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Can you use iPad 3g in china

T

tac22

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 16, 2009
409
0
My grandfather has been using an iPad an all of a sudden he tells me he is going out and buying one tomorrow. He is the kind of guy who makes up his mind and it needs to be done emediety.

However he is going on a 3 week trip to china in a month and want to know if he can use it there. He will get the 3g one if he could use it there. And is wifi common like in the US (I ask because those Chinese iPhone were made without wifi in them)

So would an AT&T roaming option work? Could he get a local micro sim? And how well would wifi work their?

Thanks I'd love a quick reply :)
 
There is a thread that helped with the options in China in the last few weeks. I'd go hunt it down but it is 4am and I am supposed to be trying to sleep!

Good luck and I hope he enjoys his trip!
 
China Unicom is your friend

Hi Tac22, I live in Shanghai and have a 3G iPad.
When your grandfather is over, his best bet is to go into a computer centre or something similar and go to one of the many shops that are selling "grey" iPads. He will be able to get a pre-paid China Unicom 3G sim card from them and they will also cut it down to micro-sim size for him. FYI, I paid RMB1,200 (approx USD180) for 12 months of 3GB/m of data. I believe that 1 month duration cards can be purchased for around RMB150 (USD22) with a similar 3GB d/l available.
A warning, make sure that he gets a China Unicom sim and NOT China Mobile as CMC operate their own Chinese version of 3G which will not work on an iPad.
Wireless is prevelent here, but you will usually need to sign in, with deals done through the mobile providers or ISPs.
Hope this helps.
 
at present, only can be used in hong kong, if you wanna use it in Mainland of China, it will not work...but just a few months later, you would use ipad due to it has been passed China 3C certification now. So sooner or later, ipad will land in China mainland.;)
 
wearehere said:
at present, only can be used in hong kong, if you wanna use it in Mainland of China, it will not work...but just a few months later, you would use ipad due to it has been passed China 3C certification now. So sooner or later, ipad will land in China mainland.;)
Click to expand...

Huh?

iPad 3G will work fine in China now, just get the China Unicom 3G SIM and have it trimmed down to size like the other poster said. Places that sell the iPad stuff? Go to Pacific Digital Plaza (太平洋数码广场). Metro stop Xujiahui (徐家汇) line 1.

Another option is not bothering with 3G as wifi is way more common in Shanghai than most cities in the US. Hotel rooms, cafes, restaurants, etc.
 
Okay thanks everyone, the pre-paid China Unicom 3G sim card looks like the best bet if i was him but I'll let him know his options. Though he might end up with wifi only since you say wifi is extra common, and as an older guy he might have difficulty with instructions to go buy a sim card.

But thanks again :)
 
Just to clarify, it WILL also work with China Mobile, but you will only be able to connect to Edge.
 
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