IPad work on WiFi but not Virgin 3G… Call Virgin

So a couple months back (conveniently right before the new iPad(tm) was released) my iPad 2 suddenly refused to connect to the Internet with 3G.

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Everything worked on Wifi but on 3G, even with 4 ‘bars’ showing, nothing could access the Internet. Not Safari, Mail, Twitter, Facebook, not a single app could use the Internet while on 3G.

So I called my provider, Virgin Mobile, who I must say are fantastic. I never wait more than a minute or two on hold for someone to answer and they are always polite and helpful.

Over many phone calls I went through all the steps:
Turn the 3G on/off in the settings
Fiddle with the address under APN settings
Reset/Reboot my iPad
restore the iPad in iTunes

I even got a new SIM card and eventually a new iPad! Nothing worked. Finally after I got the new iPad and it still didn’t work, they reset my account at Virgin and voila, working again.

And so it has been for a couple months, until last week when the same issue popped up: No 3G service.

Thankfully, having gone through it all before I went through all the steps before phoning Virgin (minus the restoring or buying a new SIM/iPad). When I did call them I told them about the previous issue, they looked it up, asked if I followed the same steps and then got their Tech to reset my account (the person says the techs basically turn it off, and back on).

It looks like in the intervening time, Virgin has become aware of this issue and they have a workaround ready, kudos to them.

A quick switch on/off of 3G with the Airplane Mode button on my iPad and it was again happy on 3G even before I hung up the phone.

So if you have this problem with Virgin (or possibly Bell since they use the same network) hopefully this helps.

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