Update:

LTE is now working.  Guess what, the Flex LTE plan in Rogers library is faulty and does not have the LTE option turned ON.  The Rogers tech I talked to tonight was nice enough to edit the profile to add it to my plan and now I get all of the LTE goodness. I wonder if this was done on purpose… most non tech people would probably not know they don’t get LTE…

Download speed over LTE is now 24 mbps and upload of 27 mbps!

If you have the 5$ flex LTE plan and you only get 3G connectivity make sure to call Rogers to get it fixed!

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Last Friday I received the new iPad from Apple along with a Rogers LTE micro sim card.  I was anxious to try this new setup out as I had been reading about all the goodness of LTE.

Apple’s web site was praising how easy it was to self register for a data plan with Rogers after inserting the micro sim. Looking at the web site today they now claim “Call Rogers at 1-888-764-3771 to select a data plan and start your data service.” Did not knew that Friday.

So I put the sim card in to find the device reading “No Service”. OK, let’s try to reboot. Same thing. OK, let’s reset the OS in case it is a problem with the fact that I installed the micro-sim after using the iPad for the 1^st time. Nope. Darn! Maybe my iPad is defective!

Call Apple support, spend roughly 45 minutes with technical support to finally be told that I need to call Rogers to register the micro-sim! Wait, Apple said that I could select my plan on the device! Nope, not with the new iPad.

So I call Rogers and register the LTE micro-sim.  Finally the “No Service” goes away and 3G connectivity show up. 3G? I thought I would get LTE.  LTE is available where my house is after all. Nope, try all I can and can’t get LTE at all.

OK, I will wait to try it in the Office where I know LTE work on other tablets. Same thing here, only 3G. So I called Rogers, spent an hour on the phone with them. They tried all sort of plan combination to no avail.  I was finally told that this is normal because the Rogers network is deciding what is best for me and that 3G is what I should get.

What? I bought a new iPad because I wanted to benefit from LTE, not 3G.  I all I wanted was 3G I could have gone for the 100$ cheaper iPad 2.

So here I am, with a new iPad 3 with LTE that only gives me 3G.  Maybe I should try to get aBellor Telus micro-sim.  Any one knows if they will give LTE service unlikeRogers?

Maybe I am the only one with this problem.  Anyone else in the Gatineau/Ottawa area that get LTE service on a new iPad 3?

The bottom line is that Rogers, by no longer supporting direct data plan selection on the new iPad 3 and by not allowing my iPad 3 to connect via LTE have made what should have been an “Apple” experience a typical “Windows” nightmare experience.

I hope Apple can do something about the whole situation and force carriers to support plan selection on device… and also to properly support LTE when it should be available.