64gb, wifi + 3g but NO sim card..help

[ShariAppleNewbie]

I bought a used Aple Ipad Generaton 1, 64gb with wifi and 3g. I have not activated 3g yet. I can pickup the internet fine at home off my router but recently when at Starbucks tried to connect to wifi and it said NO SIM and would not connect. I have NO sim card because the guy who sold it to me off craigslist was afraid of what could happen if it fell in the wrong hands ((Who knows?)) Shouldn't I still be able to use free wifi without a sim card in?? help please

 

[Poser]

dont need a sim for wifi, no where....

edit: maybe because starbucks might be a hotspot for a service provider in particular.

where are you located?

i dont think i ever walked into a starbucks before.

 

[Mickey330]

AFAIK, the Starbucks WiFi is only free for those iPads that have an active AT&T account. Since you have no SIM card, you can't/don't have an active AT&T account, so the Starbucks server won't let you on the system. The only way around this, that I know of, is to talk to the Starbucks people and pay for WiFi on-the-spot.

On the other hand, McDonalds does have genuinely free WiFi, as do many other places.

Sorry this wasn't that helpful. As far as your missing SIM, you might be able to go to an AT&T store and persuade them to give you a SIM. At worst, it'll cost you about $10-$15 (USD). Then, you can activate the card ... and use the Starbucks WiFi for "free."

Good luck.

Marilyn

 

[richsadams]

dont need a sim for wifi, no where....

edit: maybe because starbucks might be a hotspot for a service provider in particular.

where are you located?

i dont think i ever walked into a starbucks before.

Hold on a minute there partner. I think the real question is...where are YOU located?! Never walked into a Starbucks? Not even once? Really? You are a rare man indeed sir.

 

[richsadams]

AFAIK, the Starbucks WiFi is only free for those iPads that have an active AT&T account.

All of the Starbucks switched to free WiFi this month and most had it earlier this year and many for a time last year...no need to have any accounts, etc.

Starbucks Newsroom: Starbucks Turns on Free Wi-Fi for Customers July 1st

 

[richsadams]

I bought a used Aple Ipad Generaton 1, 64gb with wifi and 3g. I have not activated 3g yet. I can pickup the internet fine at home off my router but recently when at Starbucks tried to connect to wifi and it said NO SIM and would not connect. I have NO sim card because the guy who sold it to me off craigslist was afraid of what could happen if it fell in the wrong hands ((Who knows?)) Shouldn't I still be able to use free wifi without a sim card in?? help please

Hi Shari and welcome to the forum! The short answer to your question as Poser said is yes, you don't need a SIM card to use your iPad with WiFi.

I pulled the SIM card out of our iPad once and it caused a lot of error messages to pop up. I put it back in, rebooted it (turned it completely off and then back on) and all was well again.

AFAIK you can buy a Micro-SIM card and slip it in w/o activating it, but you'd need to check with whatever carrier your iPad is tied to (AT&T or Verizon in the U.S.).

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

dont need a sim for wifi, no where....

edit: maybe because starbucks might be a hotspot for a service provider in particular.

where are you located?

i dont think i ever walked into a starbucks before.

Hold on a minute there partner. I think the real question is...where are YOU located?! Never walked into a Starbucks? Not even once? Really? You are a rare man indeed sir.

Indeed - I virtually live there...

Tim

 

[Poser]

Hold on a minute there partner. I think the real question is...where are YOU located?! Never walked into a Starbucks? Not even once? Really? You are a rare man indeed sir.

i am in Canada, Toronto, we do have starbucks here(many), and although i never stepped foot in one, because our main coffee shop is called Tim Hortons( a billion of them), which i might visit once in a while, as i am not an outside tea or coffee drinker or donuts and such etc etc. Hey i don't even drink coffee. But i must say, from what i hear, this starbucks place is VERY expensive, and i prefer drinking WATER instead.

 

[richsadams]

Hold on a minute there partner. I think the real question is...where are YOU located?! Never walked into a Starbucks? Not even once? Really? You are a rare man indeed sir.

i am in Canada, Toronto, we do have starbucks here(many), and although i never stepped foot in one, because our main coffee shop is called Tim Hortons( a billion of them), which i might visit once in a while, as i am not an outside tea or coffee drinker or donuts and such etc etc. Hey i don't even drink coffee. But i must say, from what i hear, this starbucks place is VERY expensive, and i prefer drinking WATER instead.

No coffee?! It can be an expensive vice that's for sure. According to their website there are 39 Starbucks in Toronto (must be triple that where we live!) but if you're not into coffee I can see where you might not have had the opportunity to to visit one. FWIW coffee is mostly water!

 

[Poser]

since we are talking about wifi, i found this funny.
only Mac owners know how easy it is BTW.

in this pic, look how they are trying to let the Mac look like it is harder to setup wifi.

now this one look more legit, but i used windows before and it is not that difficult to setup wifi on windows. Funny stuff!!!!!!

 

[richsadams]

Thing of it is, Mac's have enjoyed the same basic network connection abilities for about 10 years now. It is good to see MS beginning to catch up however.