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Are there any microsims available in the UK yet?

cjbryce

cjbryce

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 4, 2008
558
281
London
Nice shiny new iPad 3G bought in the States, which I can't yet fully use on the go because the networks don't yet supply iPad microsim/WiFi contracts as they do for the iPhone. I don't fancy joining BTOpenzone/The Cloud separately and most of my clients have no WiFi on site for security reasons!

Does anyone suppky a pre-pay microsim yet?
 
Just cut the plastic end of a normal sim. There exactly the same electronically, its just the micro sim doesn't have the extra bit of wasted plastic at the end.

It works.

If you dont want to ruin your sim card then i suggest getting a free payg one from o2 or someone and try it with that. then when you have got it to fit correctly.. use that as a guide for the real one you want to use.


See here..
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/06/ipad_sim/
 
I found some cheap Vodafone SIMs on eBay which suit the iPad perfectly. I cut one last night using scissors and got it working in my iPad once I set the APN details.

I posted details on my blog

Longer term I think it's going to work out cheaper NOT going with one of the dedicated iPhone plans and just keep cutting other SIM cards.
 
willtj said:
Just cut the plastic end of a normal sim. There exactly the same electronically, its just the micro sim doesn't have the extra bit of wasted plastic at the end.

It works.

If you dont want to ruin your sim card then i suggest getting a free payg one from o2 or someone and try it with that. then when you have got it to fit correctly.. use that as a guide for the real one you want to use.


See here..
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/06/ipad_sim/
Click to expand...

Pring said:
I found some cheap Vodafone SIMs on eBay which suit the iPad perfectly. I cut one last night using scissors and got it working in my iPad once I set the APN details.

I posted details on my blog

Longer term I think it's going to work out cheaper NOT going with one of the dedicated iPhone plans and just keep cutting other SIM cards.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I bought one of the pre-pay Vodafone dongles and cut the SIM card down to size as suggested. Vodafone 3G shows up as the carrier, and I've set the APN to "pp.internet, web, web"

BUT all I get is "Could not activate cellular data network. You are not subscribed to a cellular data service" or "Safari cannot open the page, because it is not connected to the internet".

I've also tried "pp.vodafone.co.uk, web, web" as APN settings.

I've clearly done something wrong/stupid. Any ideas?
 
cjbryce said:
Thanks. I bought one of the pre-pay Vodafone dongles and cut the SIM card down to size as suggested. Vodafone 3G shows up as the carrier, and I've set the APN to "pp.internet, web, web"

BUT all I get is "Could not activate cellular data network. You are not subscribed to a cellular data service" or "Safari cannot open the page, because it is not connected to the internet".

I've also tried "pp.vodafone.co.uk, web, web" as APN settings.

I've clearly done something wrong/stupid. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Have you activated the SIM on the Vodafone signup page? The prepay should have come with details on how to do that.

The SIMs I link in the blog post come pre-enabled (I think they're demo SIMs) but usually you have to sign up online so that the IMSI on the SIM is marked as being enabled on the network.
 
cjbryce said:
Thanks. I bought one of the pre-pay Vodafone dongles and cut the SIM card down to size as suggested. Vodafone 3G shows up as the carrier, and I've set the APN to "pp.internet, web, web"

BUT all I get is "Could not activate cellular data network. You are not subscribed to a cellular data service" or "Safari cannot open the page, because it is not connected to the internet".

I've also tried "pp.vodafone.co.uk, web, web" as APN settings.

I've clearly done something wrong/stupid. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Strangely it now works. I swapped my pre-pay SIM for a colleague's to check it - it worked. Put mibe back in, and it now works. APN settings are BLANK:confused: but it works:confused:
 
Orange, vodafone and O2 have all said the'll announce prices at the end of the month. I guess this means this is when you'll be able to get micro sims overe here.
 
yeah here's another guide for sim to microsim

not sure of the price for voda but may I suggest 3 mobile is only £5 for 1GB of data and they don't limit it so iplayer and such should work aOK
 
SteveWTW said:
This is the best guide I've found. I'm trying it later today with my Virgin SIM and I'll report back news.
Click to expand...

It worked with the Virgin SIM! Please note that once you cut the card down to size, it's important to round off the corners very slightly to get it to fit into the tray.

I had a few moments of worry when it said 'No Service' when I inserted the card but rebooted the iPad and all was well. For anyone interested, the APN for Virgin is goto.virginmobile.uk (no username or password is required).

For anyone who has a Virgin service at home, you can get a mobile dongle and the data is charged at £5 per 1G for a month.
 
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