Connecting to 3G in South Africa
- Thread starter iPhil
- Start date
Tim SPRACKLEN
iPF Noob
I moved this to a new thread - it gets lost in the Introductory thread.
OK - I see from your previous posts that you're (a) in South Africa and (b) have a 3G iPad. Do you have a microSIM from a local cellular service provider yet? You need to establish a data plan for your iPad - most of the plans are either pre-pay (so-called 'Pay As You Go' - PAYG) where you pay up front for a certain volume of data which then lasts a fixed time - it's a 'use it or lose it' approach, or you pay a monthly fee, which gives you access to a regular, pre-determined volume of data, which renews itself on a monthly basis and where you lose what you haven't used.
I can post the South African service providers and coverage areas if you need those, but I'm guessing you probably already have a microSIM.
Tim
OK - I see from your previous posts that you're (a) in South Africa and (b) have a 3G iPad. Do you have a microSIM from a local cellular service provider yet? You need to establish a data plan for your iPad - most of the plans are either pre-pay (so-called 'Pay As You Go' - PAYG) where you pay up front for a certain volume of data which then lasts a fixed time - it's a 'use it or lose it' approach, or you pay a monthly fee, which gives you access to a regular, pre-determined volume of data, which renews itself on a monthly basis and where you lose what you haven't used.
I can post the South African service providers and coverage areas if you need those, but I'm guessing you probably already have a microSIM.
Tim
baronbuzby
iPF Noob
This would be useful info, as I am going in October and want to use my iPad 2 with 3G while I am there.
Tim SPRACKLEN
iPF Noob
baronbuzby
iPF Noob
Are sim cards available to buy in stores, and how much , do you know?
I am visiting south africaat the moment, i just took the ipad along to the local vodacom shop. They do sell sims in stores but you really need to go the either a vodacom or ment cellular shop to get it there. There is cellc also but they arent as easy to find, and since its better to have one you see everywhere i would recommend vodacom or mtn, i chose vodacom. They have little cellular shops in every big mall and most smaller residential mall type buildingns.
A sim itself costs basically nothing, but they have to convert a regular sim into a microsim, and they charged me R110 for that. Then they have to register your number with RICA. Every phone or3g number has to be registered to work. To register you will have to show your identification (passport) plus evidence of where you are staying in south africa, it has to have a printed proof of street address. I stay with my folks when here so i took their power bill. If you are in a hotel just find out from the hotel what they cangive you.
Once you have donethat, you haveto buy a data bundle. As it can take a few hours for your number to be active once sometimew cant load the data immediately. I went on dayy one, did all the above and then went the next morningto load ondata.
They are open on sundays, so that helps.
I am here for 6weeks and a loads of iinternet user so i got a 3 gigabytes bundle and it cost R520 for the bundle.
Good luck, ask if you have any more questions i am using my 3g right this minute, from pretoria.
A sim itself costs basically nothing, but they have to convert a regular sim into a microsim, and they charged me R110 for that. Then they have to register your number with RICA. Every phone or3g number has to be registered to work. To register you will have to show your identification (passport) plus evidence of where you are staying in south africa, it has to have a printed proof of street address. I stay with my folks when here so i took their power bill. If you are in a hotel just find out from the hotel what they cangive you.
Once you have donethat, you haveto buy a data bundle. As it can take a few hours for your number to be active once sometimew cant load the data immediately. I went on dayy one, did all the above and then went the next morningto load ondata.
They are open on sundays, so that helps.
I am here for 6weeks and a loads of iinternet user so i got a 3 gigabytes bundle and it cost R520 for the bundle.
Good luck, ask if you have any more questions i am using my 3g right this minute, from pretoria.
baronbuzby
iPF Noob
Thanks for that! Could be worth taking my micro sim cutter with be though and save £10!
idtheftlegal
iPF Noob
Does anyone know if this info is still valid in Sept 2012? I am going to SA in October 2012. I'm not sure where the sim is in the ipad2. Any hints on that? Is the information similar for an iphone 4? I may as well use both! My bigger question is...if I am going to check my v.m. (which is a USA number) from SA, what is the best (and cheapest) way to do that?
Purplehaste
iPF Noob
iPhil said:
your ipad must be on PREPAID thats allow you to insert a micro sim in you ipad if you want to connect on 3g go to settings > celluar data > turn it on>
NOTE: 3g will may not show up it depend on your location but the best way to do is observe your signal if your signal is full then 3g will show up automaticly
iPad 3
Bluray
iPF Novice
Yes this is still the same, not sure which part of South Africa you're visiting? What you can do is just get one micro Sim and load your data bundles on and setup your iPhone as an hotspot to tether your iPad. About your VM, you need to consult with your service provider on retrieving VM when roaming and what it would cost you.
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