Confirm Pls: iOS 4.3 on AT&T iPhone 4 will do Wi-Fi for iPad 2?

[canyonblue737]

If I pay the $20 tethering fee is it certain that the new hotspot function of iOS 4.3 on my iPhone 4 will work with a Wi-Fi only iPad 2? Under the original iOS 4.0-4.2 system you could NOT tether, even with a fee, to an iPad but only to a laptop (assuming you didn't jailbreak which I have no interest in.) It appears with 4.3 you will finally be able to provide a Wi-Fi signal to an iPad.

I am debating if I should buy the 3G iPad 2 to replace my Wi-Fi only iPad 1 which I often find myself wishing for a signal on. The idea of paying $20 a month for a flexible 4GB pool of data via the iPhone vs. an extra $25 on the iPad 2 for a 2GB (phone) 2GB (iPad) data plans seems appealing if I can do it...

Thanks

 

[Krandor]

Yes it will.

However, if I am alrady going to have to pay an extra $20, I would rather just pay $25 and have it all on one device and and not have to pull out two devices to get on 3G. The $5 difference is worth the convenience to me.

 

[MarkG21]

Yes, you'll be able to do that.

 

[canyonblue737]

Krandor: I thought the same thing, that the extra $5 a month would be worth it but it isn't quite so simple...

1) It isn't "just" $5 extra a month, it is also $130 extra for a 3G iPad. Over a year that works out to be a total of $15.83 extra a month for having 3G built in and using it.

2) I am an airline pilot and travel with my iPad without a laptop for 9 months now. We get free internet in all our hotels (either via Wi-Fi or in room ethernet) so I carry a Airport Express with me for the cabled rooms. Hotel internet ranges from nice and speedy to slower than 3G and obviously when not at home or in a hotel with poor service I am stuck using the iPhone 4 so it is the "in-between" times and "bad" hotels I really could use connectivity for my iPad. I think it might be worth it to pay the hotspot tethering fee since a brief iPad use in an airport terminal or extended use in a hotel (with my iPhone plugged into the wall for power) wouldn't be too inconvenient.

3) Under AT&T's new $20 fee you get an extra 2GB of data added to your plan but the total of 4GB of data can be used in any combination. I could for example use 1GB of data on the phone and 3GB on the iPad and still be covered. If you pay the $25 3G iPad fee then you get the same 2GB of data but it is limited to the iPad only so you are less flexible in how you spread the data around.

 

[HelveticaNeue]

So long as it's only brief periods of connectivity or you're in a hotel room where your iPhone can be charging while broadcasting, I think you'll be fine.

Personally, I wouldn't trade the convenience of a 3G iPad for $15 a month. It's really nice to have it instantly connected at all times. To save battery power, the iPhone suspends tethering after a period of inactivity. Which means to use 3G on the iPad you will have to dig your phone out of your pocket, or walk over to get it, to wake the WiFi tethering up. To me, that would be annoying. Plus ... it's $15 extra a month. Do you know how fast I spend $15? For something that is always on and always just works, to me it's worth it.

 

[canyonblue737]

So long as it's only brief periods of connectivity or you're in a hotel room where your iPhone can be charging while broadcasting, I think you'll be fine.

Personally, I wouldn't trade the convenience of a 3G iPad for $15 a month. It's really nice to have it instantly connected at all times. To save battery power, the iPhone suspends tethering after a period of inactivity. Which means to use 3G on the iPad you will have to dig your phone out of your pocket, or walk over to get it, to wake the WiFi tethering up. To me, that would be annoying. Plus ... it's $15 extra a month. Do you know how fast I spend $15? For something that is always on and always just works, to me it's worth it.

I'm with you Helvetica I go through $15 in a blink all the time. I am just trying to hold the line somewhere as it seems I always have something I am adding that has yet another fee, I got through my first year with an iPad minus the 3G at all and survived but the true, true annoyance was the occasions where the hotel has terrible internet service and then I was stuck with only using the iPhone 4 for the night.

 

[djransom]

Krandor: I thought the same thing, that the extra $5 a month would be worth it but it isn't quite so simple...

1) It isn't "just" $5 extra a month, it is also $130 extra for a 3G iPad. Over a year that works out to be a total of $15.83 extra a month for having 3G built in and using it.

2) I am an airline pilot and travel with my iPad without a laptop for 9 months now. We get free internet in all our hotels (either via Wi-Fi or in room ethernet) so I carry a Airport Express with me for the cabled rooms. Hotel internet ranges from nice and speedy to slower than 3G and obviously when not at home or in a hotel with poor service I am stuck using the iPhone 4 so it is the "in-between" times and "bad" hotels I really could use connectivity for my iPad. I think it might be worth it to pay the hotspot tethering fee since a brief iPad use in an airport terminal or extended use in a hotel (with my iPhone plugged into the wall for power) wouldn't be too inconvenient.

3) Under AT&T's new $20 fee you get an extra 2GB of data added to your plan but the total of 4GB of data can be used in any combination. I could for example use 1GB of data on the phone and 3GB on the iPad and still be covered. If you pay the $25 3G iPad fee then you get the same 2GB of data but it is limited to the iPad only so you are less flexible in how you spread the data around.

Thank you very much for this info as you just saved me $130. I'll just simply pay AT&T the $45 a month for 4GB worth of data as oppose paying $30 for unlimited on my iPhone and $25 for my iPad. I may only use a GB worth of data a month for my iPhone if that. I'm about to change my plan now.

 

[leisgean]

I'm in the same boat. I have iPhone4 and am looking at iPad2 WiFi or iPad2 3G. My question is if the tethering will slow down the connection and if so, by how much? Will it be noticeable or even prohibitive? I plan on using the iPad2 for streaming video often (NHL Game on their app and Netflix), so a slower connection may mean not seeing something. Anyone have any familiarity with tethering or hotspots on other devices, networks, etc?

 

[FrancoRumors]

WiFi Hot spot battery drain compared to bluetooth or USB

I currently use my iphone 4 to tether my macbook air for mobile internet. I gave up one of my 2 unlimited AT&T data plans between my wife's and my iphones. So far I feel like the 4 gigs will be plenty for me as far as data. Most of the time when I am using any of these devices there is wifi available. I am going to get a wifi iPad this time to see if it is really worth paying the extra 129$ and then having an additional account with AT&T. I don't know if it was worth the 30$ a month for the unlimited last time...of course this depends on your usage.

My only concern is how much battery time I would get out of the iPhone 4 using it as a WiFi hotspot for the ipad 2....lets say if I was in a long car trip and did not have a charger...I'm sure the iphone's battery will die first. Does anyone with an Verizon iphone have any data on how long the battery lasts if you use WiFi hotspot non-stop starting with a full charge?

BTW - using tethering with USB is faster in my opinion but not too much faster then bluetooth. They are both acceptable with the macbook air as long as you have a good signal with your phone. I think iPad 2 will operate just fine sharing WiFi with the phone ... we will see on the 11th.