# iPad 3G, Micro Sims, "No Service"



## Stephanie (Jul 21, 2004)

After having my iPad 3G for a while, I've finally gotten around to wanting to see how the 3G stuff works.

When I originally bought it (at future shop) I got a Bell micro-sim. I've also got a Rogers micro-sim.

I tried the Bell one first. Put the sim in, got the carrier update via iTunes, the ipad waits for activation which never comes. I go into Settings, Carrier and when the list comes up I select Bell 3G. I get a message telling me the network is restricted. I go into Cellular Data and tap the View Account button. I get a Bell webpage that says the site isn't working at the moment, try again later. Later is ambiguous, but minutes, hours, days, a week later, it still isn't working at the moment. Through it all, I get 'No Service' and under Settings, General About, Network, it says Not Available. If I tap that, I get an additional note, SIM not provisioned.

So I swap the bell SIM for the Rogers one. It is virtually the same experience. Under Carrier, if I select Rogers, I get 'Restricted Network'. No service. Sim not provisioned. Etc etc. The only difference is the View Account button actually gives me a sign-up page. So I filled out all the info, selected the $15 plan, etc etc and submitted the form. A few minutes later I get an email from Rogers saying the activation failed for some unspecified reason.

Of course, during all this, I am connected via WiFi. If I turn off wifi, I can't get the view account page to come up at all.

So - I remember back in the spring, reading that the iPad needed a special iPad-only SIM card. When I got the iPad at FutureShop I specifically asked about that, but they said they only had one kind of Bell Microsim - there were no special iPad ones. When I got the Rogers microsim I asked the same thing. The person at the rogers store even checked on their computer and verified that they only have one SIM, nothing special for iPad.

So is this something I'm doing wrong? Or should there be a special iPad-only sim that I need? Or is this just typical of Rogers and Bell?

Or should I take the ipad to an apple store and see if a Genius can make it work?

Thanks!


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

I'd take it in.


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## Stephanie (Jul 21, 2004)

I swapped the microsim from my iPhone 4 into the iPad and it worked fine there so I'm thinking the problem is that the iPad needs the microsim to be 'pre-activated' or 'pre-provisioned' or something. Which is more or less what I remember reading about in the spring, about needing a special sim

Has anyone else activated an iPad recently, with or without similar problems?


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## thadley (Jul 8, 2008)

Haven't activated recently but had a slew of issues on launch day when setting it up. I'd call Bell or Rogers and say you're trying to set this up. Bell I had to do that before I got anything working on it.


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## Stephanie (Jul 21, 2004)

I happened to go past a Bell place this morning so I went in and talked to them, and it turned out that the problem I was having with both Bell and Rogers sims was pretty much exactly what was said back in the spring - you need the 'special pre-provisioned microsim'. The bell place had two boxes of micro sims, one labeled 'pre-provisioned for ipad' and the other one 'for iphone / post-pay / contract'. 

I bought the pre-provisioned for ipad one, plugged it in a presto! It's recognized, gives me 5 bars of signal, and the self-serve "my account" button works.


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