All iPads iPad Mini LTE or WiFi version with 4S hot spot?

[Oohara]

I'm getting a Mini and am currently wondering whether using it with my 4S Wifi hot spot will be good enough or if I need to get a LTE version Mini.

I move around a lot with public transport every day and I'll be using the Mini to surf a lot in these situations. (No streaming, I'd like to be able to check the occasional Twitch stream now and then but this is not a requirement.) What I'm wondering is - how much of a hassle is it to get the connection up between the 4S and the Mini? Not just the initial setup but everytime I want to use the connection.

Do I have to go into settings and activate something every time I want to use the hot spot? Or can the devices remember all settings and then just hook up automatically whenever I bring the Mini out of sleep mode? And will the hot spot use kill the battery on my 4S really fast? (I'd consider getting an external iPhone battery if so.)

Hoping to be able to take the cheapskate route here and save some cash on not having to buy a LTE Mini + data plan (my phone plan gives me enough data and allows tether/hotspot), but if i have to pull out the iPhone and fiddle with settings every time I want to check my e-mail or some web page I'd rather just pay and have a more hassle-free setup.

I'd be very grateful for some input from anyone with experience of this (or with regular iPad of course), as I don't have the means of testing this myself before I buy the Mini

 

[BHP41]

I'm getting a Mini and am currently wondering whether using it with my 4S Wifi hot spot will be good enough or if I need to get a LTE version Mini.

I move around a lot with public transport every day and I'll be using the Mini to surf a lot in these situations. (No streaming, I'd like to be able to check the occasional Twitch stream now and then but this is not a requirement.) What I'm wondering is - how much of a hassle is it to get the connection up between the 4S and the Mini? Not just the initial setup but everytime I want to use the connection.

Do I have to go into settings and activate something every time I want to use the hot spot? Or can the devices remember all settings and then just hook up automatically whenever I bring the Mini out of sleep mode? And will the hot spot use kill the battery on my 4S really fast? (I'd consider getting an external iPhone battery if so.)

Hoping to be able to take the cheapskate route here and save some cash on not having to buy a LTE Mini + data plan (my phone plan gives me enough data and allows tether/hotspot), but if i have to pull out the iPhone and fiddle with settings every time I want to check my e-mail or some web page I'd rather just pay and have a more hassle-free setup.

I'd be very grateful for some input from anyone with experience of this (or with regular iPad of course), as I don't have the means of testing this myself before I buy the Mini

Hotspot will kill the battery faster that's for sure. How much is really how long are you on it and signal strength. I have found that it will not auto connect every time. If its idle for a longer time then it doesn't want to connect. This doesn't seem to have to do with the mini but the iPhone(I'm using a 5). I have to go into settings on the iPhone and even though the hotspot is on I have to flip the switch off/on again for it show up on the mini.

Short answer, yes, it's a hassle for what you're looking to do with it. I'm returning mine for a LTE version.

If you're in the states and have VZW(AT&T may be the same) you can add your mini to your shared data plan for $10 a month.

 

[Oohara]

Hotspot will kill the battery faster that's for sure. How much is really how long are you on it and signal strength. I have found that it will not auto connect every time. If its idle for a longer time then it doesn't want to connect. This doesn't seem to have to do with the mini but the iPhone(I'm using a 5). I have to go into settings on the iPhone and even though the hotspot is on I have to flip the switch off/on again for it show up on the mini.

Short answer, yes, it's a hassle for what you're looking to do with it. I'm returning mine for a LTE version.

If you're in the states and have VZW(AT&T may be the same) you can add your mini to your shared data plan for $10 a month.

Great, thanks for your answer! Sounds like I'll be getting a LTE Mini then. I guess a bonus will be that I can use the Mini itself as an additional tether/hot spot for my computer when the 4S' batteries run out or something.

 

[pommie82]

Well talking from not much experience here but i have tethered with a iPhone 4S in the past say maybe 12 times since i have owned my iPad 1st Generation.There is a thread on mac forums about the bluetooth hotspot not working with the new operating system with the iPhone -6.0.1
Here is the link for the thread- https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1479647/
So you wont be able to tether at the moment until they solved the bug i was going to go out somewhere the other day and try the mini and with tethering to see how it hold up be was unable to because purely i couldn't get a connection sorted out to go.
I was going to get the iPad mini LTE version but i have that good of a deal on 3 network that its not worth doing at all really because i get unlimited data plan with 3 at the moment but with the iPad mini LTE version i could only get 3GB per month and it would expire after 30 days and if you go over you have to top up again to get more data.I have a couple of external chargers here that i can keep my phone charged up when i am tethering but it worth it really to get unlimited data allowance then haven 3GB per month which today isn't really a lot really with things like youtube radio etc.I prefer just to have a unlimited data plan just in case that i need to use it at some point
Personally if you can get unlimited data like l can then it would be a lot cheaper to buy some external power packs like i have done and just keep charging your iPhone you need to it would be a lot cheaper in the long run if you search google for New-trent they do some good cheap chargers to charge up your iPhone i get about 8 full chargers out of my battery until the unit is flat.In the past i have been able to tether for two hours before my iPhone has been flat which isn't bad really.i have found it quite easy to sort out a hotspot when i have been out and about a minute and it sorted out and connected to my iPad and ready to surf the internet.The amount of times that i would tether isn't worth getting me getting a plan because i wouldn't really use it a lot because i always have wifi around me really.But if i was traveling a lot and need to check emails or the time etc then i would get one now but i might tether once a month if that at the moment but if it does increase where i would need it all the time then i could probably get a plan or get mifi instead save my iPhone battery.If you are going to just use the internet say a couple of hours a day then i would just use your phone but if you need more then you would be better of getting a LTE Version i should of thought.