Just wondering in most real-world situations, which option is better? I don't currently feel like a monthly $60+ for cellular on iPad could ever really be justified unless work pays for it. But maybe there's something I can't see? Vote and Discuss!
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iPad mini Cellular vs Hotspot?
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This has been discussed pretty regularly here. If you think that hotspotting will cover. Your needs, you’re probably right. People who use cellular data in their iPads extensively will probably not want to use hotspotting but for most people it works fine.
That being said, t mobile in the us offers a 5 gigs for 150 days for $10 plan that is fantastic for occasional use. It works out to around $2/month and is way better (to me at least) than having to hotspot.
That being said, t mobile in the us offers a 5 gigs for 150 days for $10 plan that is fantastic for occasional use. It works out to around $2/month and is way better (to me at least) than having to hotspot.
I would say very dependant on personal use case.
I use my iPad only in WIFI enabled locations with maybe the one exception being an airport or a (local) train if I’m travelling. In that case I can use the hotspot as here in the EU there is no roaming charge
I use my iPad only in WIFI enabled locations with maybe the one exception being an airport or a (local) train if I’m travelling. In that case I can use the hotspot as here in the EU there is no roaming charge
That’s a crazy high amount. I pay about £8 ($12) per month for data on my sim.
In general, cellular can be much faster than hotspot tethering. Either the ISP throttles the connection or there is overhead in the ad-hoc Wi-Fi generated by the hotspot. Tethering disconnects regularly so it’s not something you want to use for productivity.
Do you use Wi-Fi or bluetooth to share the internet from the mobile phone to the ipad
I use bluetooth as i get problems with connection when using Wi-Fi
Note: I don't own an apple mobile phone as i have a Samsung Note 9 mobile phone
I pay £16/month for a 5G sim with Three and its unlimited data.
First off, you may want to shop around for prices as I’ve never hears of such a high amount for a data only plan on an iPad. They generally just get added onto your existing plan. Second, it depends how often you think you’re going to make use of it outside of a wifi network. For me, I use my iPad frequently out of the house so the cellular made the most sense. It’s much faster and more stable then tethering
I use a hotspot weekly with no issues. I have T-Mobile 5G where I use the hotspot. There may be a slight delay versus direct connection, but not really an issue for me.
If you get the tablet plan standalone, they can get quite expensive for high data usage.
That’s why I never bothered switching to prepaid on our smartphone family plan. The monthly for the phone might get cheaper by $10 or so but you lose features like hotspot and tablet data becomes much more expensive.
Hotspot works great for me. I use it when traveling only so no need to incur the extra expense associated with a cellular add-on.
I’m not sure where you are located, but in the US, AT&T has a plan for $35/month. My two are unlimited data. I don’t use that much data but am in places where there’s no wifi quite often so I need cellular.
I think those are only for folks already grandfathered in. Signing up for a new plan, it’s just 25GB for $35/30 days.
I had a cellular iPad for a year. Found out I used it like 3 times. Once during a work conference that I needed to hotspot for myself and coworkers because wifi was so bad, once because power went out (scheduled) for a few hours, and ... I can't remember the third.
Figured for the cost, I could just hotspot via my phone (which can be initiated via the iPad/MacBook fairly easily). And that's what I did. Saved myself serious $/mo over the last few years and have had no problems - and I've used my iPhone as a hotspot for 2 days in a row during a work conference (for 2 devices and another coworker). Never had a problem - connected all day.
What's funny is, I find tethering to my iPhone to be better than most wifi I get at hotels/work/etc. It's addictive.
I have cellular on my older iPad, I rarely ever made use of it so it was a big waste of money.
My mobile internet is faster than most people their internet at home so hotspot works like Wifi basically.
My mobile internet is faster than most people their internet at home so hotspot works like Wifi basically.
Been beat to death probably on here so looking at older threads is a good idea.
My advice is to skip cellular unless you have very specific needs that warrant it (like wanting to get "real GPS" or a need for Internet access where your phone isn't around). You can usually discern this by buying the WiFi only version first if you're unsure and returning it to swap it for the cellular version if you notice you hit a wall.
Tethering is plenty fast for most needs. Especially on 5G iPhones where I easily exceed 600Mbps down on T-Mobile. They don't appear to weaken that tethered either.
Paying for the cellular radio (~$100) + service can quickly add up... And can quickly be wasted money...
My advice is to skip cellular unless you have very specific needs that warrant it (like wanting to get "real GPS" or a need for Internet access where your phone isn't around). You can usually discern this by buying the WiFi only version first if you're unsure and returning it to swap it for the cellular version if you notice you hit a wall.
Tethering is plenty fast for most needs. Especially on 5G iPhones where I easily exceed 600Mbps down on T-Mobile. They don't appear to weaken that tethered either.
Paying for the cellular radio (~$100) + service can quickly add up... And can quickly be wasted money...
I currently have a 2021 IPP 12.9 and have always purchased the cellular version. On my Verizon plan I believe its 10 dollars a month for unlimited data. I mainly use it every week to travel to my weekend home which is a 3 hour drive. For 10 dollars more a month its works for me.
This is my first year getting the cellular version and I wouldn’t go back to Wi-Fi only. But I have two specific reasons:
1. Any meaningful hotspot tethering package on my plan is more than a prepaid iPad cellular plan
2. I use T-Mobile for my phone service and T-Mobile’s network has always been sort of spotty on the fringes. My iPad uses AT&T service so no matter where I am I have access to two carrier networks
I also use my iPad as essentially a laptop replacement so that helps too.
1. Any meaningful hotspot tethering package on my plan is more than a prepaid iPad cellular plan
2. I use T-Mobile for my phone service and T-Mobile’s network has always been sort of spotty on the fringes. My iPad uses AT&T service so no matter where I am I have access to two carrier networks
I also use my iPad as essentially a laptop replacement so that helps too.
I assume really old grandfathered T-Mobile plan?
As T-Mobile has included free tethering in their cell phone plans for at least a decade now. My cellular plan includes 40GB of tethering @ 5G then unlimited at 3G.
Ironically, T-Mobile network has improved massively in the last few years and it is AT&T that I see having more service coverage issues amongst my friends. They frequently end up on my iPhone tethering their iPhone so they can access WiFi calling on AT&T when we're out and about in Philly area. Wild how that is flipping.
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I pay $18 US/month unlimited 5G AND 10 Gigs/month to use for hotspots on my M1 iPad Pro 11
Same here. My family's plan is on Sprint/T-Mobile with great 5G coverage and includes unlimited data (never throttled) and 50GB hotspot for each line. We all use the hotspot pretty much everyday with no issues. I bring my iPad with me everywhere I go and the hotspot connection is instant, fast, and very reliable--even when my kids' iPads are also tethered to my iPhone at the same time. None of us ever use public (or even private, like at other people's homes) Wi-Fi outside of our home; in fact, sometimes on the weekends our cable internet is slow so we all just use our iPhones on their cellular connection and tether all our other electronics such as laptops, streaming tv, etc. along with our iPads to our iPhones. So for our use case scenario, I wouldn't even think about ever getting a cellular iPad.