You would think the seller would not have to figure anything out as he appears to sell these all the time.

Hmmmmm
 
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