newbie to SIMS, how to get one?

mine was already installed, I went with the Verizon LTE, 64G

 

The iPad should come with a SIM installed. If you buy a Verizon iPad, even directly from Apple, it should come ready to set up a prepaid plan right on the iPad.

If you want an AT&T SIM for a Verizon iPad, I think you would have to go to an AT&T store.

 

I ordered mine on-line from Apple and got it for the Grand Friday opener. I checked the serial number and it was build in March the week I got it strange, yes.

 

Sticking an AT&T SIM into a Verizon iPad will only get you 3G (or what AT&T calls 4G), not LTE speed.

 

I checked into this before I bought my iPad. It turns out that although AT&T will sell me a sim for $15, they will not activate it. They said that had to be done on the iPad itself or I'd have to get a postpaid plan.

It's not currently possible (as far as I know) to activate an AT&T sim in a Verizon iPad.

My impression is that early reviewers actually bought two iPads, activated cellular plans on both and afterward stuck the AT&T sim into the Verizon model and it worked. They gushed about the flexibility without thinking about how the average person would make this work who doesn't have an activated sim handy.

So, it's possible, but just not practical. I think some people have managed to get their AT&T iPhone sim to work in a Verizon iPad, but for me that not a solution. I want my phone to work while I'm online.

I figured if I'm going to all this trouble to figure out how to make an AT&T sim work--I might as well just get an AT&T model. Even Verizon's LTE network is mostly limited to large metro areas and if you aren't on it you stuck with Verizon's very low speed 3G network. I've found AT&T's HSPA+ and even their 3G service to be fast. Next year, I might get the Verizon model since by then they will have replaced almost their entire 3G network.

 

Or they had an iPad 2 on AT&T, and took the SIM from that to stick into the new iPad. I also think if you have a MiFi device (or whatever it is called at AT&T), an activated SIM from that could also work in an iPad. But you are right that this is impractical for most people.