iPad Question about iPad Air imei's and cellular networks

[had0ukenn]

I bought an iPad air from someone off of craigslist. I made sure it wasn't iCloud locked, had any dead pixels, can connect to wifi, and checked for water damage. The iPad seemed good so I bought it from the man. The iPad that he was selling was, under my impression, the iPad air 16 GB wifi only model, however it turns out that this iPad is in fact the wifi+cellular model. I did not know this and the man did not list the iPad as the cellular model.

Having dealt with some phones before, I made sure to check the IMEI online to see if it was bad or not. It turns out that the IMEI of the iPad is blocked, or on the IMEI blacklist. In the details it says that "This device is blocked by at least one carrier," and for the activation status it is telling me that the device cannot be activated.

This is the T-mobile version of the iPad Air cellular model, if I recall correctly, all iPad air cellular models are unlocked, correct? Anyways, I wanted to know what this means for the iPad? Could I use it with other carriers such as AT&T? I know when a device is usually blacklisted, it cannot be activated on any carrier, is the same true with the iPad? Excuse my ignorance, just want to get to know as much as I can about it. I tried looking on google but didnt come across anything helpful. Also, will the IMEI being bad, will it affect me in anyway from using it as a wifi model? Thanks in advance.

 

[s2mikey]

The wifi won't be affected so that's good. As far as what to do about the IMEI situation? Not sure. Take it to Tmobile maybe and see what they say. It's a start.

Wish I could help more with the cellular thing. At least you can use wifi and just turn OFF the cell data altogether. You should be fine.

 

[CEmajr]

You can check the IMEI on swappa.com. Then even if the IMEI is blacklisted you can still use it on wifi no problem. If it isn't blacklisted then yes you're free to use it on any carrier you want.

 

[mattopotamus]

The person probably listed it as wifi only b.c they knew the IMEI was blacklisted. It could be blacklisted for many reasons (bill not paid, ipad balance not paid in full, etc). I would check using swappa as someone else suggested.

If the ipad was on EIP and the person did not pay for it, it would technically be stolen.

 

[had0ukenn]

The wifi won't be affected so that's good. As far as what to do about the IMEI situation? Not sure. Take it to Tmobile maybe and see what they say. It's a start.

Wish I could help more with the cellular thing. At least you can use wifi and just turn OFF the cell data altogether. You should be fine.

You can check the IMEI on swappa.com. Then even if the IMEI is blacklisted you can still use it on wifi no problem. If it isn't blacklisted then yes you're free to use it on any carrier you want.

The person probably listed it as wifi only b.c they knew the IMEI was blacklisted. It could be blacklisted for many reasons (bill not paid, ipad balance not paid in full, etc). I would check using swappa as someone else suggested.

If the ipad was on EIP and the person did not pay for it, it would technically be stolen.

Thanks for everyones input. I checked the imei on another imei/esn checking website and it says that it is not blacklisted but is blocked by tmobile carrier only. Weird. Would this mean I can use it on AT&T?

 

[CEmajr]

Thanks for everyones input. I checked the imei on another imei/esn checking website and it says that it is not blacklisted but is blocked by tmobile carrier only. Weird. Would this mean I can use it on AT&T?

Only way to find out is to try. Put the AT&T SIM card from your iPhone in there and if it works then you're good. If it doesn't, then no.

 

[had0ukenn]

Only way to find out is to try. Put the AT&T SIM card from your iPhone in there and if it works then you're good. If it doesn't, then no.

You're right. However, I had to activate a line for the iPad onto my already existing account. I got the activation fee waived but have to pay $10/month extra for the iPad, but I was able to use cellular network on my iPad with AT&T now.