I have an iPad2 ATT 3G, which I purchased in the US. I am traveling in the UK and would like replace the SIM and use a UK 3G network. Question is: I have never activated the ATT network while in the States and now I seem to recall reading somewhere that I would have to have done that using iTunes while still in the US, before coming over and swapping SIMs. Am I remembering correctly?, because I bought a UK SIM today and swapped it out and while I'm getting a 3G signal (indicated in the upper left corner) everytime I try to actually use the net, I get a message saying " you are not currently signed up for a data plan, would you like to do so now?", then when I click "yes", I get a message saying "connection failed"

Now I'm wondering if I screwed up and should have activated the 3G before coming over, or maybe there's some other problem. Or maybe I can be on wifi while activating the 3G?

I'll be going back to the place I bought the SIM today to see if they can help but if there is anyone who's been down this road and can shed some light I'd be grateful.

Thanks

You do not have to activate the AT&T SIM card. Go visit your provider.

-t

thewitt is correct, as always! Although there were initial rumours that you needed to activate a US AT&T iPad in the States first of all before returning to the UK, those rumours have been thoroughly disproven. So it's not that issue that's the problem here. As thewitt suggests, you might want to visit your provider. Is this a PAYG SIM that you've purchased? Or a monthly plan? The latter sometimes takes a while to activate, so you might want to check to see if the provider has activated your card yet.

Tim

Thanks very much!