All iPads WiFi vs Cellular... My personal observations

[RedOrchestra]

Yeah, I'm not going to be looking around for HotSpots.

My iPad with cellular is the only way to go for me PLUS, with cheap sim cards / plans available in Europe, my cellular iPad has become invaluable.

Geez, resale value is the last thing that comes to mind.

 

[scorpio1973]

Resale value was the last thing I worried about when purchasing my iPad Air w/LTE. I take my iPad with me a lot and I didn't want to have to search for available wifi. For me, it was worth the extra $130.

 

[Booji]

For me, the whole attractiveness of a tablet is mobility - I travel a lot and its a hassle always trying to find a wifi connection. I would not buy a tablet without cellular.

Plus its great to use your iPad as a hotspot for everything else.

The LTE speeds I can get will blow the doors off any public hotspot.

I think the exception is that people who never take their iPads out of their house.

 

[eastercat]

After owning a wifi iPad, I was sick of the fact that I couldn't use my iPad's internet capabilities outside the house. The cellular version means I can bring it with me and still browse.
I kept my first gen iPad until selling it to target for $200. I don't care about resale value.

 

[maflynn]

The LTE speeds I can get will blow the doors off any public hotspot.

I think that's an important fact to highlight. I found many public wifis to be exceedingly slow. Also consider security, as some hackers can monitor network traffic on the wifi as well.

 

[daddyd302]

I have the cellular version simple because it's more a convenience then anything else. I'll use mostly wi-fi if I can but if I need LTE service, I can get it. I can choose between, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. If needed it can also serve as a backup phone.

 

[siroht]

I bought the wifi version first because my thought process was that I can just tether it to my iPhone when needed. The icing on the cake was that the tethering option was free with my phone plan and only used data from my monthly data allowance.

When I began using the tethering option it would frequently timeout and disconnect...this is a feature according to Apple not a bug. I was finding myself constantly going back and forth tinkering with the settings to get my iPad to reconnect and see the iPhone as a wifi hotspot. It got so frustrating that I would just use my phone to do small quick tasks.

That's when I then decided that I needed a cellular iPad and ended up finding one cheaper that the wifi equivalent. I went to my carrier and they hooked me up for an additional $10/month which still draws off my 10GB data allowance. (Ironically the same month my FAN discount increased by 11% so actually the 10 charge is a wash.)

Now it's nice to have a "always on" connection when I'm out and about, not having to go through 3 or 4 steps to obtain an "off and sometimes on" connection. When I return home it auto connects to my wifi as soon as I pull into my garage.

 

[rui no onna]

$10 a month for LTE on the Ipad is indeed cheap and would not have a problem at that price wonder what you get for that. Personally, I use an LTE Iphone with free tethering for my Ipad and am happy to save the extra cost of the Cellular Ipad.

That's the device cost for an iPad on a Mobile Share or Share Everything plan. Tethering is allowed on those plans but if you want the convenience, the extra $10 a month is just roughly equivalent to a couple of frappuccinos. I've got the LTE version and I actually use the iPad as a giant hotspot. Really awesome battery life.

 

[mjcnortheast]

iPad 2 to iPad Air upgrade -both cellular

I also did not get a resale bump from the AT&T iPad 2 but I used it in New Zealand for mapping data and Skype over 3G. I lost it once and found it again using Find My iPhone. That would have failed it I did not have 3G turned on.

The iPad is a networked based device so it is worth the extra cost to make sure it has a network to use when it needs it. I upgraded the iPad 2 to an iPad Air Verizon and put a TMobile SIM in it. If 200MB from TMobile does not cover my needs for a month, I tether from my Verizon iPhone 5. Almost all my data comes through WiFi at work or home so I have yet to hit my 200MB limit on the TMobile free for life plan. I agree that it is good to have the option of using LTE if the WiFi coverage away from home is slow, as it often is.

 

[aneftp]

I am in a little different situation. I have a lte verizon lte iPad 3. I use my unlimited verizon phone sim in my iPad 3. (It's essentially a spare line that costs me $24/data (because of discount) $10 add a line. So $34/month for unlimited data off my brother spare line

For iPad 4 (wifi only) And now my 2 iPad airs (wifi only) I have gotten just the wifi model.

Because I either use the iPad 3 lte in public. Or when I travel with the kids. Bring the iPad air (wifi only). Because Verizon allows me unlimited free tethering off Verizon iPad.

For iPad 6. I will probably get cellular model to replace iPad 3. And continue using my unlimited verizon lte data on iPad with free hotspot. I will never give up my verizon unlimited until it's forced from me.

And I still used the verizon loophole to upgrade to iPhone 5s for $199/299 and kept my verizon unlimited! Ha. Using verizon iPhone 5s on my ATT unlimited which is throttled after 5gb.

 

[kathyricks]

I travel a fair amount and the unreliable nature of access to public Wifi and the slow web surfing speed of most public Wifi has been a constant annoyance and productivity killer.

 

[quietstormSD]

I originally got the cellular iPad air then returned it for the wifi only one. I figured I would only use the iPad really in wifi settings (home, work and coffee shops). If I need to look something up on the fly I would just use my iPhone.

 

[Ladybug]

This is my first cellular ipad, the previous ipads I had were all wifi only. I have to say while I don't use the cellular that often, I love the convenience and don't see myself ever purchasing anything but cellular from now on. I'd rather pay for the convenience than have to worry about running my phone battery down. To each his own I guess.

 

[Aspasia]

Was at home the other night doing some online research when bammo, my Internet went down because of a regional outage. No problem. Just turned on my iPad's cellular, bought the 250MB data plan from AT&T for $5, and was back online in less than five minutes. My ISP was down till the next evening.

A year ago I purchased a cellular mini for my daughter. She doesn't own a cell phone but uses her mini instead. I was surprised at the clarity of the calls. She pays $15 a month for the data plan. The phone calls are free thru the app she uses.

I would never purchase an iPad without cellular. The cellular models may cost more up front, but in my family it's worth the price.

 

[bobr1952]

My reasons to not get cellular on my Air pretty much fall in line with quietstormSD. I did consider it but decided since it will spend most of its time at home, I didn't really need to spend the extra money. And of course my iPhone makes a perfectly good stand in if I should be without wi-fi.

 

[gpspad]

Which Ipad for a Road trip?

Which model would be better for a road trip?

Does the cellular version with GPS be a better choice?

Would a pay as you go, mobile hot spot allow a wireless ipad to use mapping and location services?

 

[petvas]

Who buys a cellular iPad for the resale value?

Exactly. Who cares? I just bought my second cellular iPad and I am curious to see if I will use the cellular capability. Hopefully I will have the SIM card by tomorrow. Up until now I used my iPhone as a hotspot, but this has a lot of disadvantages. The iPhone's battery life is one of them. Having to always manually connect is also a pain..

 

[CEmajr]

I went cellular when I bought my iPad mini back in September and will be doing cellular from now on. It's much more convenient and Tmobile has made 200MB free so now it doesn't even extra to use it monthly. If I need more than 200MB then I just tether the rest from my phone.

 

[s2mikey]

People without smart phones probably benefit more from the cell data since they don't have that phone tether option. I have no smart phone so that's me.

 

[maflynn]

People without smart phones probably benefit more from the cell data since they don't have that phone tether option. I have no smart phone so that's me.

The downside of tethering is (at least for the iPhone), it kills the battery, so its not imo a feasible alternative for long term usage.

I thought when I got the first gen mini, that I could save money and go that route.

Tethering is a nice option but I personally don't think its a viable long term solution.

 

[nebo1ss]

The downside of tethering is (at least for the iPhone), it kills the battery, so its not imo a feasible alternative for long term usage.

I thought when I got the first gen mini, that I could save money and go that route.

Tethering is a nice option but I personally don't think its a viable long term solution.

Battery life is not an issue if you carry around one of these. Its very small and provides 5,500 mAhr.

 

[daddyd302]

Battery life is not an issue if you carry around one of these. Its very small and provides 5,500 mAhr.

So you're gonna carry this to power your iPhone. Your iPhone is gonna be used to tether you ipad. So you're gonna carry 3 things when you could just carry one? That's the whole point of paying $130 more, so you don't need to carry another item to use your ipad. Yes there are people that use their ipad/ipad mini to make cell calls.

 

[petvas]

So you're gonna carry this to power your iPhone. Your iPhone is gonna be used to tether you ipad. So you're gonna carry 3 things when you could just carry one? That's the whole point of paying $130 more, so you don't need to carry another item to use your ipad. Yes there are people that use their ipad/ipad mini to make cell calls.

I wouldn't make any calls with an iPad, but it's nice to have an always connected device. All these years I have been using the personal hotspot feature of my iPhone, but it doesn't really provide the flexibility needed. I always had to plug my iPhone so that it doesn't run out of battery. I am using a multisim card with my iPad and I don't have to use a second plan.

 

[rui no onna]

So you're gonna carry this to power your iPhone. Your iPhone is gonna be used to tether you ipad. So you're gonna carry 3 things when you could just carry one? That's the whole point of paying $130 more, so you don't need to carry another item to use your ipad. Yes there are people that use their ipad/ipad mini to make cell calls.

Lol, my issue with that is having yet another device that needs charging. I actually do carry one of those for emergency purposes. However, it's certainly not something I'd want to have to use and charge daily because tethering keeps killing my phone battery.

To me, this is a question of whether or not you're willing to pay for the convenience and simplicity of having built-in cellular on your device. For some, particularly those who work in the field a lot or often find themselves in places without wifi, it's likely worth it. Those who have easy access to wi-fi and only need it once in a blue moon are probably better off with the wifi-only model.

By the way, in my experience, iPads with built-in cellular are much better options for non-techies. Gave my mom a wifi-only iPad and taught her how to tether to her iPhone (via bluetooth) so she can use it at work during her breaks. I received tech support calls twice a month which were mostly pointless since she gets frustrated and I end up having to resync bluetooth myself. Gave her an iPad with cellular (Verizon) and no problems since.

 

[Ledgem]

When I began using the tethering option it would frequently timeout and disconnect...this is a feature according to Apple not a bug. I was finding myself constantly going back and forth tinkering with the settings to get my iPad to reconnect and see the iPhone as a wifi hotspot. It got so frustrating that I would just use my phone to do small quick tasks.

That's when I then decided that I needed a cellular iPad and ended up finding one cheaper that the wifi equivalent.

There are two ways to tether iOS devices to one another. The default - the first option presented - is wifi tethering, and it behaves exactly as you've described. It takes a lot of energy for the iOS device to broadcast a wifi network and so the network shuts off after 10-15 minutes of inactivity.

If you want a longer-lasting tethering option, pair the two iOS devices by Bluetooth and then manually direct one to connect to the other. If "personal hotspot" is enabled on your tethering device, then the tether will run through Bluetooth. The connection will remain active until the devices lose their connection, either because they are too far from each other or because Bluetooth was turned off on one of the devices.

I'll grant that directing one device to connect to the other, and then manually disabling Bluetooth to break the connection, represent additional steps over buying a cellular iPad. They're quick to perform, though, and represent a perk of owning two iOS devices.

The downside of tethering is (at least for the iPhone), it kills the battery, so its not imo a feasible alternative for long term usage.

I used to do Bluetooth tethering while at a workplace where I didn't have access to the wireless network. I'd connect the two devices (iPhone 4S and iPad Mini first-generation) shortly before 9 AM and would keep them tethered until 5-6 PM. While I no longer remember the exact numbers, the surprise was that the battery life seemed barely affected.

Again, this is Bluetooth tethering between two devices that supported the Bluetooth 4.0 protocol, not wifi. Wifi represents a significant drain on the battery.

So you're gonna carry this to power your iPhone. Your iPhone is gonna be used to tether you ipad. So you're gonna carry 3 things when you could just carry one?

You can buy an external battery, or you could buy a battery case (such as the Mophie Juicepack). That way you have your case and backup power for your phone, all in one.

Even though I tethered regularly for a long time and had a Juicepack Air case, I never found myself needing to activate the case due to low battery on the phone.