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Frequent Contributor
Posts: 145
Registered: ‎03-22-2010

I'm not very tech savvy, so I thought I'd ask here for some information.

I know that some iPads are made to connect to a cellular service for internet access when not in a WiFi zone. My question is -- if an iPad is NOT made to connect to a cellular service, can you still insert a SIM card and get some type of temporary cellular connection? I saw something online about inserting SIM cards into iPads but did not understand the details. (Yes, I do know there are different types of SIM cards for different models of iPad.)

I will look at the Apple website for information and will ask plenty of questions if/when I go into my local Apple store, but I would like to have a little better understanding of 4G capabilities before I go to the store.

Thank you in advance for whatever help/info you can provide. Wink

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,143
Registered: ‎04-18-2012

The wifi only ipads don't have a slot for a sim card. But you can use a wireless hotpot device or create one if you have a phone able to make one.

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Super Contributor
Posts: 391
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Agree with jaxs mom. No sim card slot. I got an iPad Air2 with 4G because I want to be able to connect whenever I need to. I take my grandkids to dance, sports, swim, etc., and many of these places do not have wifi and I hate sitting in the stands with nothing to do.

As stated, you can use a hotspot (separately purchased) or your iPhone as a hotspot. However, be aware that if you use your iPhone as a hotspot for your iPad it seems to really use up a lot of your data allowance. HTH

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 145
Registered: ‎03-22-2010
Thank you for both of the replies. I may go with a mobile hot spot, but that's a whole other subject to research. Smiley Happy
Frequent Contributor
Posts: 128
Registered: ‎03-10-2010
I have a wifi only IPad because I also have an IPhone. My husband has a hotspot on his phone. When we go out of town we can use his hotspot for up to 5 devices. We have AT&T. I think the hotspot is an extra $10 a month.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,143
Registered: ‎04-18-2012

You can just turn your iphone into a hotspot at any time. No extra charge, although it will use your phone data. I have the first ipad and bought the one with 3G not just wifi. I can either turn the cellular service on and off each month at will ( so it has it's own data limit and doesn't share on my phone data plan), or I can add it as a device to share data with my phone ( that is 10 dollars a month on the plan I'm on) or I can just turn on my iphones hotpot capability and connect my ipad over wifi on my phone).

Since I already have an iphone I only take my ipad away from home if I'm out of town. In which case I've always just turned on cellular service on the ipad for that month. At this point, I'll probably just use my phones hotspot capability since it's cheaper to use it's data plan and I can up my data at any time if I need to.

Since I upgraded to iphone 6+ I rarely use my ipad anymore anyway.

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