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iPad Can I use my iPhone sim card in the ipad?

stanleyboy

stanleyboy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 10, 2009
134
24
Portsmouth, England, UK
Just wondering if I can put my iPhones sim card in the ipad to use the Internet. I'm from the uk and I'm on the o2 network and with my contract plan I have unlimited use of Internet, so do people think I would be able to put the sim in the ipad for unlimited Internet use? :confused:

Any info and opinions much appreciated
 
Theoretically this should work because the iPad is not locked and not picky. Practically, I have to say it might.

Although if I heard right, the iPad uses a smaller SIM card... you might want to check on that.
 
Would a 3rd-party adaptor be possible? It seems ridiculous to have to pay for two data plans. That's like when before wi-fi was widely available, my ISP wanted me to pay for EACH computer I connected to my cable modem.
 
I use MyWi to tether my iPhone 4's 3G network with my WiFi iPad and it works outside anywhere it saves me a lot of money rather than buying the 3g version.
 
Where do you guys get hold of MyWi? Ive looked on the Apple App store but cant see it. Is it only for jailbraked iphones?

Ta
 
Last edited:
stanleyboy said:
Just wondering if I can put my iPhones sim card in the ipad to use the Internet. I'm from the uk and I'm on the o2 network and with my contract plan I have unlimited use of Internet, so do people think I would be able to put the sim in the ipad for unlimited Internet use? :confused:

Any info and opinions much appreciated
Click to expand...

Works fine if you cut down the sim to the micro sim size. You can use an exactoknife or buy one of those specialty cutters. Just save the trimmed off portion so you can reuse it if you need to get it back to full size.

I used an exactoknife and it worked fine.

In fact I am using my AT&T blackberry SIM and data plan in the iPad.

No problems. You just have to change the APN settings in the iPad.
 
Yes u can as long as u have a micro sim, I have my iPhone 4 sim card in mine as I type this on my iPad. But you have to change your APN on your iPad for it to work. The APN that is in 4.2.1 is not editable, but u can go to unlockit's web site to change your APN...
 
Easier Soluntion

Just update to 4.3.x on your iphone4. This will give you the 'Wifi Personal Hotspots' feature which will allow you to turn your iphone into a wireless hotspot which you can then connect to with your ipad's wifi.

If your iphone is Jailbroken then you can install an app called 'TetherMe', and also an app called 'TetherMe APN Editing'.

These apps allow you to edit the APN settings used when using 'Personal Hotspots' so your data provider won't be able to detect it as internet tethering, and therefore wont charge you.

o2 expected me to pay for two 3G contracts, one for my iphone4 and one for my ipad2 which I think is ridiculous, if i'm paying for 1GB a month then what does it matter to them what device i'm downloading it from. Imagine if broadband suppliers demanded you have separate broadband accounts for each computer/device in your home.

So there you go, no need to swap SIM cards, no need for 3G on your ipad2 and no extra charges! :D
 
Last edited:
Buchow said:
Just update to 4.3.x on your iphone4. This will give you the 'Wifi Personal Hotspots' feature which will allow you to turn your iphone into a wireless hotspot which you can then connect to with your ipad's wifi.

If your iphone is Jailbroken then you can install an app called 'TetherMe', and also an app called 'TetherMe APN Editing'.

These apps allow you to edit the APN settings used when using 'Personal Hotspots' so your data provider won't be able to detect it as internet tethering, and therefore wont charge you.

o2 expected me to pay for two 3G contracts, one for my iphone4 and one for my ipad2 which I think is ridiculous, if i'm paying for 1GB a month then what does it matter to them what device i'm downloading it from. Imagine if broadband suppliers demanded you have separate broadband accounts for each computer/device in your home.

So there you go, no need to swap SIM cards, no need for a 3G on your ipad2 and no extra charges! :D
Click to expand...

I have TetherMe installed, what settings do I need to set so that AT&T won't know that I am using my iPhone to tether my iPad?
Currently it has

Cellular Data
APN phone

Visual Voicemail
APN acds.voicemail


Thanks
 
Settings -> TetherMe

Turn APN Selection to 'Off'.

Select the 'Mobile Data Network' option.

You will see APN settings for 'Mobile Data', 'Visual Voicemail', 'MMS', and finally 'Internet Tethering'.

Copy the details from 'Mobile Data' to 'Internet Tethering'.
(password will be masked *, a quick search on google should find this)

ps: I always make sure I enable 'Hotspots' through TetherMe and not the iphone 'Personnal Hotspot' menu (even though they look the same) to make sure it uses the custom APN settings, not sure if this is necessary though.

pps: After a very quick search it appears APN phone was used by AT&T to stop people doing what has been described above by kind of 'hiding' the APN settings, but fortunately it didn't work and loads of people have found ways of getting the APN settings:
APN: wap.cingular
Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: CINGULAR1


Hope this helps! :)
 
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Yes you can

You definitely can use your iPhone microsim card in your iPad 3G. I have done it myself. I didn't have to change any setting on my iPad 2 3G. It picked up my carrier automatically.

To check if the iPhone microsim card is really working on the iPad 2 3G, I turned of wifi on the iPad with the iPhone card inserted. I then opened Safari and was able to web surf. I also opened other apps that I know for sure require internet connection and they all worked.

Enough said.
 
MrSubC said:
You definitely can use your iPhone microsim card in your iPad 3G. I have done it myself. I didn't have to change any setting on my iPad 2 3G. It picked up my carrier automatically.

To check if the iPhone microsim card is really working on the iPad 2 3G, I turned of wifi on the iPad with the iPhone card inserted. I then opened Safari and was able to web surf. I also opened other apps that I know for sure require internet connection and they all worked.

Enough said.
Click to expand...

This will only work if your data provider allows it.
They will be able to detect which device you connecting from and will be able to block the data transfers at their own discretion.
If your dataprovider allows you to swap sims then your lucky as most see it as a chance to force you into purchasing another sim card.

With O2, when I used my iPhone4 micro sim in my iPad2, it did work (as in it was compatible and connected to the 3G network) but a message box was displayed saying my SIM can't be used on this device, it then remained connected but blocked all data transfer.
 
Same issue

I also have an ipad 2 and cut down my BB sim with an unlimited data plan and AT&T blocked it after 48 hours and I had to reinstate it. However it will no longer work in the ipad 2.

Since they have the ability to charge alot for data I am a little worried that they will charge me an arm and a leg if unblock it and use it.
 
Yes

You definitely can if you have an iphone 4. The microsim card is common to both iPhone 4 and iPad1/2 3G. I have tried it myself - disabled wifi and inserted my iPhone 4 microsim card into the iPad 2 3G. It works.

If you ask any Apple Store staff, the standard line is misleading and nobody would give a straight yes or no.
 
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