T-Mobile to Stop Offering 200MB of Free Data for New iPad Owners

[ecschwarz]

It does while you are using the data you are paying for. If you only have the 200MB free each month and no paid data plan, the 200MB portion is tied to the device it was activated in. Once the 200MB is used and you begin your paid data allotment, the sim can be pulled out and use in any device.

So your reply was correct and incorrect depending on the data being used.

Yep - a back-and-forth with T-Mobile over chat basically yielded nothing for a SIM card tied to my warranty-replaced iPad (Did you reset your iPad? Is data working? Etc. etc.) so it seems my option is to get a new SIM card and set it up as new, as the old SIM has 200MB that can't be used by my current device, so I'll never "hit" the other data. Their answer was basically "something is wrong with your SIM and we can order you a new one or visit a store" - at that point, I may just grab a Verizon or AT&T SIM at any retailer since that and a little data for a trip would be a wash for replacing the SIM through T-Mobile (they pulled out of most retailers and increased SIM kit prices).

 

[Aston441]

You Millenials are so funny - thinking that the world owes you free everything.

I'm old as dirt.

Giving something then taking it away is lame.

I'm so old I remember what it was called. It wasn't PC. It was called Indian Giving.

 

[Essaux]

I have been with T-Mobile now for 4 years and find their plans and offerings very solid in comparison to other carriers.

 

[vpndev]

Inaccurate.

If you take the SIM out of the original device and put it in a new device, the account continues to work.

OP was correct. I tried moving my T-M "free data" SIM to a new iPad and the whole thing was totally messed. Went to a T-M store and got a new SIM and a new account - no problem.

Of course, you can't cancel the old account because the SIM no longer works and yo no longer have the old iPad. So T-M still tells me each month that I have another 200MB on that account. Even after three years of inactivity !

 

[blackcrayon]

OP was correct. I tried moving my T-M "free data" SIM to a new iPad and the whole thing was totally messed. Went to a T-M store and got a new SIM and a new account - no problem.

Of course, you can't cancel the old account because the SIM no longer works and yo no longer have the old iPad. So T-M still tells me each month that I have another 200MB on that account. Even after three years of inactivity !

I have used more than one of them moved to old iPhones and they work just fine. Maybe it depends on if the sim was "born" in a purchased iPad vs. buying one of the sims retail and then activating it and moving it to another device afterward.

 

[SkippyThorson]

I actually bought LTE iPads for the GPS chip and this T-Mobile data promo. 200mb was just enough to grab quick directions, find an address, or pull up an email on the road. I probably used it up each month. Shame, because it was likely a drop in the bucket for T-Mobile. I'd bet most people, even T-Mo customers, didn't even know this existed. Oh well. Fun while it lasted. Back to tethering on AT&T!

 

[blucable]

200MB back before 2001 was ok. 200MB after that year is just an insult, I don't even know why they bother.

 

[tivoboy]

It was nice to have the 200MB plan for just that casual look for things if needed, but I can see why taking it away makes sense.. too much to manage and service for no return.

hopefully, they will KEEP the 5GB for 10$ over five months plan which I continue to use over and over again on my rarely used cellular ipad. I can deal with having that instead of the 200MB

 

[redscull]

hopefully, they will KEEP the 5GB for 10$ over five months plan which I continue to use over and over again on my rarely used cellular ipad

Do you happen to know a link for that? Outside of it being mentioned in this thread, I'd never heard of that plan. Sounds like a great plan. The tablet plans listed on their website are much more expensive:
https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-internet

Edit: T-Mobile chat rep told me that offer is a "special" that can go away at any time. That's why it isn't listed on the website.

 

[anthonysjennings]

Lots of confusing replies and misinformation going on here...

We never asked for this, but somehow it got added to our data plan. It survived the death of the data match promo and switch to the 5GB Simple Choice plan and so now we have 5GB PLUS 200mb each month.

Bizarre. Guess we get to keep it though.

Once the Free Data for Life plan was offered, T-Mobile tacked it on to all new tablet data plan activations. No matter how much data your monthly or daily/weekly pass was, your account also got the extra 200mb/month. You don’t have to ask for free stuff, or even be informed of it explicitly if it doesn’t cost you anything extra. Even then, as someone else noted, you got an email every month saying your 200mb FDFL had been renewed.

It was, it was also available via the Apple Sim so when I visited the USA a few months ago I fired up my iPad whilst at the luggage carousel and got 200mb of free data on my iPad Pro I bought from Apple in the UK!

Free Data for Life was offered on T-Mobile branded SIMs as well as the Apple SIM and the embedded Apple SIM. Folks are discussing these SIMs as essentially being the same thing, but there are differences. A few people have mentioned some of them.

T-Mobile branded SIMs with FDFL initially could be moved between tablets, as the FDFL was attached to the SIM, not the device. This eventually changed.

Apple branded physical Apple SIMs activated to T-Mobile using FDFL initially could be moved between iPads and iPhones! When in an iPhone you got no voice service or SMS, but everything else worked. Using Google Hangouts or some other VOIP app got you a fully working iPhone for no monthly charge. T-Mobile eventually began barring smartphones from using Apple SIMs on FDFL. In this case, FDFL was tied to the SIM card, not the device, but smartphones were eventually barred (you were redirected to an upsell webpage).

Embedded Apple SIMs purchased in the iPad Pro *from Apple* (or any entity that is not a cellular carrier) activated to T-Mobile are not forever locked to T-Mobile. You can sign up for any and all data providers available in your country (caveats for China, etc). You can also insert a physical carrier-branded SIM card in the SIM slot and switch between the embedded SIM and the removable SIM. Using the embedded SIM for FDFL and sticking in a T-Mobile SIM also on FDFL is possible. What isn’t possible is using an Apple-branded physical SIM in the SIM slot. iOS prevents using an unactivated Apple-branded physical SIM in an iPad Pro.

The good news since embedded SIMs came out is once again a T-Mobile activated FDFL Apple-branded SIM works in iPhones again!

Disappointing considering that little bit of data couldn't be costing them all that much. Hopefully they will offer something else in the future.

Agreed. Until then I guess people can use the free data from FreedomPop (free once all of the add-on’s and promotions are deleted). That can be anywhere from 100mb (usable) up to about 1 gigabyte free.

[QUOTE="tivoboy, post: 24563212, member: 52906”]Hopefully, they will KEEP the 5GB for 10$ over five months plan which I continue to use over and over again on my rarely used cellular ipad. I can deal with having that instead of the 200MB[/QUOTE]

Agreed! Five gigs for 150 days (or until used up, whichever comes first) is the best PAYG cellular plan on tablets for moderate data users. You can even purchase multiple 5gb/$10 passes as they stack. However! If you don’t add data to the SIM at least once a year, T-Mobile burns your SIM card and renders it unusable. I hope they don’t start killing off embedded Apple SIMs activated to FDFL because of this policy.

 

[eyoungren]

Once the Free Data for Life plan was offered, T-Mobile tacked it on to all new tablet data plan activations. No matter how much data your monthly or daily/weekly pass was, your account also got the extra 200mb/month. You don’t have to ask for free stuff, or even be informed of it explicitly if it doesn’t cost you anything extra. Even then, as someone else noted, you got an email every month saying your 200mb FDFL had been renewed.

Thanks for the clarification.

However, 18 months later after porting to T-Mobile, I have yet to receive one of these emails.

 

[anthonysjennings]

Thanks for the clarification.

However, 18 months later after porting to T-Mobile, I have yet to receive one of these emails.

They are pretty spammy looking. Also, did you ever associate an email address with your account? Assuming you did. If I recall correctly, when data plans were initially offered on cellular iPads, you didn't have to provide an email address to T-Mobile...

 

[eyoungren]

They are pretty spammy looking. Also, did you ever associate an email address with your account? Assuming you did. If I recall correctly, when data plans were initially offered on cellular iPads, you didn't have to provide an email address to T-Mobile...

Yeah, actually, that's one of the first things I did (email address).

I talked to them on a Saturday morning. When I made my decision at Saturday noon to go with them though, because they didn't have the phones we wanted in stock, I had to wait to port. So they created temporary numbers for us for our phones only at the time.

I went home and using the temp number that was to be associated with the primary number on my account I created a T-Mobile account using my email address. Our phones came in on Monday and we ported all four lines (2 voice, 2 tablet). However, I had to wait for one iPad to show up, which was later in the week. So, until that happened neither tablet SIM was being used.

So, yeah. They had my email address on day 1. But the iPad SIMs didn't get used for the first time until a week later.

 

[bobstar]

******. Use Freedompop instead. More free data

 

[tivoboy]

Do you happen to know a link for that? Outside of it being mentioned in this thread, I'd never heard of that plan. Sounds like a great plan. The tablet plans listed on their website are much more expensive:
https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-internet

Edit: T-Mobile chat rep told me that offer is a "special" that can go away at any time. That's why it isn't listed on the website.

yeah, it's not on the website, but does show up in the options on the ipads.

 

[ecschwarz]

The 5GB/150 day plan only shows up for certain iPads (I think Air 2, mini 3, and Pros). I tried to get it on some mini 2s at work with no luck.

I'm debating what to do next...get a new SIM and set it up (and only activate data when traveling), throw my spare line Cricket SIM in the iPad (even though they don't support non-phone devices, iPads often show up as iPhones), or go with someone else...either way, it's a little tougher for T-Mobile to be the default.

 

[Tech198]

"customers with 200MB of free LTE data each month for the life of the tablet, a promotion that is now coming to an end."

Seem T-Mobile bit off more than they could chew.. Tablets last a long time.

Reminds me when MS took away the free Onedrive storage.

 

[iDuel]

"customers with 200MB of free LTE data each month for the life of the tablet, a promotion that is now coming to an end."

Seem T-Mobile bit off more than they could chew.. Tablets last a long time.

Reminds me when MS took away the free Onedrive storage.

But in the grand scheme of things, how much did 200MB really cost them? You can't really do much with that for long, and it probably encouraged people to purchase more data from T-Mobile when they used it up for the month.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I have one of these, but rarely use it. What happens when you hit the 200MB limit? What kind of notification does it give?

 

[blackcrayon]

I have one of these, but rarely use it. What happens when you hit the 200MB limit? What kind of notification does it give?

I think either the device notifies you or you get a text to your account phone #. Then you have to wait until the next 30 day period (or of course, can optionally pay for some bandwidth).

 

[BeatCrazy]

I think either the device notifies you or you get a text to your account phone #. Then you have to wait until the next 30 day period (or of course, can optionally pay for some bandwidth).

Thanks. Originally got this with a T-Mobile LTE Air 1. That device is long gone, but I still have the SIM, and still get the monthly emails notifying me of my 200MB. However, I don't have any other T-Mo service. Is this SIM going to work in a 10.5 Pro LTE model?

 

[blackcrayon]

Thanks. Originally got this with a T-Mobile LTE Air 1. That device is long gone, but I still have the SIM, and still get the monthly emails notifying me of my 200MB. However, I don't have any other T-Mo service. Is this SIM going to work in a 10.5 Pro LTE model?

I think it's technically compatible, but you'll have to try it. T-Mobile says you can't move one of these 200MB plans from one device to a another. But I've tried it and gotten it to work maybe 2 out of 3 times. Can't hurt to pop it in and see if it will activate service I guess (though maybe there is a risk it won't work if you have to put it back in the Air or something...).

T-Mobile does still offer that $10 (one time fee) for 5 Months or 5GB promotion so if the sim transfer fails, that's a nice cheap option for the first 5 months of your new iPad. That's what I'm using on my 10.5.

 

[tivoboy]

I have one of these, but rarely use it. What happens when you hit the 200MB limit? What kind of notification does it give?

I get a modal box pop up in the middle of the screen with a warning. I have the 10$ 5GB plan on that account though, so it's just an alert that the 200MB monthly is running out and they it starts to pull from the 5GB plan

 

[solongtj]

It does while you are using the data you are paying for. If you only have the 200MB free each month and no paid data plan, the 200MB portion is tied to the device it was activated in. Once the 200MB is used and you begin your paid data allotment, the sim can be pulled out and use in any device.

So your reply was correct and incorrect depending on the data being used.

Incorrect. I have no post paid T-Mobile account of any kind (phone, tablet or otherwise). I signed up for the 200mb FDFL on my iPad Air 2 a few years ago. Today I bought the new iPad Pro 10.5 and tried signing up for FDFL and saw it wasn't an option. I took my Apple Sim out of my iPad Air 2 and put it into my iPad Pro 10.5 and the T-Mobile service instantly popped up. I turned wifi off and the data works perfectly. So, it can be moved around from device to device and is not locked to my old iPad. To go further, I put the Apple Sim into a phone that isn't active and it works there also... so... good for all of us who have FDFL on a Sim and who want to upgrade their iPads/tablet.

 

[tivoboy]

Incorrect. I have no post paid T-Mobile account of any kind (phone, tablet or otherwise). I signed up for the 200mb FDFL on my iPad Air 2 a few years ago. Today I bought the new iPad Pro 10.5 and tried signing up for FDFL and saw it wasn't an option. I took my Apple Sim out of my iPad Air 2 and put it into my iPad Pro 10.5 and the T-Mobile service instantly popped up. I turned wifi off and the data works perfectly. So, it can be moved around from device to device and is not locked to my old iPad. To go further, I put the Apple Sim into a phone that isn't active and it works there also... so... good for all of us who have FDFL on a Sim and who want to upgrade their iPads/tablet.

That could be that it is actually tied to one specific Sim, in your case the external SIM, and not the "embedded SIM" that many use to activate accounts. In the latter case the transferability maybe deprecated