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Cellular setup

I bought an iPad with cellular service but I don’t know how to set up or which provider it is with?

iPad, iOS 10

Posted on Dec 26, 2019 9:08 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Dec 26, 2019 9:49 AM

With a semi-recent iPad, select Settings > Cellular Carrier, select a cellular carrier, and pay, and off you go.


More background:


Different iPads have different radios and different support, and different countries and different carriers have differing requirements. This has gotten far simpler in recent years, though there are still some wrinkles here.


Which model iPad (see Settings > About) are you using? Which country are you in?


Older iPad devices with cellular radios were either built with CDMA or GSM radios, and those iPad devices would need to be used with a cellular carrier with matching support for CDMA or GSM. (Why do I mention older? Your footer shows iOS 10, and iPadOS 13.3 is current.) CDMA was mostly a US thing, with Verizon.


More recent iPad devices are all GSM with LTE, and these work across multiple carriers. Including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and others in the US, and various carriers in other countries.


Older iPad devices could need a carrier SIM card—a tiny plastic card with some contacts that look like the gold-colored bits on a credit card—though newer iPad devices can have that, the newer devices generally don’t need it.


You will purchase data from a carrier of your choice, with that selection usually being based both on price and on carrier coverage where you use the iPad. Roaming and international coverage can matter to some folks. The same carrier for your phone will often be willing to sell you a data plan for an iPad add-on, too.


Yet More Background:


Set up cellular data service on your Wi-Fi + Cellular model iPad - Apple Support

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Dec 26, 2019 9:49 AM in response to kristafromcarlsbad

With a semi-recent iPad, select Settings > Cellular Carrier, select a cellular carrier, and pay, and off you go.


More background:


Different iPads have different radios and different support, and different countries and different carriers have differing requirements. This has gotten far simpler in recent years, though there are still some wrinkles here.


Which model iPad (see Settings > About) are you using? Which country are you in?


Older iPad devices with cellular radios were either built with CDMA or GSM radios, and those iPad devices would need to be used with a cellular carrier with matching support for CDMA or GSM. (Why do I mention older? Your footer shows iOS 10, and iPadOS 13.3 is current.) CDMA was mostly a US thing, with Verizon.


More recent iPad devices are all GSM with LTE, and these work across multiple carriers. Including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and others in the US, and various carriers in other countries.


Older iPad devices could need a carrier SIM card—a tiny plastic card with some contacts that look like the gold-colored bits on a credit card—though newer iPad devices can have that, the newer devices generally don’t need it.


You will purchase data from a carrier of your choice, with that selection usually being based both on price and on carrier coverage where you use the iPad. Roaming and international coverage can matter to some folks. The same carrier for your phone will often be willing to sell you a data plan for an iPad add-on, too.


Yet More Background:


Set up cellular data service on your Wi-Fi + Cellular model iPad - Apple Support

Cellular setup

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