GSM not working, Wi-Fi OK. Re-seller says cannot repair

[DoThomas]

First of all as a newbie, Hi.
I know absolutely nothing about any Apple products, I'm a PC guy.
My wife has an iPad2?-16Gb RAM. A1396 is the number on the back.
Not only that, but her iPad is completely in Thai, no English language at all.

The iPad is three years old. The mobile connection has stopped working. Checked with the mobile company (three times now) who say it's wotking, nothing wrong.
Went to the local Apple reseller. They looked at it, didn't open it at all. Did some sort of reset (I don't know what exactly) and said it was a problem with the GSM part of the unit and it couldn't be repaired, so we'd have to buy a new iPad.
Can they tell that, just by resetting it, and without checking, for example, if the sim has become dislodged? Would they be able to tell the sim is connected to the network?
I don't want to sound untrusting, but living in Thailand I know from bitter experience about trying to get a correct answer to a problem.

 

[Brian 244]

I would assume that a different SIM card was tested ? Just to make sure that it's not the SIM Card at fault. To be honest, the iPad 2 is 5 years old at this point so opening it up to see what the issue is may not make economic sense at this point. There is little that can be done inside besides micro soldering and replacing components.

 

[DoThomas]

Thanks for the reply.
Of course no one changed the sim! Not at the apple reseller or the mobile phone company. This is where I'm completely lost, as I have no idea how to open the device to check the sim. From what I can see, no one else seems to have any idea what they're doing either.
The mobile company were only interested in changing the billing plan to suspend the contract once my wife told them Apple said the iPad was no good. Only sales people, no one practical.
As I said in the heading, the iPad still works using our Wi-Fi at home, so it's not a case of it's no good.
If it was a PC then I'd know what I'd be looking for. Is it easy to take the back off the iPad to find the sim?

 

[Brian 244]

The sim tray is on the top left. Use a thumb tack in the tiny hole to open the tray.

 

[DoThomas]

Is that the item in the bottom left of my photo, next to the small slide switch? If so when I press that item, it clicks as if it's a press switch? I can't see a tiny hole there? Either I have the wrong item, or I've got it completely wrong.

 

[Brian 244]

Look on the exact opposite side of the back of the ipad

 

[DoThomas]

Ah, I've found it! Thanks again.
Do you have to press hard with a thumb tack in that small hole? I tried with the blunt end of a needle first, but perhaps I need quite a bit of pressure? Then I'm guessing that tray just pops out?
I'll have another look first thing in the morning, it's late here now.

 

[Brian 244]

Yes, you will need to press fairly hard. It will then pop out a couple of cm's. then pull it the rest of the way out.

 

[DoThomas]

I tried pressing the end of a paper-clip into that hole, but couldn’t get it to make the tray come out. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
That aside, we went into the Apple reseller again to ask them about the mobile signal problem. They reckon the sim is working, but the iPad isn’t responding to it.They still weren't prepared to open that sim tray though.

I’ll have to accept what they’ve said, as I’m pretty much in the dark about all this. I know you said it’s a five year old product now, but it was very expensive (for Thailand) to buy one of these. We can’t afford a new one, so my wife will have to stick with using Wi-Fi – not much good when she needs to use it for navigation unfortunately.

Thanks again for your help with all this.

 

[scifan57]

GPS will work without a data plan or even a SIM card. All you'll have to do is get a navigation app that offers downloadable maps for offline use. I use Navigon. The app and its maps can be downloaded over WiFi.

 

[Brian 244]

Use a thumb tack as it requires quite a bit of pressure to pop out the SIM tray, Your reseller is giving you the runaround. Either they know something that they aren't telling you or they don't have a clue about how to diagnose the problem. The best way to diagnose is to try a known working data SIM card into the ipad. Try taking it to a another place like a service provider and they should be able to try a different card. Or if you know someone else with a GSM capable ipad , try swapping SIM cards to see what happens.

 

[DoThomas]

I didn't know that you could download maps. I'm sure my wife uses the Apple maps with the GPS?
It looks similar to googlemaps to me. In areas with slow 3G, it sometimes loses the map - so I assume it d/l it in realtime?
I thought you could use only Apple apps? The difficultly in d/loading something else is, as I said before, that I have never used an Apple device, plus the iPad is entirely in Thai. I know my wife would have no idea about using something separate from the Apple apps. This is assuming the GPS is still working of course.
Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[DoThomas]

Sorry, I've got my replies out of order in this thread, I was replying to one, when another reply was posted.

I feel the same way as you that we're getting the run around. I'll have another go at trying to get the sim tray open somehow.

 

[nathan.kindle]

Also there are many ways to reset the network settings. First go to apples website or simply search online for keywords apple SIM card iPad 2, that will get you to instructions on how to open the sim. You need something small and long to open the tray and sometimes it can be tough to open. Next search for resetting my network on iPad. There are setting in the menus under reset. Just remember your pass codes .


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[nathan.kindle]

. Sim removal


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