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iPad Is Internet free with the iPad fourth generation?

D

Disney Pixar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
4
0
Santa Monica, California
I plan on getting an iPad fourth generation for Christmas. My questions is: do internet services come free with the iPad? Or will I have to buy a data plan in order to be able to access the internet in public with it?

As a follow up question, assuming I have an unlimited data plan on my iPhone 4S, will I be able to tether internet to my iPad and my Macbook Pro when I'm in public?



Thanks in advanced.
 
S

Swayzee

macrumors member
Jul 18, 2012
78
0
no and no.

Disney Pixar said:
I plan on getting an iPad fourth generation for Christmas. My questions is: do internet services come free with the iPad? Or will I have to buy a data plan in order to be able to access the internet in public with it?

As a follow up question, assuming I have an unlimited data plan on my iPhone 4S, will I be able to tether internet to my iPad and my Macbook Pro when I'm in public?



Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...
 
QCassidy352

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,028
6,036
Bay Area
No it's not free - requires a data plan. Don't think tethering is allowed with any grandfathered unlimited plan but I may be wrong about that. It would be on sprint I believe.
 
WhiteIphone5

WhiteIphone5

macrumors 65816
May 27, 2011
1,182
2
Lima, Peru
Disney Pixar said:
I plan on getting an iPad fourth generation for Christmas. My questions is: do internet services come free with the iPad? Or will I have to buy a data plan in order to be able to access the internet in public with it?

As a follow up question, assuming I have an unlimited data plan on my iPhone 4S, will I be able to tether internet to my iPad and my Macbook Pro when I'm in public?



Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...
If you want a data plan your iPad will have to be an LTE iPad or 3G. There's no such thing as free Internet lol.

Now if you jail break you iPhone 4S you can tether but carriers are catching up and blocking. There's always a new way to tether though.
 
B

barkomatic

macrumors 601
Aug 8, 2008
4,520
2,821
Manhattan
Disney Pixar said:
I plan on getting an iPad fourth generation for Christmas. My questions is: do internet services come free with the iPad? Or will I have to buy a data plan in order to be able to access the internet in public with it?

As a follow up question, assuming I have an unlimited data plan on my iPhone 4S, will I be able to tether internet to my iPad and my Macbook Pro when I'm in public?



Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...

To clarify what others have said, if you can find a public wifi network that is free -- then THAT won't cost you to use the internet. Libraries, coffee shops, parks and bookstores sometimes have free wifi.

However, as others have stated, if you aren't on wifi and you want a data connection you'll have to pay for it.
 
HobeSoundDarryl

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Feb 8, 2004
12,199
15,490
Hobe Sound, FL (20 miles north of Palm Beach)
So far the answers could be confusing. Maybe the Op is asking about some kind of extra cost for accessing the internet.

Op, if you are somewhere that has free wifi (McDonalds, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, various hotels, schools, restaurants, etc), you can access "free Internet" via "free wifi." In other words, you could just buy a Mini and have no other costs for accessing the Internet as long as you can tap into free wifi provided by someone else.

If you have a home Internet connection and maybe wifi set up at home, you can access Internet from your own "free wifi" at home. No additional costs there.

If you are wanting to access Internet somewhere and can't locate any free wifi, then the LTE version can access Internet via a cellular connection. Those require you to buy a tier of data from a cell provider like AT&T or Verizon, etc. You can do that on demand (meaning you can turn on cellular-based Internet whenever you need it and only if you need it).

If you are somewhere that sells wifi (such as most of the airlines in flight, some airports, etc), you can also buy some Internet access from this "nonfree wifi".

In all cases, there is no additional fees from Apple for Internet access. It's just a matter of whether you can source free wifi or not as offered by other companies... or if you can't and then need paid cellular data tiers or not.
 
A

Abfarris

macrumors member
Sep 11, 2012
33
0
Question: if I buy a wifi only and later see that I should have bought the LTE, is there a way I can get cellular data through a dongle or other device?
 
shenan1982

shenan1982

macrumors 68040
Nov 23, 2011
3,641
80
Sounds like someone is upgrading to iPad from Kindle 3G :)

I'm guessing that's what they were referring to. Apple used to give free 3G on Kindle (and I think some models still do). The LTE Kindle is $50 a year for 250mb a month of LTE, so even it's heavily discounted.

But to answer the question, the 3G\4G LTE is not free, it's $30 a month stand alone, or $10 added to a mobile share plan. See the att website for details.
 
R

Redjericho

macrumors 6502a
Sep 16, 2011
815
0
Internet is not free, but you CAN tether it to your iPhone with a jailbreak, but I wouldn't apend all day streaming HD video, or they'll catch and killed your Internet.

If you're just browsing the web, the chances of getting caught are close to 0

----------
AlvinNguyen said:
Yes but that version costs more.
Click to expand...

and apple's LTE enabled model doesn't?
 
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