ipad wifi + 3g

Lynton

Lynton

awkward customer
Suspended / Banned
Messages
10,606
Name
Lynton (yes really!)
Edit My Images
No
OK have recently acquired (so recent it's still in the post) an Ipad 1 with wifi and 3G, so looking for a sim deal for it. It is unlocked but not jailbroken!

Usage will be reasonably light... on phone I have (I think) 750mb or 1 gig a month) and never go over that, as pretty much use the wifi.

Not really fussed about a contract.. so thnking a PAYG data only SIM deal.

The best I can find is 3, with 3Gb over 3 months (or top up if go over) which is £21 initially and then a £15 top up gives you another 3Gb.

Will mostly be used on commute to work, rural (but O2 signal is OK) - when went to buy an O2 sim ages ago for netbook dongle, the person in O2 told me to go to 3, because coverage for data that much better... however times change so maybe O2 are in the mix as well.

I am in South Norfolk and daily commute is to Norwich and Back.

Pretty much all downloads will be over wifi or though iTunes...

any better deals out there? I have googled it and got a bit confused over what is what, so really looking to see what other users with similar circs have...

4G is obviously a no no... and as mentioned I don't want a contract.

ANy thoughts appreciated.
 
Have you consider an Ovivo sim for free data?

1GB per month for £0.

Runs on Vodafone.
 
Last edited:
Or try giff gaff, runs on O2.

On phone it's £12 month with unlimited downloads and texts, might be cheaper just for web
 
scott199 said:
Or try giff gaff, runs on O2.

On phone it's £12 month with unlimited downloads and texts, might be cheaper just for web
Click to expand...


Giffgaff is £7.50 for 1GB or £12.50 for 3GB on the "gigabags" for data.
 
I'm also interested in a data only sim so I'll be watching this thread with interest.

So what's the catch with this Ovivo thing then? There's always a catch with 'free'.....
 
andy_fozzy said:
I'm also interested in a data only sim so I'll be watching this thread with interest.

So what's the catch with this Ovivo thing then? There's always a catch with 'free'.....
Click to expand...

you get adverts every now and then between webpages when using the broswer.
 
@ OP - why can't you tether your phone to the ipad? If you don't use your phones 3G much and it has capability of tethering it makes sense to. Also if it really is an ipad 1 you bought you might find it quite slow (and it wouldn't run 4g anyway), but you've bought a neat piece of history.
 
If you have one of the later iPhones (4s and above) you can use a "personal hotspot" and use the 3G from your phone onto the iPad. That's what I do as in the evenings my 3G is faster than my broadband.
On a different note, you would need a 4g iPad to get 4g. Not that you want to go down that route.
 
Serieslandy said:
If you have one of the later iPhones (4s and above) you can use a "personal hotspot" and use the 3G from your phone onto the iPad.
Click to expand...

Dependent on network (and even contract on the network), of course.
 
I use a t-mobile payg sim, £20 for six months @ 1gb per month.
 
The other option is to get a mobile wireless router, T Mob do the one. You can get it on a contract or pay as you go. Then you can connect multiple devices to it by wifi if you want, laptop, iPad, iPod ect.... Works really well will hold a signal better than the iPad and allows the processing to be done by that for the connection.
 
Andymilts said:
The other option is to get a mobile wireless router, T Mob do the one. You can get it on a contract or pay as you go. Then you can connect multiple devices to it by wifi if you want, laptop, iPad, iPod ect.... Works really well will hold a signal better than the iPad and allows the processing to be done by that for the connection.
Click to expand...

I've used the mifi (both original and new design) it's a bit of a pain to have to carry a separate device and charger, and when wanting to quickly look something up on the net and having to get the mifi out, power up, get signal, connect and then wait for the iPad to connect.

I suppose it does the job for those who buy wifi-only iPads, but not really the optimum solution if you have a cellular iPad.
 
I'm on 3 mobile, and I cannot tether my iPhone and iPad. A warning message comes
Up from 3 saying it's not part of my package etc....

How do they know???
 
andy_fozzy said:
I'm on 3 mobile, and I cannot tether my iPhone and iPad. A warning message comes
Up from 3 saying it's not part of my package etc....

How do they know???
Click to expand...

Tethering normally uses a different APN, I'm sure that's part of it.
 
andy_fozzy said:
Any way around it, do you know?
Click to expand...

From an iOS point of view I think jail breaking and using one of the Cydia apps allows the use of the standard APN that the phone uses.

I'm not sure what other procedures they have in place, but I have used a Three sim in an iPhone with iTether, if you keep the usage sensible it seems to be OK.

Problem is, the detection methods get more sophisticated all the time, Three are particularly vigilant as they don't want tethering on the "all you can eat" plans.
 
Last edited:
Crumbs, sounds complicated!

I might just have a look at what data sims are on offer...
 
I've always used the Three 3GB for 3 month sims found on Amazon. I've found Three has much better coverage than Vodafdone
 
hollis_f said:
I've always used the Three 3GB for 3 month sims found on Amazon. I've found Three has much better coverage than Vodafdone
Click to expand...

Thanks for that idea, I remember using the Three 3GB sims years ago, I've just discovered that there are EE 4G 6GB for 90days sims now available for similar prices or cheaper than those from Three.

Even better value if you have a 4G capable device to use it in :).
 
Dave1 said:
Thanks for that idea, I remember using the Three 3GB sims years ago, I've just discovered that there are EE 4G 6GB for 90days sims now available for similar prices or cheaper than those from Three.
Click to expand...

Aha! Any idea how EE 3G is for coverage?
 
hollis_f said:
Aha! Any idea how EE 3G is for coverage?
Click to expand...

I used EE 3G for a number of years (until last June, as T-Mobile). I travelled over most of north England and was always happy with coverage and speed. It was normally likely to be slightly better than 3, (which was better than Vodafone).

The only problem with T-Mobile (as it was) was that the price plan you were on influenced the speed you would get (ranging from 384kbps up to 20Mbps). I haven't heard of EE doing similar, but my only recent experience is with 4G.

6GB versus 3GB though? Has to be worth a try?

Edit
Those EE sim cards are cheaper on ebay, from £14.99.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top