Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Pay as you go DATA-sim in the US - Traveling tourist

xDKP

xDKP

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
2,662
2,981
Denmark
Hey everyone.

Thought this might be a good place to get some tips... I'm traveling to the US for three weeks, from June the 17th. My plan is to bring my iPad and my iPhone 4 and I would love to buy some PAYG data - roaming with my own plan is gonna cost me a fortune.... 20$... FOR ONE MB!!

So my question is, which possibilities do I have for PAYG data and what company would be the best to go for?

The use is gonna be internet, mail and so forth on the iPad and to upload some pictures and update some facebook for friends telling about the trip.

Thanks in advance...
 
Is your iPhone unlocked? If it is then you can buy pay as you go voice and data from AT&T however if your phone is not unlocked then you are out of luck and will have to use your phone and roam with your sim card from Denmark.

AM
 
Unlock

Yes my iPhone is unlocked...

Is there a special AT&T PAYG with only data? Not gonna use the voice anyway?
 
People are so naive. You can practically use wi-fi everywhere you go now a day, why bother to pay for data 3G.
Safeway, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, library, etc.
I have 3G iPad, and not once did I use 3G service.
 
iPad 2 SIM into iPhone 3GS

I am considering buying an iPad 2 3G/WiFi very soon. And I will be travelling in the USA for a month or two. For use during that time, I was wondering if I can buy the iPad, activate it's data plan, and then use a micro->normal SIM tray and use the iPad SIM on my iPhone 3GS for purely data purposes only. I understand there will be no voice services.

Can someone please confirm it or deny it's possibility? And if it's possible, how can I go about making this happen. I have read things about changing APNs or something. I also read that it apparently doesn't work any more or something. I don't know for sure what the current status of this is nor how to do it.

Of course I want to do this with no penalties fees etc. I have read of individuals using their iPhone 4 data plan on a iPad, but then when they put their iPhone SIM back into their iPhone they get a notification from AT&T, saying they need to buy a plan, and then they get charged, etc. But in my situation it's iPad to iPhone so can there still be trouble with AT&T?

Please help me out, as I will be arriving in USA very shortly.

Thank you!
 
tkadrum said:
People are so naive. You can practically use wi-fi everywhere you go now a day, why bother to pay for data 3G.
Safeway, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, library, etc.
I have 3G iPad, and not once did I use 3G service.
Click to expand...

I have an iPad 3G and it uses the 3G a lot. 0.5-1.5 Gigs per month.
 
tkadrum said:
People are so naive. You can practically use wi-fi everywhere you go now a day, why bother to pay for data 3G.
Safeway, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, library, etc.
I have 3G iPad, and not once did I use 3G service.
Click to expand...

I know there will be a lot of wifi, but we have som pretty long car trips 6-8 hours sometimes, so it would be cool to be able to read some interesting things about the next destination on the iPad...
 
tkadrum said:
People are so naive. You can practically use wi-fi everywhere you go now a day, why bother to pay for data 3G.
Safeway, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, library, etc.
I have 3G iPad, and not once did I use 3G service.
Click to expand...


Sir,

You may have drown yourself into the naive team since I haven't seen a starbux fitting inside a rental car for wifi if the OP wanted his friend took turns researching their trip on 3G since a $25 2gb plan is pretty cheap if they somehow used 4gb data in a month then $50 is still cheap for a vacation visiting US from Denmark. Oppositely- I'd do the same thing if I visited Denmark too.
 
OverSpun said:
Sir,

You may have drown yourself into the naive team since I haven't seen a starbux fitting inside a rental car for wifi if the OP wanted his friend took turns researching their trip on 3G since a $25 2gb plan is pretty cheap if they somehow used 4gb data in a month then $50 is still cheap for a vacation visiting US from Denmark. Oppositely- I'd do the same thing if I visited Denmark too.
Click to expand...

Spot on! Does the iPad price only work for 3G iPads? Is the data only sim in the iPhone 4 an option?
 
xDKP said:
Spot on! Does the iPad price only work for 3G iPads? Is the data only sim in the iPhone 4 an option?
Click to expand...

I may not be the best option how 3G works on your iPad. I cannot promise you but I only assume that your unlocked 3G iPad should work fine picking up a AT&T micro SIM while your here and of course cancelling the data plan to avoid auto-paying depending how long your visit is.

I pay $25 /2gb // month. I've used my iPad on 3G nonstop in the last 2 weeks only using 350mb.

With given- I think 2gb would be a pretty fair amount of data for a month since you could of course using public wifi that you'll run into sometimes. :)

Good luck.
 
tkadrum said:
People are so naive. You can practically use wi-fi everywhere you go now a day, why bother to pay for data 3G.
Safeway, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, library, etc.
I have 3G iPad, and not once did I use 3G service.
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing when I was in the UK in March. I couldn't find a free wifi signal to save my life. When I did find wifi, I had to pay. My iPad was pretty useless to me, unfortunately. When I got back, I got an iPad 2 with 3G for next time.
 
The ATT data plan for iPad requires a US address for the credit card info. There is no place for "country" on the iPad account creation form, so if you try and use your CC it won't work.

I know people who have gotten around this, though.

Go to a convenience or drug store (Walgreen's, CVS, Duane Reade, etc.) and purchase a pre-paid Visa Card for the $25 you'll need for the data plan. After acquiring the ATT sim, sign-up for the service using this card and enter a US address from your hotel, or something that you can tie to the card.

This way, it will all check out when you submit the data plan form and you should be in business.

Hope this helps, and happy travels!
 
gatearray said:
The ATT data plan for iPad requires a US address for the credit card info. There is no place for "country" on the iPad account creation form, so if you try and use your CC it won't work.

I know people who have gotten around this, though.

Go to a convenience or drug store (Walgreen's, CVS, Duane Reade, etc.) and purchase a pre-paid Visa Card for the $25 you'll need for the data plan. After acquiring the ATT sim, sign-up for the service using this card and enter a US address from your hotel, or something that you can tie to the card.

This way, it will all check out when you submit the data plan form and you should be in business.

Hope this helps, and happy travels!
Click to expand...

I confirm this.
When I travel to the US I pay the plan with a US Visa gift card.
 
Stefx73 said:
I confirm this.
When I travel to the US I pay the plan with a US Visa gift card.
Click to expand...

once you obtain the micro sim, how do you sign up for the service? is this online too? can't seem to find any links on the AT&T website..
 
cooldude00 said:
once you obtain the micro sim, how do you sign up for the service? is this online too? can't seem to find any links on the AT&T website..
Click to expand...

You need to find a wifi. I went to a nearby mall
I wasn't able to sign up withoutthe wifi

Also, dont forget to register your visa gift card online...the activation at the store isnt enough. When you register, you enter a name, and when you use that card number to sign up for the 3G service, it does perform a name match check ( no address match check, though )


High tech device, antiquated billing options..but it works
 
OP,

I went to Japan in 2009 and international data is definitely expensive since I spent ~50mb data /$60.

Perhaps doing this could help you some while I was in Japan-

I bought a month of skype usage for calls off wifi / data. Also use that calling some US options for data onvyour iPhone and your iPad. I honestly haven't used pay-go or anything but speaking with wn AT&T local store if they have options since ive never needed it.
 
Stefx73 said:
High tech device, antiquated billing options..but it works
Click to expand...

Haha, u got that right! Don't understand why they don't let us purchase prepaid cards without addresses.... In the uk, I can just walk out with a phone and credit....

Thanks for the heads up
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back