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Carrier iPad cellular data provider — best deals?

lbdesign

lbdesign

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 8, 2016
106
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Hey folks, what's your best recommendation for a "value" data provider for an iPad cellular plan?

I used to be with ATT unlimited, but didn't use it enough. For me, ideally it would be a plan with some GB and then slows down but doesn't shut off. Some of the bargain plans shut off completely when you hit a cap. It would be better if the plan slowed down to 2g rather than turning off until the 30-day renewal hits.

I might go back to ATT unlimited occasionally for vacations or business trips, and I can recommend it for that purpose. But for using around town, running errands, etc, it's overkill.

thanks
 
I would love to use only T-Mo. It’s a great deal and no worries about rollover or anything like that. You pay for what you use. Now someone who uses a lot of data may be better off with AT&T, but T-Mo is good for people who need data, but not lots and lots of it.

Unfortunately, T-Mo doesn’t work where I use mobile data most. If it did, I’d drop AT&T like a hot rock. There might be a couple of months in late fall/early winter where AT&T unlimited (now $35/month) would be more cost-effective, but the rest of the time, T-Mo, even if I bought it a couple of times a month, would cost me less.
 
I'm not sure that T Mobile is offering the $10/ 5 gigs/ 150 day plan anymore. I used it for a long time (about 2 years), but let it lapse when we traveled out of the country. I tried to sign up for it again last month & it's no longer an option for me. They replaced it with some other plans that are still good, but not as good as the old one. The cheapest plan I can now get is on a monthly recurring charge $10 for 2 gigs of high speed data, which then slows down after that, but does not cut off. It is still the best deal that I've seen out there. If the $10/ 5 gigs/ 150 days is still around ,it's absolutely the best deal out there, but just beware that it might now be gone, or might at least disappear after you renew too many times on it.
 
I’m good with my AT&T pre-paid $35 plan. It is easily 100MBPS around my house, and I’m in the country too. I use anywhere from 100GB-300GB per month. Never throttles, never slows down! It is just as fast at 1GB of data used, as it is with 300GB of data used.

I have been at some crazy high data usage at home, then travel in to the dense city and AT&T slows my speeds a little. And once I get back home it is back to fast again lol.
 
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mk313 said:
I'm not sure that T Mobile is offering the $10/ 5 gigs/ 150 day plan anymore. I used it for a long time (about 2 years), but let it lapse when we traveled out of the country. I tried to sign up for it again last month & it's no longer an option for me. They replaced it with some other plans that are still good, but not as good as the old one. The cheapest plan I can now get is on a monthly recurring charge $10 for 2 gigs of high speed data, which then slows down after that, but does not cut off. It is still the best deal that I've seen out there. If the $10/ 5 gigs/ 150 days is still around ,it's absolutely the best deal out there, but just beware that it might now be gone, or might at least disappear after you renew too many times on it.
Click to expand...

I purchased one of these passes last week, so it's still around, in the Northeast at least.
 
phairphan said:
I purchased one of these passes last week, so it's still around, in the Northeast at least.
Click to expand...

That’s good to hear. It does make me wonder why I can’t get it any longer. Thanks for sharing that.
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
I searched the internet yesterday and couldn’t find the deal.
Click to expand...
Access it on-device from Settings > Cellular Data > Add a New Plan.

Choose T-Mobile, then “Go prepaid”, then tap the One-Time Passes tab

FA36C01B-407A-412C-BBD2-4ADFCD1D7F51.jpeg
 
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onepoint said:
Access it on-device from Settings > Cellular Data > Add a New Plan.

Choose T-Mobile, then “Go prepaid”, then tap the One-Time Passes tab

View attachment 841951
Click to expand...
Note, this was intended as a promotional offer for new iPads. It likely wasn't intended to be used indefinitely either so not all devices may have it and it may stop being offered based on T-Mobile's discretion.

My old VZW iPad Air didn't have this promo so I thought I'd be clever and activate a new SIM and sign up using a 5th gen for which the promo does work. Couldn't activate a new SIM on 5th gen with the promo but I could renew the $10/5GB promo on the old SIM just fine.

My guess is T-Mobile links IMEI and phone number upon initial sign-up. Promo offer is probably available for renewal as long as you don't let service lapse for too long that you're reassigned a new number when you renew/sign up again.
 
rui no onna said:
Note, this was intended as a promotional offer for new iPads. It likely wasn't intended to be used indefinitely either so not all devices may have it and it may stop being offered based on T-Mobile's discretion.

My old VZW iPad Air didn't have this promo so I thought I'd be clever and activate a new SIM and sign up using a 5th gen for which the promo does work. Couldn't activate a new SIM on 5th gen with the promo but I could renew the $10/5GB promo on the old SIM just fine.

My guess is T-Mobile links IMEI and phone number upon initial sign-up. Promo offer is probably available for renewal as long as you don't let service lapse for too long that you're reassigned a new number when you renew/sign up again.
Click to expand...
I think you are right. Just checked on my mini 5, and was not shown that offer.
 
onepoint said:
Access it on-device from Settings > Cellular Data > Add a New Plan.

Choose T-Mobile, then “Go prepaid”, then tap the One-Time Passes tab

View attachment 841951
Click to expand...

Thank you Onepoint. And thank you also LibbyLA, Gnomeisland, et al, for sharing the T-Mobile plan! That is a great deal! I found it with your helpful post, and look forward to trying it out next time I'm away from home.

ATT is not my favorite corporation, but their unlimited plan (I was grandfathered in since day 1 and afraid to cancel it, until I canceled it) always worked pretty well.
 
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rui no onna said:
Note, this was intended as a promotional offer for new iPads. It likely wasn't intended to be used indefinitely either so not all devices may have it and it may stop being offered based on T-Mobile's discretion.

My old VZW iPad Air didn't have this promo so I thought I'd be clever and activate a new SIM and sign up using a 5th gen for which the promo does work. Couldn't activate a new SIM on 5th gen with the promo but I could renew the $10/5GB promo on the old SIM just fine.

My guess is T-Mobile links IMEI and phone number upon initial sign-up. Promo offer is probably available for renewal as long as you don't let service lapse for too long that you're reassigned a new number when you renew/sign up again.
Click to expand...
I had this plan active with a physical Apple SIM card in my current iPad Mini (the physical SIM was previously in my Mini 4, and has the promo free 200mb/mo still active).

I just now signed up for a new 150-day session with the e-SIM in the iPad Mini, and used my original T-Mobile credentials for the account. A new phone number was assigned to the e-SIM and the plan is working.

I’m not sure what that means exactly, just wanted to add another data point to the thread.

85219DC3-E26F-4A5C-B7EB-2A4E9AF13310.jpeg
 
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