[SOLVED: PostPaid Exist 2GB Plan] New 4G AT&T iPad not getting LTE in NYC/Manhattan

[MajesticNJ]

Morning/Afternoon all.

Got my new iPad 32G on AT&T. Was upgrading from my AT&T 3G iPad which I gave to my wife.

So far I'm not impressed. Friday I swapped out my sim from my iPad2 to my new iPad. I got a 4G indicator immediately but do not live in a LTE area.
When I went into settings I got a message that said I needed a 4G compatible sim card and needed to visit ATT to get it. So, Saturday I went in to get a new SIM for my new ipad. Still says 4G like it did before.
(Side note, the AT&T rep I was working with told me that 4G is LTE. Silly rabbit tricks are for kids. Bad training. Then when i mentioned HSPA+ his brain must have shorted due to the blank stare I was getting....)

I live in Central NJ. Tests show no speed improvements over my iPad2.

Once in my office in downtown NYC, I do not see an LTE indicator and speed tests are abysmal. 1.1M down and 100k up. Another test right after got me 900k down and 50k up. Yes, 50k up.

Tried resetting the iPad (shutting it off and turning it back on with red wipe to turn off) and already made sure that LTE is enabled in settings. Tried resetting network settings too. Still no LTE indicator.

Can anyone else in NYC comment or tell me if I am missing something?

 

[brooklyn360]

Not true. Use the same sim card the iPad came with. Sign in to your account, select your data, wait a few minutes and it's done.

 

[chillstatus]

How long has your data been active for the new iPad? I'm in LA, but I wasn't seeing the LTE icon either. Once I registered for the data plan (new customer, not existing/first iPad), after about 5 minutes my iPad dropped signal and then I saw the LTE icon.

 

[MajesticNJ]

Not true. Use the same sim card the iPad came with. Sign in to your account, select your data, wait a few minutes and it's done.

brooklyn360, What is "not true"? That I had to get a new SIM? I'm guessing you are right but I did it anyway to be safe. What do you mean by sign in to my account? I am a post pay AT&T subscriber. Don't have to sign in.

Chillstatus, the account has been active since last April 2011 with AT&T 3G.

 

[chillstatus]

You need to use the new iPad to transfer the data from your old iPad under the cellular settings.

 

[MajesticNJ]

Ok so it appears that the problem is because I am grandfathered on the 2GB $25 a month data plan. Two reps said that for me to get LTE I need to upgrade to the 3GB plan and have it applied to my account.

The other part of the problem is that they had a iPad2 listed as my device type which does not support LTE so it was not enabled for my plan.

Anyone else having this issue?

 

[plathunter]

I'm going through the same nonsense with AT&T. Basically if you are on the postpaid plan they don't know how to upgrade the plan with 4g. My case has been escalated twice but I have yet to see any results.

 

[LittleRedBird]

I'm going through the same nonsense with AT&T. Basically if you are on the postpaid plan they don't know how to upgrade the plan with 4g. My case has been escalated twice but I have yet to see any results.

I'm in Phoenix and am having the same problem. Transferred my 2GB data plan from the iPad 2 but noticed that the speeds were the same ! I need to keep the plan on the iPad 2, so hopefully starting from scratch w/ a new data plan on the 3 will do the trick. I just thought I would be able to get away with 2 $25 plans. However, once I moved it, the 2GB option on the iPad 2 disappeared so it wouldn't have worked anyways.

 

[rower]

You can't swap sims. It wont get lte that way.

Use the sim that came with the ipad 3, and go into accounts and click on activate. It will ask you whether you are a new or existing customer - click existing, enter account name and password, and you are all done.

LTE then works. (I tried switching sims, got 4g but never LTE, until I did the above, where it worked perfectly).

----------

actually, here are the exact instructions given to me on this forum, which worked, and very easily of course:


Put back the sim that came with the new iPad, go into General Settings / Cellular Data / View Account. Click on the "Existing User?" option, sign in, and select the unlimited plan. Done. All the imei updates are handled automatically for you.

 

[MajesticNJ]

How much are you paying per month? What plan are you on?

You can't swap sims. It wont get lte that way.

Use the sim that came with the ipad 3, and go into accounts and click on activate. It will ask you whether you are a new or existing customer - click existing, enter account name and password, and you are all done.

LTE then works. (I tried switching sims, got 4g but never LTE, until I did the above, where it worked perfectly).

----------

actually, here are the exact instructions given to me on this forum, which worked, and very easily of course:


Put back the sim that came with the new iPad, go into General Settings / Cellular Data / View Account. Click on the "Existing User?" option, sign in, and select the unlimited plan. Done. All the imei updates are handled automatically for you.

 

[plathunter]

Update: AT&T finally added LTE to my postpaid 2gb data plan. Took about 5 calls since Friday and couple of hours on the phone to accomplish.

 

[MajesticNJ]

Update: AT&T finally added LTE to my postpaid 2gb data plan. Took about 5 calls since Friday and couple of hours on the phone to accomplish.

You win. I lose. After about 3 hours of back and forth today, they are upgrading me to LTE 3GB and giving me a month of credit for my data plan.

That was the best I could get. 4 people and a manager basically said that they could not give me LTE without reprovisioning to the new data plan and that comes with the new rates.

I gave up. Just really frustrated. Yeah I got the credit but ATT wins in the end.

 

[aka777]

Update: AT&T finally added LTE to my postpaid 2gb data plan. Took about 5 calls since Friday and couple of hours on the phone to accomplish.

Same deal with me. I had to speak to a number of people before they finally activated the LTE on my postpaid plan.

AT&T CS really are a clueless bunch. It's as if they have pulled a cable company and hired anyone off the street to staff the phones.

 

[MajesticNJ]

I am now getting LTE.
Downtown Manhattan. NYC.