Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sounds Good

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2007
1,692
57
Hey guys,

Which do you think is the best bet for the upcoming iPad 2?

Get the 3G iPad and pay:
$14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB per month

Or...

Get the WiFi version and do the Tethering and/or Personal Hotspot for:
$25/month DataPro plan plus $20/month add-on tethering plan

Any thoughts? opinions?

Thanks!
 

iLucas

macrumors 6502
Feb 5, 2011
415
0
Indiana
I would get the wifi iPad then I would jailbreak your iPhone and use MyWi, much cheaper option imo if you have an iPhone. I think it's a bit much to have a iPhone data plan and an iPad data plan.
 

jps1012

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2010
840
0
NYC
I would get the wifi iPad then I would jailbreak your iPhone and use MyWi, much cheaper option imo if you have an iPhone. I think it's a bit much to have a iPhone data plan and an iPad data plan.

Just curious, is it illegal to jailbreak your phone and use MyWi?
 

Sounds Good

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2007
1,692
57
Well, my iPhone has never been jailbroken.

Is there an "Idiot Guide" ;) that shows EXACTLY how to do a JB, step by step? -- and then exactly how to add MiWi?

Thanks again...
 

djransom

macrumors 601
May 14, 2008
4,044
165
Chi-Town
I was going to grab a 3G, but didn't want to pay the extra $130 so I went with the AT&T Hotspot package for $45 a month. I'll be gettin the WIFI version.
 

Kadin

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2009
597
2
Just curious, is it illegal to jailbreak your phone and use MyWi?
In the US it was made legal to jailbreak. You have to buy MyWi and this method is what I do as well... works great.
 

mofei1

macrumors regular
Jul 13, 2008
164
6
WiFi version for me. iOS 4.3 allows wireless tethering for iphone 4 users. Hopefully at no additional costs from the networks!
 

Kadin

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2009
597
2
WiFi version for me. iOS 4.3 allows wireless tethering for iphone 4 users. Hopefully at no additional costs from the networks!
It does cost extra unfortunately. With AT&T it's gonna be $45 for tethering which gives you a total of 4gb.
 

Sounds Good

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2007
1,692
57
Oh, I forgot to mention that my iPhone 4 has the Unlimited data plan (grandfathered in).

Does that change any of the recommendations ??

Also, how does that affect the tethering / hotspot data plan?
 

jps1012

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2010
840
0
NYC
In the US it was made legal to jailbreak. You have to buy MyWi and this method is what I do as well... works great.

Thanks for the response. Is it easy to JB? I remember with my blackberry I did some things to tweak the phone and it got real hairy. Also are there any cons to JB?
 

Kadin

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2009
597
2
Thanks for the response. Is it easy to JB? I remember with my blackberry I did some things to tweak the phone and it got real hairy. Also are there any cons to JB?
Yeah I've always found it very easy to do. But I research the **** out of stuff before I do it. Some of my friends don't and end up messing things up. I can't really think of any cons to it...
 

Saberj

macrumors regular
Jul 15, 2010
180
0
I've been using my cellphone (Sprint Hero) to provide data to my iPad. But it's just not worth the trouble. So with the iPad 2, I'm going 3G, I think. I'm just waiting to see what the Verizon plans will be like, and how they will compare to the AT&T plans.
 

PharmDoc

macrumors 6502
Oct 10, 2010
292
9
I bought my iPad with 3G thinking the resale value would be higher. However if I was to buy again, I would just buy the 32 gb wifi as I have a iPhone with miwi. It depends on if you can tether or if you trust public wifi.
 

PharmDoc

macrumors 6502
Oct 10, 2010
292
9
As far as finding a guide to jb, go to clarified.com or YouTube. Just back up your phone before you do anything and know what firmware you have.

You can purchase miwi on Cydia once you jb. It's right on the Cydia start page.
 

HDJulie

macrumors demi-goddess
Jun 13, 2008
894
411
Little Rock, AR
Oh, I forgot to mention that my iPhone 4 has the Unlimited data plan (grandfathered in).

Does that change any of the recommendations ??

Also, how does that affect the tethering / hotspot data plan?

To get the tethering/hot spot option you HAVE to give up the unlimited plan & go to instead the 2GB $25 plan. And then of course, add tethering for another $20 which will also give you an extra 2GB for a total of 4GB for $45.
 

Sounds Good

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2007
1,692
57
To get the tethering/hot spot option you HAVE to give up the unlimited plan & go to instead the 2GB $25 plan. And then of course, add tethering for another $20 which will also give you an extra 2GB for a total of 4GB for $45.
That's what I thought. To be honest, I use less than 1GB of data per month, so I don't really need the unlimited plan. But I hate the thought of giving it up, just in case!

Then again, I'm not too crazy about the thought of jailbreaking my phone and keeping up with potential updates... so the tethering/hotspot option might be best for me. Who knows?

So, it's either $30/month to keep the unlimited plan and jailbreak the phone...
Or $45/month to use the tethering/hotspot option with 4GB data max.
OR, get the 3G iPad and only buy the data plan when I need it, by the month.
 

gmagnes

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2008
63
0
Gauging data Useage

I'm trying to decide whether to go for the 3g or wifi model. Can someone give some rules of thumb or guidelines for trying to figure how much data I'm likely to be using. For example, I like to read the NYTimes and sometimes the New Yorker online. How much data does that correspond to? I receive 25-50 emails a day and send probably 10-15, mostly just with text. I also do some browsing every day, sometimes other newspapers and technology type sites. How do I figure what all of that equates to from a data perspective?
Thanks
Gerry
 

Travisimo

macrumors 6502a
Dec 22, 2009
991
226
If you have the Unlimited data plan right now, then yes, your best option is to Jailbreak your phone, buy the WIFI iPad, and use MyWi. In this way, you won't have to worry about data use on either device!

For someone on the 2GB DataPro option right now, the decision is a little tougher. If you Jailbreak and use MyWi, you'll only have 2GB of data to share amongst your phone and tethered devices. If you pay the extra $20/mo, you'll get 2GB of additional data to your pool to share. If 2GB is enough for both your phone and iPad, then Jailbreaking would still be the cheaper option. However, 2GB does not go a long way when using it on multiple devices!

Personally, I'm sporting the Verizon iPhone right now with Unlimited data. I'm Jailbroken, but I'm still considering getting the 3G iPad. One reason is because the 3G iPad has the dedicated GPS chip, while the WIFI does not. The second reason is because I don't know if I'll always stay Jailbroken, and I may have to give up my Unlimited data plan this summer if a new iPhone comes out and I upgrade. So while I'll probably go with the 3G iPad, I may not exactly activate data on it until I need to!
 

Travisimo

macrumors 6502a
Dec 22, 2009
991
226
I'm trying to decide whether to go for the 3g or wifi model. Can someone give some rules of thumb or guidelines for trying to figure how much data I'm likely to be using. For example, I like to read the NYTimes and sometimes the New Yorker online. How much data does that correspond to? I receive 25-50 emails a day and send probably 10-15, mostly just with text. I also do some browsing every day, sometimes other newspapers and technology type sites. How do I figure what all of that equates to from a data perspective?
Thanks
Gerry

The things you mentioned are not going to use a large amount of data. I've had the original iPad since launch and rarely ever go over 1GB per month. I do mostly e-mail, web surfing, and gaming. If you plan on doing any kind of streaming (audio or video), then your usage will go up dramatically. Video streaming, in particular, will use up a LOT of data quickly. This includes things like Netflix and audio streaming apps like pandora, etc.
 

Gryzor

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2010
758
326
My thoughts are as follows:

Decide what YOU want, and get what YOU want based on what YOU can afford and think will work best for YOU.
 

jlyanks85

macrumors 6502a
Jan 3, 2008
629
97
To get the tethering/hot spot option you HAVE to give up the unlimited plan & go to instead the 2GB $25 plan. And then of course, add tethering for another $20 which will also give you an extra 2GB for a total of 4GB for $45.

Don't understand why you would have to give up the unlimited data, especially if your willing to pay the 45 dollars a month for tethering/mobile hotspot.

I was going to do that, but not willing to give up unlimited data, which I use all the time, for the mobile hotspot feature, that I would only use when I go on vacation in the summer.
 

jlyanks85

macrumors 6502a
Jan 3, 2008
629
97
I bought the 3G ipad last year, thinking it would be great to have the option of having 3G whenever I needed it. Ended up never using the 3G. So it was a waste of 130 for me.

So this time I'm buying just the wi-fi only, because the only time I would need 3G on the iPad, is when I go to Disney World this summer, because for some strange reason they don't have wi-fi in their hotel rooms when I just want to check email before I go to sleep.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.