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All iPads No point in cellular iPad if you can tether from your phone right?
- Thread starter Johnny Steps
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Depends. There isn't one right answer.
1. Battery life is main concern if one were to tether iPad with phone. You can kill your phone battery much quicker.
2. Some people are ok with tethering their phone data to iPad cause they either are near electrical outlet or don't use the phone that much and have enough juice left on their phone.
3. Cost. $129 more for cellular model plus extra data cost.
Those are all the things you have to consider.
1. Battery life is main concern if one were to tether iPad with phone. You can kill your phone battery much quicker.
2. Some people are ok with tethering their phone data to iPad cause they either are near electrical outlet or don't use the phone that much and have enough juice left on their phone.
3. Cost. $129 more for cellular model plus extra data cost.
Those are all the things you have to consider.
My iPad 3 was an LTE model; iPad 4 is WiFi only (because I have a $20 tethering plan on my Verizon iPhone unlimited data account).
It's WAY cheaper to tether, but one thing I miss about an LTE iPad is not having my iPhone battery drain when using LTE on the iPad. Not really an issue, because I'm usually near an outlet. But it was nice to have LTE on the iPad, but probably not worth the extra cost and associated data plan.
It's WAY cheaper to tether, but one thing I miss about an LTE iPad is not having my iPhone battery drain when using LTE on the iPad. Not really an issue, because I'm usually near an outlet. But it was nice to have LTE on the iPad, but probably not worth the extra cost and associated data plan.
that is basically the view i took. I had a iPad 3rd generation with AT&T and used it a grand total of once. So this generation I decided to go with WiFi only.
that being said, i think the cell versions hold their value a bit better - also its gps is better than the phones (works on airplanes for example)
that being said, i think the cell versions hold their value a bit better - also its gps is better than the phones (works on airplanes for example)
I'm torn on this. I've had both in the past and the only time I ever used the cellular was on vacation, and even that was rare since most places have wifi. I still don't know which one to get for the Air, wifi or cellular....
I like knowing that I have the option if I ever want it, but is it worth $130? That I don't know...
I like knowing that I have the option if I ever want it, but is it worth $130? That I don't know...
just thought i would weigh in here. my iPad 2 was cellular but quickly realized i didn't want to pay for the extra $30/mo data plan so i never ended up using it. my iPad 3 was wifi and for the most part it was okay, but then i started traveling. lots of airports don't have free wifi. i did end up getting a plan with tethering and i thought that would be perfect but then i moved into an office building that had no wifi (i'm a contractor). it was a royal pain to have to 'turn on' the hotspot on my iPhone every time i wanted to get a connection on my iPad at work. and then you are draining two batteries at the same time.
for this reason i sold it and got an iPad 4 with LTE and was happy. there are lots of times where LTE has come in handy - mainly there might be wifi but either it's paid or a very spotty connection. since i already have a mobile share plan and can afford the extra for LTE i'd rather have it.
so if you are almost always wifi then it's probably fine. if you can afford the LTE and have a mobile share plan, i'd do that.
for this reason i sold it and got an iPad 4 with LTE and was happy. there are lots of times where LTE has come in handy - mainly there might be wifi but either it's paid or a very spotty connection. since i already have a mobile share plan and can afford the extra for LTE i'd rather have it.
so if you are almost always wifi then it's probably fine. if you can afford the LTE and have a mobile share plan, i'd do that.
I have gone through both tethering and now using my iPad 4 AT&T with my Mobile Share plan. Much more convenient having the data on the iPad. When tethering, it would drop the connection when the iPhone would go to sleep and also drain the battery quickly.
Also with the T-Mobile free 200 MB of LTE it makes more sense to get the cellular version of the iPad. Even if you use Wi-Fi predominately, it is nice to have the free data when needed plus you get the GPS functionality with the cellular iPad.
Also with the T-Mobile free 200 MB of LTE it makes more sense to get the cellular version of the iPad. Even if you use Wi-Fi predominately, it is nice to have the free data when needed plus you get the GPS functionality with the cellular iPad.
Personally tether. Road trips I plug my iPhone 5 into the USB port off my car radio. Had four other people in the car sat on their iPads on a recent trip to Scotland, all pulling the tether off my phone, plus I had Tom Tom on towards the end of our journey PLUS streaming from my iTunes Match lol.
My wife and daughter were two of the users so having them on a 3G or LTE plan would start costing me way more money than it's worth. Plus the extra cost of the iPads.
My wife and daughter were two of the users so having them on a 3G or LTE plan would start costing me way more money than it's worth. Plus the extra cost of the iPads.
Tethering turns out to be kind of a pain.
You can't leave the personal hotspot turned on on the iPhone all the time because it uses power and puts a blue band at the top of the iPhone's screen. So you have to get out the iPhone, unlock it, turn on the hotspot, then unlock the iPad. The iPhone only broadcasts its SSID while the personal hotspot Setting screen is up and the phone is turned on, so you must put the iPhone aside, with the screen on, while you turn on the iPad.
Once the iPad is tethered, you can then turn off the iPhone's screen and put the iPhone away. However, the tethering connection times out if about 5 minutes go by without any network activity, and you must then repeat the whole process again to get the connection reestablished.
It does work, but you'll never confuse it with the effortless alway-on connection of cellular data.
I'm going back to cellular myself...
You can't leave the personal hotspot turned on on the iPhone all the time because it uses power and puts a blue band at the top of the iPhone's screen. So you have to get out the iPhone, unlock it, turn on the hotspot, then unlock the iPad. The iPhone only broadcasts its SSID while the personal hotspot Setting screen is up and the phone is turned on, so you must put the iPhone aside, with the screen on, while you turn on the iPad.
Once the iPad is tethered, you can then turn off the iPhone's screen and put the iPhone away. However, the tethering connection times out if about 5 minutes go by without any network activity, and you must then repeat the whole process again to get the connection reestablished.
It does work, but you'll never confuse it with the effortless alway-on connection of cellular data.
I'm going back to cellular myself...
If you tether using bluetooth between your iPad and iPhone, the iPad can initiate the connection.
FYI, If you are going to tether, or use it for hours away from a charger. These things are inexpensive and work great.
Anker Astro Mini
^ This is a good point.
I only found myself in this situation once, when someone calls me while I was tethering and couldn't browse I was on a call. Not problematic for me, but maybe for those that need to be able to do both at the same time.
I always had ATT ipads but I'm gonna try tether from my iPhone Tmo plan to my new Wifi Air. I don't need a lot of data and I'm finding Wifi almost everywhere, esp with Time Warner Cable covering parts of the city now.
I was tempted by the Tmo iPad Air w/200mb free. but I'd rather spend the $100+ for more storage.
I used ATT 250mb plan for years just fine.
I was tempted by the Tmo iPad Air w/200mb free. but I'd rather spend the $100+ for more storage.
I used ATT 250mb plan for years just fine.
Thanks, I hadn't investigated this. I'll try tethering over Bluetooth and see if it's any better.
I thought Bluetooth tethering was excruciatingly slow. Has the speed increased in the newer models?
I used too have a WiFi iPad and tether to my phone, but the drain on the battery got old. Also, when I switched to Verizon, the phone no longer gets data and voice simultaneously, so a call interrupted my iPad surfing. When I got my mini last year, I sprung for the LTE model, and have been very happy, I would not go back at this point.
Verizon LTE phones absolutely can do data and voice at the same time.
I have a wifi iPad but it is so much easier to have an LTE version. I am going to either buy a refurb ipad 4 or break down and get the Air...
"Always on" is so much better than tethering.
R
I have a wifi iPad but it is so much easier to have an LTE version. I am going to either buy a refurb ipad 4 or break down and get the Air...
"Always on" is so much better than tethering.
R
Verizon LTE phones... except for the iPhone. At least the VZW iPhone 5 could NOT do voice/data simultaneously because of the antenna setup Apple used. I do not know if this has changed on the 5S.
I've had cellular on both my iPad 2 and iPad 3 and I purchased an Air today with cellular. I've probably only used the data a handful of times but I like to be able to have the option if I absolutely need it, and I like having the gps chip as I do use the ipad for GPS in my car. I have unlimited data on my iphone through AT&T so I'm not allowed to tether (a whole other discussion lol) and so I depend on a jailbreak to tether and that's not always available, so to me $130 may seem steep upfront but over a year or two it's not really that much and you do get a bit more back in resale. Plus now with t-mobile giving away 200mb a data a month why not take advantage. Just my ¢.02, but I seem to always differ from everyone else, I've always gotten 16gb too and had no issue and I have 7 pages or so of apps, I just stream all my music, movies, photos, docs, etc from the cloud.
