ipad tethering question

seasideshack

Hope someone can help with this query

I have an ipad with an 02 sim which i wanted to use when we are at the caravan. I have found that the signal with 02 is terrible but i can tether my ipad to my T Mobile phone and that works fine.

My question is, do i have to keep paying the monthly 02 contract for the ipad sim, or can i cancel it? It seems daft to keep paying 02 when I am using the T mobile data.

Also, is it true that once you put a sim into an ipad it is then locked to that network? If it is i wish i would have known this before choosing 02.

Ant555

Also, is it true that once you put a sim into an ipad it is then locked to that network?

Where did you purchase the iPad from? If it was a phone store then there is a possibility that it could be locked however if it was from John Lewis or the Apple Store etc then it won't be locked. An unlocked iPad won't 'lock' to a given network just because you use that SIM first.
It might remember the original SIM settings when you install a different SIM and therefore possibly not work straight away so you might need to manually enter new APN settings but it won't be locked (obviously not relevant in your case at the moment if you are using WIFI to tether to the T-Mobile phone)

My question is, do i have to keep paying the monthly 02 contract for the ipad sim

Is the SIM on an 02 contract or is it PAYG, 30 day sim only etc. If it is on a contract then when did it start?

How much data allowance do you have on your T-Mobile phone contract? Will you have enough data to cater for your phone and the additional iPad data usage?

seasideshack

Hi Ant thanks for the reply, that really helps.

I bought the ipad from Apple and the 02 sim in the ipad is a 30 day contract so that is good news. Also, I have unlimited data on my t-mobile phone contract. I have used tethering quite a bit and just received my bill for the month with no extra charges. Does this mean I will be able to cancel the 02? I wasn't sure if the tethering would work with a sim in the ipad?

Lifeforms

If you cancel the contract just remove the sim and the ipad will work with wifi, thus tethering with T-Mobile. googling says there's no problem with tethering, some don't like you to do it/block it/charge extra, so I'd phone them up and just confirm and also find out how unlimited your unlimited is, and whether there are acceptable usage policy that you might hit and what happens then.

Basically if O2 doesn't work, cancel the contract, and dump the sim as the sim will be no use to you once cancelled.

seasideshack

Lifeforms & Ant - thank you very much for your help - brilliant

Ant555

Does this mean I will be able to cancel the 02? I wasn't sure if the tethering would work with a sim in the ipad?

Yes if you are not going to use it then just cancel the 02. If its a 30 day contract then it will just stop working 30 days after your next billing date so you might be liable for one more monthly payment. Their web site will have the phone number to call.

I wasn't sure if the tethering would work with a sim in the ipad?

As already answered by LifeForms your ipad will work fine on wifi without a sim card.

Ive got 'unlimited' data with T-Mobile but I think their fair use policy has some sort of limit that kicks in around 1Gb. Note that this is what I think I know, and not necessarily what it actually is!