I've just donated a secondhand iPad 2 to my grandmother, with the intent that she can use it as her first foray into email, and possibly other things, given time. She has very limited experiences with technology (she has used typewriters, but nothing really more modern), so I'm trying to keep everything as simple as possible.
In particular, I'm looking for an easy way to connect it to the internet. We both live in the UK, but I live some distance from her and am not able to easily get physical access to the iPad to set it up. She has no ADSL/broadband at home and I'd like to avoid the complexity of setting it up, and she has limited mobility and lives in a rural area so getting to a phone shop isn't really possible. It's a 3G iPad 2, so 3G seems like the obvious option. Because she lives in a rural area, however, 3G access seems limited – the only networks that seem to have coverage are Vodafone, O2, and Orange.
Is it possible to find an off-the-shelf, preconfigured SIM card that I can send her that she (or a friend) can just plug in? Ideally I'm looking for something with little to no upfront or ongoing configuration required on the iPad (or where I can do it in advance for her) to keep things as simple as possible. All the deals I've found so far seem to require configuration on the iPad, or ongoing top-up action on the iPad, which I suspect would put her off.
Alternatively, are there any other connectivity options I'm missing?
Edit: Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away before I had time to arrange this. So I won't be spending any more time on the iPad connectivity. Thanks everyone for your help anyway, much appreciated.
Best Answer
I have two ideas for you:
There's a UK mobile network called Ovivo, basically, you order a sim with £10 on it once, and you'll have 500MB of mobile broadband for your grandma's iPad forever.
She'll also be able to use the £10 for additional broadband if she runs out (either by pre-purchasing some — and maybe you could do that online for her), or it'll automatically take from it as credit.
I think you can top up online with your card and manage everything for her. She'd just have to pop in the sim card.
Ovivo runs on the Vodafone network as a MVNO — so has good signal.
Alternatively, try GiffGaff (runs on O2 network), where you pay £5/month (no contract; you can stop anytime) for £500MB — Ovivo turns out cheaper; or £7.50 for 1GB.
I think you can set up the actual account online from where you are; she'd just have to pop in the sim card.
Both are good value for money without any contracts, etc. You can stop/cancel at any time.