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So, 3G iPadder's, can you sign up for 3G without being on WiFi?

M

melman101

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 3, 2009
2,751
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As the topic says:
So, 3G iPadder's, can you sign up for 3G without being on WiFi?

Anyone know any info on this? I'm just curious :)
 
1 poster commented that he had ATT signal when he first booted up so I can going to say that it is 99% possible to sign up without wifi. Would still like someone to confirm that for me
 
I would think it would use 3G to send the sign up info. It doesn't make sense otherwise.
 
Yes but there could be free 3G access for that part where it sends At&t your credit card info.

Think of wifi at hotels or airports that require you to pay. It allows you to go "online" prior to paying but only for the setup part which then "unlocks" the rest of the Internet for use.
 
every thread that asks this question is always full of speculation.

Can we refrain from adding more speculation and just wait until someone who has a 3G can actually confirm that they were out of range of a wifi network and was able to sign up via 3G?

I really cannot understand why everyone has to throw in the same unconfirmed comments.

What purpose does it serve to continue to speculate about this?
 
patp said:
every thread that asks this question is always full of speculation.

Can we refrain from adding more speculation and just wait until someone who has a 3G can actually confirm that they were out of range of a wifi network and was able to sign up via 3G?

I really cannot understand why everyone has to throw in the same unconfirmed comments.

What purpose does it serve to continue to speculate about this?
Click to expand...

Or just turn off the WiFi and try it :)
 
melman101 said:
Or just turn off the WiFi and try it :)
Click to expand...

that would be great if anyone who has the 3G ipad can CONFIRM this.

or we could have more people guessing and sharing what they think it should be.

i vote for someone who actually has one and can confirm. call me crazy
 
I haven't signed up yet gonna wait till I need it on Monday. Out of the box I had signal and could open the page to setup my account, which is web based. So I'm gonna have to say you can.
 
patp said:
every thread that asks this question is always full of speculation.

Can we refrain from adding more speculation and just wait until someone who has a 3G can actually confirm that they were out of range of a wifi network and was able to sign up via 3G?

I really cannot understand why everyone has to throw in the same unconfirmed comments.

What purpose does it serve to continue to speculate about this?
Click to expand...


I would like to know why this is so important that you must have the absolute fact from someone who has a 3G unit, and why it is so urgent that you know this morning. If you had one you could answer it yourself. You don't, so why do you care? Just curious.

If no one answer by the time mine arrives this morning (Las Vegas) I will turn off my wifi and let you know.
 
CarboysDesire said:
I would like to know why this is so important that you must have the absolute fact from someone who has a 3G unit. If you had one you could answer it yourself. You don't, so why do you care? Just curious.

If no one answer by the time mine arrives this morning (Las Vegas) I will turn off my wifi and let you know.
Click to expand...

I agree, but for the fact that this would be a fairly major issue if one needed wifi to sign up for 3G. Since if you had wifi you probably didnt need 3G that badly at that moment.
 
I care because I'm in Canada wanting to travel to the USA and I can't even get an iPad here until late May. I appreciate you trying this when you get it Carboys
 
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/907626/


macrumors member

Join Date: Jan 2010

You can activate it from anywhere you have an ATT signal. There are directions available on how to trim a sim card. My guess is that they are different sizes just for the reasons discussed. So if you cut it down it will work but you can't put it back in your phone. I know how the activation works because this is coming to you from a3G iPad on the 3G network

I just activated my 3G account WITHOUT accessing my wifi. It was short and painless. Probably took 3-5 minutes total. https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=9802366#post9802366


CONFIRMED you DO NOT need WIFI to sign up for 3G
 
Thanks, Carboys. I was just about to post this. I intentionally activated before adding to my wifi network.

It worked fine.
 
Just got my iPad 3G and when I turned it on and sync I had the 3G icon so I can purchase the 3G. So the answer is yes. Although the 3G icon is on before purchasing the monthly plan you can't use it to access safari or anything else that uses Internet. Just for enabling 3G
 
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