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Question about micro sim / mobile data

Japaholic

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Would like to know what service provider people consider to be the best?

I use wifi mainly, I don't want a contract package but do want mobile data occasionally.

As I have an orange phone I ordered an orange sim when I bought my iPad. However, I found their customer service to be lacking so moved onto three.

I have managed to get free micro sims for most of the providers so can learn by trial and error BUT.... I would like to know about your experiences and what you think?

Any one used gifgaf?

Thanks in advance...

Sent from my iPad 3 using iPF
 
L

Lunar

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Sounds like you just need a PAYG micro sim, which is what I use for the occasional times I'm away from home, ie . holidays and short breask ect.

Choice of which network is difficult one. My wife and I live out in the sticks of Herefordshire, 17 miles from nearest main town, so obviously one has to take into consideration if you want your 3G to be accessible at your home location, which for most people would be a resounding yes...lol.
Fortunately our local exchange in the village was upgraded to ADSL2+ last November so we now get decent net speeds, but 3G signals here are not so good, users on o2 and a couple of others can barely get a signal here, but T-Mobil gives a signal strength of 2 bars and Orange gives pretty much full strength with all bars showing.
So that's the main reason I have a T_Mobile monthly contract on my iPhone, same with my wifes Galaxy S2, and of course why I use a PAYG T-Mobile sim on the iPads, plus the fact you can use the Orange network too which is a plus if your a T-Mobile customer.

We also have occasional weeks or short breaks in a caravan in Wales, and that also has reception for our network. I've managed to get pretty consistant reception where ever we have been in the UK including northern remote parts of Scotland, so although it's a little slow but probably the norm for 3G I've found it does the job. I just pay for the amount of time I need.
We are retired, so PAYG is ideal for us, but I may be using it even less now.. since I discovered I can tether my iPad or anything else to either my Iphone or the wifes Galaxy S2 as both have Tethering Hotspot options, so I can use that instead which probably makes more sense, as I have to pay the monthly bill for those anyway.

I've never heard of gifgaf...so no idea on that one.

At one time o2 would have been considered the best, as o2 is BT of course, but these days, I don't think there's too much between any of them, coverage wise anyway, though you will still get the odd location where reception is poor, and AIS our home location is not good, so choose a network that works in your location, as it can be handy in the event your main net provider ever goes down.
My son has a o2 monthly deal with his iPad, and the speeds when loading web pages when I played with his iPad a couple weeks ago seemed comparable with my own, if anything I would say his o2 3G seemed a touch faster, but that could be because he lives in a town and not out in the sticks, and that was when comparing with my iPad1 which he also uses, so not sure if my new iPad3 on 3G is any quicker... can't say I've noticed much difference TBH though early days, I have noticed however that Wifi on the iPad3 is definately much faster and instantly noticable when compared with my iPad1.


I like the fact with T-Moble you can also use the Orange network, so it doubles the chance of getting a reasonable signal, they are competitive on price though they have just increased my contract charge by 60p a month..doh. but at least I have unlimited data, so I don't have to worry about data limits, thats on the phones, the PAYG ipad sims do have a limit but I doubt you would ever exceed them, and if you tether to the phone.. again there's obviously no limit.

In conclusion.. go with whoever is offering the best PAYG deal, and preferably one that works in your home location.

Whats the problem with 3 ? I have used them in the past, but they have no coverage where we currently live.

(another 2 line reply which turned into a book, and is available at all good bookstalls....lol)
 
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Japaholic

Japaholic

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Thanks for sharing your experiences, it's very valuable to hear what others think on this topic. I wanted payg but orange were unable to provide that, they offer pay as you consume by rolling one month dd contract BUT that's not payg.

I got a 3gb prepaid iPad micro sim (3) from amazon, so far reception is much better than orange and when on a full signal is not far off my home wifi. We live in Lincolnshire, broadband poverty is the norm so I mustn't grumble.

That cost me £13 from amazon, to buy from 3 would cost £15 and to top up costs the same so I guess when it runs out I'll buy a new one instead of topping up.

Sent from my iPad 3 using iPF
 

brunodjkj

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Just to add, the 3gb sims from Three will last 3 months it's the cheapest was and for £13 I think is a bargain, worth buying a couple they only activate once inserted
 
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Japaholic

Japaholic

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I have bought a couple of the 3gb preloaded sims from 3, can't seem to find a better deal anywhere else. The d/l speed is about 3mbps and the up about 2 which is faster than my home bb. Home bb download is 10mb and up barely 1mb. The cards work even when on only 1 bar and gets faster depending one the signal strength.

Sorted. Thanks

Sent from my iPad 3 using iPF
 

brunodjkj

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I'm actually on a gig in a stone building and got just about a full signal with my 3 sim, no signal on my O2 phone, I'm well happy so far
 

DNC1968

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brunodjkj said:
I'm actually on a gig in a stone building and got just about a full signal with my 3 sim, no signal on my O2 phone, I'm well happy so far

I've found that as well. My 3 signal is always good enough to get full Internet, even when my O2 iPhone can't connect.
 

brunodjkj

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Have to say I'm glad I swapped and went for the sim version of this iPad especially with me being out and about a lot, extra £100 well spent
 
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Japaholic

Japaholic

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brunodjkj said:
Have to say I'm glad I swapped and went for the sim version of this iPad especially with me being out and about a lot, extra £100 well spent

Agreed, very convenient. Very happy with it.

Sent from my iPad 3 using iPF
 

DNC1968

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brunodjkj said:
Have to say I'm glad I swapped and went for the sim version of this iPad especially with me being out and about a lot, extra £100 well spent

It was a debate when I got mine, but I'm so happy with the 3G connection and money well spent. :)
 

THeCondor

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Agree about the sim plus wifi version being money well spent. My ipad2 has been an absolute delight to have so far, even with a few frustrations here and there, like the freezing of Mail on an ad hoc basis!
I quickly worked out it was cheaper to buy a few of the 3 ipad data sims from amazon or ebay and keep them handy and swop out when needed rather than top up. At £10 per 1GB top up from 3, £12 for a 3GB data sim seemed a much better deal to me! I weighed up the cost of a contract and decided that PAYG would def be cheaper in the long run. 3 have seemed to have a decent signal in the Midlands so far, my iphone is on O2 and thats been ok too, but the 3 ipad sims seemed to be the most popular when i bought my ipad and have worked seamlessly. Now if it were just a tad easier to get the sim slot open each time a sim is changed, that would be a bonus!
 

stripeycat

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Using an existing mobile Microsim in the new iPad...?

Folks, has anyone successfully swapped a microsim out from their phone to an iPad (3)? I can't be paying more cash for data when i'm forking out a ton for the t-mobile contract i've got now, i wanted to waltz into apple regent street today and leave with an ipad, but as always, there seems to be a catch. the genius in there tells me that i will have to purchase a new simcard with an entirely different data package. all i want to do is whack my mobile's microsim into the ipad and use that. this supposedly used to be possible with the previous ipad or OS, but i cannot find any evidence that it's working with this new model :(
 

Mickey330

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Folks, has anyone successfully swapped a microsim out from their phone to an iPad (3)? I can't be paying more cash for data when i'm forking out a ton for the t-mobile contract i've got now, i wanted to waltz into apple regent street today and leave with an ipad, but as always, there seems to be a catch. the genius in there tells me that i will have to purchase a new simcard with an entirely different data package. all i want to do is whack my mobile's microsim into the ipad and use that. this supposedly used to be possible with the previous ipad or OS, but i cannot find any evidence that it's working with this new model :(

You can't move your SIMs over. If they worked, the carrier/data plan provider will know and will take action to either cancel your plan or charge you more money for the data use. The two devices ID themselves differently to the carrier and there is no spoofing this.

Sorry, but you will have to use a new data plan for the iPad or set up a hotspot on your phone (of course, paying extra for that) so that you can access the Internet with the iPad.

Marilyn
 

Robster2007

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I have not swapped a sim out of a phone into an iPad BUT I have used a new phone sim in an iPad and used its data plan.

It worked fine, it was on the Three network.

Now I am on a data plan with Vodafone.

Robin
 

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