Activating an iPad 3G SIM without an iPad

[JackBrown]

Warning: the source of this info contains NSFW and possibly offensive content, so I copied the important info in full below.
The author is also mistaken: AT&T are dropping the unlimited plans on June 7th. So there's little time left to sign up.

AT&T will be discontinuing their unlimited data plans come July 7th. Anyone who signs up for an unlimited plan before July 7th will be allowed to keep their level of service afterwards. Currently, for $30/month prepaid, iPad 3G users can get unlimited access. Those without iPads are normally required to purchase more expensive data plans on a two year contract. Nothing is stopping someone with an iPad plan from moving their SIM to another device, but they had to purchase an iPad 3G for the privilege.

AT&T offers replacement iPad SIMs on their website for $15:
Replacement Micro-SIM for Apple iPad (TM) - Cell Phone Accessories - Wireless from AT&T
As pictured, the card I received was scored twice to allow the user to decide if they want to use it as a mini or micro SIM. Anyone can purchase one, but needs a friend with an iPad 3G to activate it.

For those without friends or the nerve to go into an Apple Store to try and activate their card covertly, they can still activate their card using this URL:
https://dcp2.att.com/OEPClient/openPage?IMEI=X&ICCID=Y
replacing Y with the ICCID of their SIM and replacing X with any valid IMEI. The service isn't locked to iPad IMEIs, and even "0" works as a valid entry, but to be safe one might want to first activate using the IMEI of their device.

This website, however, is only accessible if the user's browser reports itself as an iPad.
The best solution, for those with Macs, is to just use the iPad simulator included with the iPhone SDK.
Desktop Safari can work if you enable the Develop menu and change the user agent to something like "Mozilla/5.0 (iPad)", but the site uses a lot of touch functions that only work on Mobile Safari, so while one might be able to sign up for service, they won't be able to change their account settings later. A workaround is to use "Disable Styles" under the Develop menu which will strip the site down to the bare usable minimum. Other browsers render the site poorly, and aren't recommended.

Once someone accesses the site, they can register for service just like on the iPad. When they return to the site with the same ICCID in the URL (IMEI, again, can be anything valid or "0") they'll be asked for the email address and password used to create the account. They can now see how much data and time is left in the month and change billing settings.

After service is purchased, the SIM can be used on any GSM device using the APN "broadband"
If one is without internet access and only has an unactivated SIM, they can use the APN "LWAActivate". This grants walled access to the activation server. Interestingly, full DNS access is available like on most captive portals and DNS tunneling works, albeit very slowly.

My own discoveries for the 3 other carriers that support iPad SIM activation:
Rogers Canada

Activation URL: https://www.rogers.com/web/HSPA.port...p&SIM=Y&IMEI=X
APN: rogers-core-appl1.apn
Pre-activation APN: internet.com

O2 UK

Activation URL: https://isetup.o2.co.uk/?IMEI=X&ICCID=Y
APN: ibrowse.o2.co.uk
Username: browse
Password: password
Pre-activation APN: isetup.o2.co.uk
Username: setup
Password: password

SoftBank Japan *Doesn't appear to work. Might be restricted to Japan-only IPs*

Activation URL: https://my.softbank.jp/iPad?IMEI=X&ICCID=Y
APN: sbm
Username: data
Pre-activation APN: kimme
Username: 1ad4us
Password: 1on1j1kust

[QueBall]

For those without friends or the nerve to go into an Apple Store to try and activate their card covertly, they can still activate their card using this URL:
https://dcp2.att.com/OEPClient/openPage?IMEI=X&ICCID=Y
replacing Y with the ICCID of their SIM and replacing X with any valid IMEI. The service isn't locked to iPad IMEIs, and even "0" works as a valid entry, but to be safe one might want to first activate using the IMEI of their device.

Very interesting.

I wonder how to find the URL used by other carriers for their iPad plans. Like Rogers in Canada to be specific.

I'm guessing the APN information is going to be the same for every carrier. "LWAActivate" to sign up and "Broadband" is the APN used once the plan is active.

I would also guess that the ipad is actually asking for some generic activation URL before it gets redirected to the carrier page you quoted. Apple would not hard code in the ATT domain, they would have used something generic so that all other carriers would be able to implement the on device activation. So there must be a URL that the ipad sends and gets redirected to the ATT page.

[JackBrown]

Actually, the URL and APNs are in the carrier bundle. The US iPad 3G comes with the AT&T bundle already in the firmware, but international versions need to download their respective bundles from iTunes. If one can get ahold of these bundles, then they can get the URL and the same tricks would apply.

Edit:
Source http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4184

[QueBall]

Actually, the URL and APNs are in the carrier bundle. The US iPad 3G comes with the AT&T bundle already in the firmware, but international versions need to download their respective bundles from iTunes. If one can get ahold of these bundles, then they can get the URL and the same tricks would apply.

Edit:
Source iPad Wi-Fi + 3G: Connect to iTunes when activating a new micro-SIM

Oh of course. I forget that Apple makes you plug in the device to itunes before it can be used.

The way Apple talks about the ipad replacing PC's someday you forget that having a PC is actually a requirement for getting the thing to work in the first place.

I just thought it would be an obvious solution if the ipad were usable out of the box to use a generic URL that the carrier could program into their DNS servers and redirect the request to their proper activation server.

I guess if Apple plans to push the ipad as an alternative to owning a PC they will eventually need to allow for use out of the box without it being plugged into a computer first. Maybe the next version.

[JackBrown]

I was able to dig up the Rogers Carrier Bundle using the XML from http://ax.itunes.apple.com/check/version
The activation URL is https://www.rogers.com/web/HSPA.portal?dev=cp&SIM=X&IMEI=Y (replace X and Y accordingly)
The main APN is "internet.com" and the pre-activation APN is "rogers-core-appl1.apn"

[QueBall]

Thank you. I was going to dig around later and see what the Rogers page looks like.

I have debug mode on in safari.
I set my user agent to "Mozilla/5.0(iPad; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B314 Safari/531.21.10"

The page loads just fine.
https://www.rogers.com/web/HSPA.port...p&SIM=0&IMEI=0

Actually it doesn't seem to care if your user agent string is correct or not. The page does not look right unless you are using a webkit browser but it loaded in Safari and Chrome.

Those APN's are the normal Rogers ones too. Interesting.

[JackBrown]

Nice that the site works without spoofing the UA.
And sorry, I had those APNs for Rogers reversed; the main one is "rogers-core-appl1.apn" and the activation one is "internet.com"
I'm updating my original post with the URLs and APNs of the 3 other providers

[Daniel Dumile]

I have an iPhone and a PC

Can someone tell me how to do it with a PC?

I would be forever Grateful

[QueBall]

I have an iPhone and a PC

Can someone tell me how to do it with a PC?

I would be forever Grateful

Everything you need to know has already been posted in this thread.

[Daniel Dumile]

Everything you need to know has already been posted in this thread.

This website, however, is only accessible if the user's browser reports itself as an iPad.
The best solution, for those with Macs, is to just use the iPad simulator included with the iPhone SDK.

I have a PC and cannot get iPhone SDK on it

[QueBall]

This website, however, is only accessible if the user's browser reports itself as an iPad.
The best solution, for those with Macs, is to just use the iPad simulator included with the iPhone SDK.

I have a PC and cannot get iPhone SDK on it

You just need to change the useragent string in your browser. You can use either Safari or Chrome. I already posted the useragent string for the ipad earlier.


You could have just used google to find the answer to how to change your useragent but since you are learned helpless I will point you to the answers.


For Safari on PC:
Enable the Debug menu in Safari 3.0 for Windows - Mac OS X Hints

For chrome:
Change Google Chrome User Agent String In 30 seconds?

[Daniel Dumile]

You just need to change the useragent string in your browser. You can use either Safari or Chrome. I already posted the useragent string for the ipad earlier.


You could have just used google to find the answer to how to change your useragent but since you are learned helpless I will point you to the answers.


For Safari on PC:
Enable the Debug menu in Safari 3.0 for Windows - Mac OS X Hints

For chrome:
Change Google Chrome User Agent String In 30 seconds?

Im sorry, but I couldn't get any of those to work

[JackBrown]

For Safari on PC:
Enable the Debug menu in Safari 3.0 for Windows - Mac OS X Hints

The UA spoofing uses the Develop menu not the Debug menu. The Develop menu can be activated in Safari's Preferences under Advanced

[Daniel Dumile]

I was able to bring up the dataplan screen, but after I input all of my info and agree to the terms, it gives me this message

AT&T is not able to process your request. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please try again later (C50000000006)

And I am using Safari

[vincentpjimenez]

//

[Daniel Dumile]

ok, I finally was able to purchase the dataplan

but I still dont have data

I did the APN thing and it is still not working

All it says is "No Service"

[travispublic]

Daniel, how did you get past the purchase error?

Quote:
AT&T is not able to process your request. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please try again later (C50000000006)

I'm still stuck on this part. I'm using the iPad Simulator.

[DJClueless]

I was able to bring up the dataplan screen, but after I input all of my info and agree to the terms, it gives me this message



And I am using Safari

I am getting this same error tried it last night, im wondering if they aer checking the IMEI numbers to make sure it matches with an iPad.

Also noticed that even though it failed the email address registered so if you try it again you cant use the same email you used the first time, tells you that it is taken.

Also i wonder if they are limiting to 1 data plan per ipad imei..

would be great if someone found out what was going on.

BTW thanks for this great post just wish i would of found it 2 days ago

[travispublic]

Damn, it seemed like it was ALMOST there!
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Daniel Dumile]

When I put in the IMEI, I used one I found randomly through a Google search

Perhaps that may be my problem