Which carrier are you going with? I'm not enamored with the price of Verizon's Plan, AT&T at least has a lower price option, but I'm kinda tired of AT&T's spotty coverage, I've had my Phone and Ipad 1 on them before, that I want to give Verizon a go.
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So if you are goin 3g (or maybe LTE)
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I think you answered your own question. If people want broad coverage in the U.S., they'll go with Verizon. If they want speed, they might go with AT&T. If you live in a 4G LTE area for either one, I'm thinking you won't have much trouble with speed.
I'm sticking with WiFi only because that extra $129 could be better used elsewhere. I can turn on my iPhone's mobile hot spot feature and be connected without the extra $129 on the iPad. It's an extra $20 per month and I get another 2GB. I think the 3G plans for iPad on Verizon are $30, but I never did check. Even AT&T's cheap plan was $15 for 200GB. So I'm not saving money by using the plan for the built-in 3G.
I also am wondering whether people who buy a 4G LTE model will have any carrier ties. The iPhone 4S is the same phone on all carriers, but they are locked. Since you don't need a contract with the iPad plans, will there be a single 4G LTE model that is backward compatible with all 3G networks? I would assume so just to save on needing to create about 15 different models.
I'm sticking with WiFi only because that extra $129 could be better used elsewhere. I can turn on my iPhone's mobile hot spot feature and be connected without the extra $129 on the iPad. It's an extra $20 per month and I get another 2GB. I think the 3G plans for iPad on Verizon are $30, but I never did check. Even AT&T's cheap plan was $15 for 200GB. So I'm not saving money by using the plan for the built-in 3G.
I also am wondering whether people who buy a 4G LTE model will have any carrier ties. The iPhone 4S is the same phone on all carriers, but they are locked. Since you don't need a contract with the iPad plans, will there be a single 4G LTE model that is backward compatible with all 3G networks? I would assume so just to save on needing to create about 15 different models.
I am going to buy a 64GB Verizon iPad. I sold my iPhone 4S due to wanting a bigger phone so I am going all out on the iPad 3. (Data shouldn't be an issue with a 2GB limit since I can always tether from my Nexus.)
I'm going with the 3G (or whatever) model because I want a GPS chip but really hoping, although I doubt it will, have the T-Mobile 3G/fake4G band in it. I get consistent 10-12MBs on T-Mo on my phone which is way more than enough for any tablet use. I have no need for LTE on a tablet or a phone.
AT&T unlimited plan becomes unusable when they throttle you.
Neither carriers pricing is really what I would consider to be fair.
I will probably go Verizon and tether to my phone when possible, but even if I am paying 10$ a gb overage it will be at lte speeds and not crippled with AT&T. The 400$ cost of the unlimited AT&T sim will go a long way toward those overage fees.
If tmobiles bands are supported, that would be hard to pass up at $30 for 5gb...assuming unlocked operation is possible.
Neither carriers pricing is really what I would consider to be fair.
I will probably go Verizon and tether to my phone when possible, but even if I am paying 10$ a gb overage it will be at lte speeds and not crippled with AT&T. The 400$ cost of the unlimited AT&T sim will go a long way toward those overage fees.
If tmobiles bands are supported, that would be hard to pass up at $30 for 5gb...assuming unlocked operation is possible.
If carriers were offering family data plans (buy 5GB per month and use as you please among various devices), then I would strongly consider buying a unit with 3G/LTE. At the current offering, I just can't justify buying yet another stand-alone data plan.
You aren't buying a data plan, you're buying the option to purchase data as-needed.
I understand that, but the two are absolutely related. If I don't want/can't afford the data plan, then there is no point in purchasing a model at a premium that includes 3G/LTE functionality.
Everyone has different use cases, but for me I see it as all or nothing. I probably wouldn't be inclined to turn on the data some months and leave it off during others.
Unless you want to use a GPS enabled app, such as a navigation app that has self-contained maps (Navfree GPS being one example). Doesn't require a data connection, but does require the GPS chip that's include in the 3G hardware and not present in the Wifi only models. (Likely to be true for a new ipad as well)
The iPad with Cellular doesn't come with subsidy so you can use pretty much any carrier you want as long as the baseband chip supports the network.
LTE will get me to buy an iPad with cellular. Sure I could tether from my iPhone but I'd rather have the ability to just use my iPad and I'm banking on AT&T and Verizon dangling a carrot to get people off of their unlimited plans and that WILL be shared data plans.
LTE will get me to buy an iPad with cellular. Sure I could tether from my iPhone but I'd rather have the ability to just use my iPad and I'm banking on AT&T and Verizon dangling a carrot to get people off of their unlimited plans and that WILL be shared data plans.
I hate phone contracts so I unlocked my older iPhone for Tmobile with no data plan. so I use the iPad for most mobile internet use and have always had 3G iPads. Internet on the iPhone is tedious after using the iPad for 2 years.
I had the Unlimited Data plan on the Ipad1 and sold the simcard for a lot$ when the iPad2 came out, you could transfer it then, not sure what they'll do with plan transfers the iPad3. 'Unlimited plans' is becoming a joke due to throttling.
I had the Unlimited Data plan on the Ipad1 and sold the simcard for a lot$ when the iPad2 came out, you could transfer it then, not sure what they'll do with plan transfers the iPad3. 'Unlimited plans' is becoming a joke due to throttling.