AT&T Announces Plans to Offer iPad Wi-Fi + 4G Beginning on March 16 [Updated: Verizon]

[Dionte]

"All plans are commitment-free and include access to over 29,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots around the United States."

About those Wi-Fi hotspots. I am getting an iPad on Verizon, but I have an AT&T iPhone 4S. Could I use my AT&T login for wifi on the iPad? Or is there a chance of getting busted? Just curious.

I believe you can. Most places offer free WiFi no matter what carrier you use.

 

[alm99]

So, are they only offering the Wifi + 4G models or will they be selling the Wifi only models too?

 

[mikejfrd]

Are these data plans tied into our current plans? Will our current discounts apply to these data plans?

 

[justjohn025]

Does anyone know if the AT&T store also carries the wifi version?

 

[deeddawg]

So, are they only offering the Wifi + 4G models or will they be selling the Wifi only models too?

Does anyone know if the AT&T store also carries the wifi version?

AFAIK, AT&T has only sold the 3G versions. No wifi units on their online site: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/ipad.jsp

Verizon *did* sell wifi iPad1's along with their hotspot devices, but I don't know if they ever sold any wifi iPad2's.

Are these data plans tied into our current plans? Will our current discounts apply to these data plans?

For the normal prepaid, No and No. I have heard of people getting a postpaid data plan, but typically in the context of business accounts deploying ipads. Certainly worth calling AT&T to ask.

 

[drober30]

Verizon is offering 1GB (with tethering) for $20. Not that I would use tethering for that amount of data. But 1GB is at least a fair bit more than the near-worthless 250MB.

Where did you see 1 GB for $20?

I don't see that listed on their web site. They only list $30 for 2GB when you click on rate plans on the new iPad site.

 

[Andronicus]

Hart said anything about mobile hotspot. I know Verizon said it would be included at no extra price.

 

[100Teraflops]

Where did you see 1 GB for $20?

I don't see that listed on their web site. They only list $30 for 2GB when you click on rate plans on the new iPad site.

I just checked after you reported the data missing! My first thought was: it had better be there!

EDIT: where do you live? Also, I selected an iPad with 4G LTE. Maybe that's why you did not see it?

 

[pauliaK]

why get the 3g version at all?

Perhaps for a AGPS

 

[jazzkids]

not to nitpick, but article says " a $5 GB plan for $50." I know it is a 5 gig plan, but mention it in case someone wants to correct it.

 

[BiggAW]

Verizon one is a much better deal. Plans starting at $20 for 1GB, mobile hotspot, and 4G LTE (since AT&T barely has 4G).

 

[jrtc27]

And that's why I'm glad I live in the UK. 10 GB for £15 - yes please!

 

[NeroAZ]

Some people may be able to justify it as useful since it still unlocks unlimited access to AT&T's wifi networks. No harm having the option.

except when you connect to att wifi its excruciatingly slow 99% of the time! i'd rather use LTE

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Verizon one is a much better deal. Plans starting at $20 for 1GB, mobile hotspot, and 4G LTE (since AT&T barely has 4G).

AT&T has 4G LTE in the Phoenix market where I live, but looking at the map, some key areas are not covered at this time. so the Verizon version is what I'm getting.

 

[kerbero9]

Where did you see 1 GB for $20?

I don't see that listed on their web site. They only list $30 for 2GB when you click on rate plans on the new iPad site.

This was confusing to me as well so I called Verizon to get more info. The Verizon iPad will let you sign up for their Prepaid "month-to-month" data packages, which 1GB/$20 is an option.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/explore/?page=data
about half way down the page - "Prepaid Mobile Broadband"

 

[KPOM]

And that's why I'm glad I live in the UK. 10 GB for £15 - yes please!

Nice! Are you grandfathered into an old plan? The sites listed on Apple's store page aren't quite that good, but Orange does have 10GB for £25 (about $40). That's half what Verizon Wireless wants for 10GB (plus there's sales tax on the $80). Vodafone's rates are a bit closer to Verizon and AT&T.

 

[darkslide29]

What's nice about the AT&T and Verizon iPads is that both models have a sim card slot, for worldwide travel, allowing you to pop in a sim from another carrier outside of the country.

For me, a 250MB plan would be fine as I am on wifi most of the time, and I would probably use the cellular data even less than my iPhone which is always in my pocket (the iPad I wouldn't have with me all the time like I do the iPhone). I've rarely used more than 250MB cellular data on my iPhone and I'm grandfathered into unlimited data which is going to waste.

That said, Verizon's $20 for 1GB plan is a much better deal vs AT&T's 250MB plan, both because for $5 more you get 4 times as much bandwidth and you have the option to tether. It's pretty much a no-brainer unless you really want a GSM device (e.g. for travel).

 

[Macboy Pro]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/9B179)

How is this even news? Great your providing a service you already stated you were gonna offer? It's like McDonalds saying "hey we are going to sell burgers Friday"

Uh, did you say the same thing on March 7th when Apple announced the iPad?

LOL

 

[derickdub]

Doesn't AT&T's 5GB plan for the iPhone already include tethering/personal hotspot? Seems kind of stupid to not include that in at least their 5GB iPad plan.

I'd still just buy the Wifi iPad and use my 4S for a hotspot.

 

[BiggAW]

What's nice about the AT&T and Verizon iPads is that both models have a sim card slot, for worldwide travel, allowing you to pop in a sim from another carrier outside of the country.

Also, as far as we know right now, the VeriPad will be fully unlocked, meaning AT&T will work just fine with it. The LTE won't work, but they only have that on a tiny part of their network anyways...

Still not sure why anyone would keep consistent service on the iPad. I'll probably get the VeriPad for international travel as a hot spot, or in case I am going to travel to a primarily Verizon area, I can get access temporarily for $20. Otherwise, I'm MiWi-ing off of my iPhone 4S with Enhanced 3G.

 

[ZAiPhone]

Exactly....why are people complaining about options? Choose one that meets your needs.

250MB allows many of us low-bandwidth users access to email/web as we travel between free wifi spots.

There is a huge assumption there that AT&T will work within its coverage area. I've owned every iPhone and had AT&T as my carrier. Data service is getting worse not better, many times to the point of total failure. I went with Verizon for network redundancy. After I purchased the hotspot epic fail by AT&T just made me feel better about choosing Verizon.

 

[twoodcc]

more options for people to buy the iPad on day one. sounds like a win-win situation to me

 

[KPOM]

There is a huge assumption there that AT&T will work within its coverage area. I've owned every iPhone and had AT&T as my carrier. Data service is getting worse not better, many times to the point of total failure. I went with Verizon for network redundancy. After I purchased the hotspot epic fail by AT&T just made me feel better about choosing Verizon.

Me, too. In NYC, AT&T is unusable during the day. I was tempted to give AT&T's LTE network a shot here, but changed my mind and went with Verizon for the iPad. Wi-Fi hotspot is a bonus for Verizon, as far as I'm concerned. In the meantime, I'll get a chance to see how well Verizon's network works in the city (LTE or otherwise) and then re-assess when the new iPhone comes out.

 

[Bheleu]

4G Rollout with AT&T

Looks like its going to roll out slower than I thought, as I had e-mailed AT&T about coverage expansion and I was told the following:
"4G LTE will continue to rollout over the coming months, with the expectation its LTE deployment to be largely complete by year-end 2013."

 

[BiggAW]

There is a huge assumption there that AT&T will work within its coverage area. I've owned every iPhone and had AT&T as my carrier. Data service is getting worse not better, many times to the point of total failure. I went with Verizon for network redundancy. After I purchased the hotspot epic fail by AT&T just made me feel better about choosing Verizon.

Data coverage is getting a lot better (3G), although congestion in some markets (NYC is the most poignant example) is getting a lot worse.

 

[cnymike]

I'm confused about the Verizon plan. I am a current Verizon iPhone customer with unlimited data plan. If I purchase an iPad from Verizon will my existing data plan cover me or do I have to pay for a second "iPad" data plan?