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Are uk ipad's locked to a network?

V

valleyboy74

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
33
0
Got myself a wifi+3G iPad today and an o2 sim. The girl in the apple store said that once I registered the sim it would lock the iPad to o2? Is this correct? I would like to have the freedom of changing network providers in the future.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. Just one more question, if I cut down my Orange mobile broadband sim would it work in the iPad? This would give me great coverage for mostbplaces I go.

Cheers
Valleyboy74
 
You may have misunderstood her, or she may have misunderstood what happens.

When you put a SIM into the iPad and sync/register/activate an iPad, it installs the settings for the network that provided the card. In some cases, this means that if you take that card out and just pop another card in, it won't work right away. You will have to reconnect to iTunes and get the new settings for the new network to connect.
 
iPads are not locked to a network in any location. Completely unlike iPhone.
 
Ah, thanks obamtl, this is good to know.

So I can't just change the sim over and use the new network I'll need to connect to iTunes first. Need to be a bit more organised then!
 
Yes you can. Once the update is done it remembers the carrier settings. If you pit an unknown sim in and happen to be away from iTunes you can manually enter the carrier settings etc.
 
obamtl said:
You may have misunderstood her, or she may have misunderstood what happens.

When you put a SIM into the iPad and sync/register/activate an iPad, it installs the settings for the network that provided the card. In some cases, this means that if you take that card out and just pop another card in, it won't work right away. You will have to reconnect to iTunes and get the new settings for the new network to connect.
Click to expand...

Not true. Once an iPad is activated, it's always activated. You can simply set the APN through the iPad settings.

I purchased an iPad in the US with an AT&T plan. When I got home in Belgium I purchased a new cellular plan from a local provider, installed the SIM, set the APN and was done.

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of APNs if you need: http://modmyi.com/wiki/index.php/Carrier_APN_Settings

If you don't see your carrier just Google <carrier name> APN
 
Czicks said:
Not true. Once an iPad is activated, it's always activated. You can simply set the APN through the iPad settings.

I purchased an iPad in the US with an AT&T plan. When I got home in Belgium I purchased a new cellular plan from a local provider, installed the SIM, set the APN and was done.

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of APNs if you need: http://modmyi.com/wiki/index.php/Carrier_APN_Settings

If you don't see your carrier just Google <carrier name> APN
Click to expand...

Yea. I don't know what these people are talking about. Unless the iPad treats network settings very different from the way the iPhone does, what some of the above posters have said doesn't seem right. I've put multiple different SIM cards in my iPhone without connecting to iTunes. Sometimes the APN settings are automatically entered correctly (presumably from the SIM card) and sometimes they would need to be entered manually. It has always annoyed me that ever since the early versions of iOS, they have obscured the APN settings for many SIM cards so you can't edit them.*

1. Yes, I know that you can edit them if you jailbreak, and possibly if you don't. Also, fakeAPN is helpful.
2. I tried about 8 different SIM cards, and a few had the ability to edit APN settings, but most didn't. And it seemed completely dependent on which card you put in.
 
Czicks said:
Not true. Once an iPad is activated, it's always activated. You can simply set the APN through the iPad settings.

I purchased an iPad in the US with an AT&T plan. When I got home in Belgium I purchased a new cellular plan from a local provider, installed the SIM, set the APN and was done.

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of APNs if you need: http://modmyi.com/wiki/index.php/Carrier_APN_Settings

If you don't see your carrier just Google <carrier name> APN
Click to expand...

Geez! Read what I wrote again, I never said you have to 'activate' the iPad each time you switch your SIM card. What I said, and I quote 'In some cases, this means that if you take that card out and just pop another card in, it won't work right away'. That is a fact. You need the settings. Of course if you're a certified geek that has all the APN settings of every network on his finger tips and can go poking around through settings to manually enter them, you may not need iTunes. Either way you do need the new settings for the new carrier inputed into the device. iTunes does this for you automatically when you connect the iPad to iTunes.
 
obamtl said:
Geez! Read what I wrote again, I never said you have to 'activate' the iPad each time you switch your SIM card. What I said, and I quote 'In some cases, this means that if you take that card out and just pop another card in, it won't work right away'. That is a fact. You need the settings. Of course if you're a certified geek that has all the APN settings of every network on his finger tips and can go poking around through settings to manually enter them, you may not need iTunes. Either way you do need the new settings for the new carrier inputed into the device. iTunes does this for you automatically when you connect the iPad to iTunes.
Click to expand...

Get offended much? You said "You will have to reconnect to iTunes and get the new settings for the new network to connect." That is not true, so quit whining.
 
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