How do you turn off cellular data on Ipad Air 2 with IOS 8.1.2

Question

How do you turn off cellular data on Ipad Air 2 with IOS 8.1.2

We have three new iPad Air 2s within the family. All have wi-fi capability but we are not needing to suscribe to it at this time, plan to use it on trips away from home. All of them get a popup message every 1-2 hours reminding to select a cellular plan. If it were only asking to select a cellular carrier I would understand, but when you do that it requires you to select a plan and add payment info for it. We are not ready to do that at this time. There is no "off" button on the cellular setting as there is on the iPhone. Is there a way to turn off the constant reminders to add a cellular plan?

iPad Air 2 WiFi, Cellular, iOS 8.1.2

Posted on Jan 8, 2015 1:21 PM

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Answer 1

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Jan 10, 2015 9:52 AM in response to cathiefromburleson

Hi cathiefromburleson,

I'm sorry to hear you are having issues with your new iPads. If you are not planning on activating a cellular data plan for the moment but are continually prompted to do so, you may want to make sure that Cellular Data is turned off for now, as outlined in the following article (please let me know if you do not see this option in Settings > Cellular Data, and if not, what you are seeing):

Learn about cellular data settings and usage on your iPhone and iPad (Cellular Model) - Apple Support

Regards,

- Brenden

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Answer 2

Jan 12, 2015 12:38 PM in response to brenden dv

Thanks, Brenden, but as I said there is no option to turn off cellular data. Screen shot:

When I click "Set Up Cellular Data" it makes me choose a plan to activate and pay for.

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Answer 3

ShagCA

Level 5

6,335 points

Jan 12, 2015 2:38 PM in response to cathiefromburleson

Is there an option to not sign up for data plan? Take a closer look at it.

EDIT

Read this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6628702

This seems to be a problem with devices with Apple SIM card. The workaround is to use Siri to switch off Data Cellular.

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Answer 4

Jan 13, 2015 1:13 PM in response to ShagCA

It looks like there is no permanent fix right now. I have an appointment with the Genius Bar at the local Apple Store in an hour and will see what the "experts" there have to say about it.

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Answer 5

Jan 13, 2015 2:24 PM in response to cathiefromburleson

There is no option to not sign up for the data plan. I just returned from the Apple Genius Bar and my genius said the only way to stop the message now is to remove the SIM card, but be sure to keep it in a safe place for when I want to activate Cellular. The change from the older iPads is that the pre-installed SIM is a generic one that will work with ATT, TMobile and Verizon. In the past you selected your carrier when you purchased the iPad and their dedicated SIM card was installed. I really dislike this solution, especially keeping up with the itsy bitsy SIM card and having it readily available when I need it. I did try a temporary solution mentioned in another thread to tell Siri to turn off Cellular Data. She will do it, but it resets when you reboot the iPad. That is preferable to me than removing and keeping up with the SIM card.

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