Verizon 4G SIM in AT&T iPad?

[IllIllIll]

Anyone tried this combination yet? There are plenty of threads where people have successfully used AT&T SIMs in VZW iPads but not the other way around. I was tempted to try putting the SIM from my Verizon Droid Bionic in my ATT iPad, but then noticed that the SIM in the Bionic isn't a microSIM.

Still, using a VZW SIM in an ATT iPad sounds like the best of both worlds: consistent VZW 4G speeds with a more versatile 4G radio (1700 and 2100MHz bands) in the ATT iPad. I've got unlimited data plans on both VZW and ATT and intend on holding on to both of them.

Assuming one could obtain a microSIM from VZW, anyone tried this and had it work?

 

[kewlguy781]

Anyone tried this combination yet? There are plenty of threads where people have successfully used AT&T SIMs in VZW iPads but not the other way around. I was tempted to try putting the SIM from my Verizon Droid Bionic in my ATT iPad, but then noticed that the SIM in the Bionic isn't a microSIM.

Still, using a VZW SIM in an ATT iPad sounds like the best of both worlds: consistent VZW 4G speeds with a more versatile 4G radio (1700 and 2100MHz bands) in the ATT iPad. I've got unlimited data plans on both VZW and ATT and intend on holding on to both of them.

Assuming one could obtain a microSIM from VZW, anyone tried this and had it work?

it will not work. Verizon and ATT use different LTE, and Verizon use CDMA for 3g.

 

[hntr]

LTE bands

it will not work. Verizon and ATT use different LTE, and Verizon use CDMA for 3g.

Actually, the AT&T iPad supports the same LTE band needed by Verizon, 700 MHz (http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/).

Theoretically, a Verizon SIM should work in an AT&T LTE iPad for LTE connections. However, it wouldn't support 3G, as you correctly noted in that it doesn't support Verizon's CDMA band.

I don't have a Verizon SIM to test with, but hopefully someone will soon! To my knowledge, Verizon doesn't offer micro-sized SIMs, but regular SIMs are fairly easy enough to cut down to the correct size. (It was a common practice when the iPhone 4 was first released.)

 

[christophermdia]

Wirelessly posted

Actually there are 2 versions Of the 700mhz band, an upper and a lower. Can't remember which is which but AT&T supports upper for instance and Verizon lower. These cannot both be read by the same radio included in the iPad. It's a shame though, would have been nice. I chose Verizon iPad since AT&T rollout is so slow for LTE. By the time they match Verizon coverage iPad 5 will be out.

 

[hntr]

Ah, thanks for the clarification, christophermdia!

From what I've been able to find, which is not very much, it sounds like AT&T and Verizon iPads both use Qualcomm's MDM9600 chip. But if so, that doesn't make sense why one supports CDMA and the other doesn't, unless it's solely based on antennas. Have you been able to find anything about different chips in the AT&T and Verizon versions?

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EDIT: Just found one of the main articles leading to my belief: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5661/the-new-ipad-4g-contains-qualcomms-mdm9600

It posits that it might be the same baseband chip, only with CDMA2000 1x/EVDO enabled or disabled. But it goes on to say that AT&T, Verizon, and international models might ship with different modules and power amplifiers, which exceeds my knowledge of cellular technology.