iPad Should I return my cellular iPad and go to WiFi only?

[Bromio]

Hi:

I'll explain you my situation:
I work in another city and I don't have WiFi in my rented flat. When I go home every weekend I can use WiFi, but not during the week. So, I decided to buy a cellular iPad Air 2 which I use for reading (lots of PDFs and epubs), browsing, tweeting, answer e-mails... Nothing related to music, photos or videos (I can do that via WiFi on Saturdays when I'm with my family at home). I've bought a 300MB ($2) plan to begin with, even though I can get 1GB ($5).

However, I've detected a high data consumption and some users have told me that iOS 8 is thought to constantly sync data, even via cellular.

If I had to tether to my phone via WiFi, I would have to do it for hours every day, with the corresponding waste of battery and my smartphone plan.

Should I keep the iPad Air 2 cellular or should I go back for the WiFi-only model? Please, take my situation into account.

If the cellular model is only useful together with very large data plans (more than 1GB or 2GB or even unlimited), it can't be for me.

 

[scaredpoet]

I would suggest either springing for the extra $2 a month for that 1GB plan, or seeing if your current wireless carrier (or even a competing one) offers a plan where your data allotment is shared across your devices.

You can go with a WiFi only model, but that's not going to solve the problem you're having. Data will still be used, you'll just be using it through your phone. And from personal experience I know that unless your tethering is very occasional, it can be a real hassle to constantly deal with. Between your battery dying, your phone heating up and keeping the connection alive, it'll really drag down the usefulness of both your iPad and your phone.

You might also want to look at your settings for iCloud. There are a number of items where you can turn cellular data usage off, like background app refreshing, app updates and itunes/icloud drive downloads. Making your phone wait until there's WiFi for these things might bring down the data usage a bit.

And while you're at it, check your cellular settings, in the usage section, and verify where all the data usage is coming from. It's listed by app, so you should be able to get a sense of whether it's really the OS, iCloud, or if it's really just you using up your data.

 

[mtneer]

Hi:

I'll explain you my situation:
I work in another city and I don't have WiFi in my rented flat. When I go home every weekend I can use WiFi, but not during the week. So, I decided to buy a cellular iPad Air 2 which I use for reading (lots of PDFs and epubs), browsing, tweeting, answer e-mails... Nothing related to music, photos or videos (I can do that via WiFi on Saturdays when I'm with my family at home). I've bought a 300MB ($2) plan to begin with, even though I can get 1GB ($5).

However, I've detected a high data consumption and some users have told me that iOS 8 is thought to constantly sync data, even via cellular.

If I had to tether to my phone via WiFi, I would have to do it for hours every day, with the corresponding waste of battery and my smartphone plan.

Should I keep the iPad Air 2 cellular or should I go back for the WiFi-only model? Please, take my situation into account.

If the cellular model is only useful together with very large data plans (more than 1GB or 2GB or even unlimited), it can't be for me.

Just turn off cellular data on your iPad settings so there is no chance of inadvertent data usage sneaking in on you. You can always toggle it back on when you really require it during the week. It also saves a bit of battery life. That way you have the option of keeping your existing plan and having data when you are really in a pinch.

 

[Gav2k]

Just turn off cellular data on your iPad settings so there is no chance of inadvertent data usage sneaking in on you. You can always toggle it back on when you really require it during the week. It also saves a bit of battery life. That way you have the option of keeping your existing plan and having data when you are really in a pinch.

Keep your iPad and just be smart with the settings. Go in and change auto app update etc to not use cellular and you will be fine.

 

[melman101]

Just turn off cellular data on your iPad settings so there is no chance of inadvertent data usage sneaking in on you. You can always toggle it back on when you really require it during the week. It also saves a bit of battery life. That way you have the option of keeping your existing plan and having data when you are really in a pinch.

In addition, you can turn off certain apps that utilize date on Cellular. Yesterday messing around, I loaded up a Speed Test app, and it took 25 megs of data. Not realizing how stupid that was, I then turned off cellular data for that specific app just in case I ever have a moment of weakness again.

LOL