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djschumi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 17, 2010
2
0
Since I travel a lot I've decided to buy my self an Ipad 2 wifi+3G in States. But whereever I look there's only AT&T or Verizon versions. Now I know that Verzion is useless for me since it uses CDMA chip but how about AT&T? I would like to put in other GSM/UMTS etc SIM cards and be able to use my own data plan. I've searched google which says Ipad 2 devices are unlocked to mobile operater but I've just had a chat with an assistant from one of the largest gadget stores in USA which told me I won't be able to use it with my SIM card. So you guys can help me out? I would like to be sure and not to buy locked device which is for me worthless.
 
Since I travel a lot I've decided to buy my self an Ipad 2 wifi+3G in States. But whereever I look there's only AT&T or Verizon versions. Now I know that Verzion is useless for me since it uses CDMA chip but how about AT&T? I would like to put in other GSM/UMTS etc SIM cards and be able to use my own data plan. I've searched google which says Ipad 2 devices are unlocked to mobile operater but I've just had a chat with an assistant from one of the largest gadget stores in USA which told me I won't be able to use it with my SIM card. So you guys can help me out? I would like to be sure and not to buy locked device which is for me worthless.

iPads are unlocked. However, not all GSM carriers are the same. You need to make sure the iPad is supported on the network, ie frequencies, data plans, etc. Just because the iPad is unlocked and you have a 3G sim card from some random company doesn't mean it will work...
 
If you tried to use a 3G ipad with t-mobile, you'd only get edge. It helps if you're using it with a carrier in your country that's authorized.
 
Since I travel a lot I've decided to buy my self an Ipad 2 wifi+3G in States. But whereever I look there's only AT&T or Verizon versions. Now I know that Verzion is useless for me since it uses CDMA chip but how about AT&T? I would like to put in other GSM/UMTS etc SIM cards and be able to use my own data plan. I've searched google which says Ipad 2 devices are unlocked to mobile operater but I've just had a chat with an assistant from one of the largest gadget stores in USA which told me I won't be able to use it with my SIM card. So you guys can help me out? I would like to be sure and not to buy locked device which is for me worthless.

The AT&T iPad works very well internationally. The hardware works perfectly in most countries. (However, with a few significant exceptions like Japan and China). I have used mine with local SIMs in Norway, Turkey and Mexico. However, purchasing a dataplan is often inconvenient, and in some countries you might still have to trim a standard SIM down to microSIM size as I did in Turkey last fall.
 
No, only think that worries me if I'll put my local sim card in to get some error message, like invalid sim or something. That device would be locked to only AT&T sim cards. I'm getting all sort of different infos. /me confused! :p
 
Not all GSM carriers are the same
The whole idea with GSM is, all carriers ARE the same, they only differ in carrier name/network code and subsequent billing plans. This way you can roam around the world with a single device and still be able to connect to a GSM network. This especially covers the radio frequencies GSM operates on, the handshaking, communication model and cell-to-cell roaming methods which, briefly said, constitute the GSM standard.
Any micro-SIM card from a GSM network will work with a GSM version of the iPad. The only thing to be done is to set up the data connection in the iPad (usually the code used to connect to the GSM data network, AKA "phone number", *99# being the most commonly used, username, password).
 
The AT&T iPad works very well internationally. The hardware works perfectly in most countries. (However, with a few significant exceptions like Japan and China). I have used mine with local SIMs in Norway, Turkey and Mexico. However, purchasing a dataplan is often inconvenient, and in some countries you might still have to trim a standard SIM down to microSIM size as I did in Turkey last fall.

As long as the carrier supports 3G on the 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz bands you should be able to get 3G signal, or if it supports 2G on the 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz bands you should be able to connect to the 2G network.

Japan has 2100MHz 3G so the iPad 3G will work fine there. Acquiring the SIM is the hard part.

China Unicom in China also supports 2100 so 3G will work just fine there as well.

OP- American iPad 3Gs are all unlocked.
 
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