i just don't see the needs unless your business is paying. assuming you are paying data for ur phone already + your internet at home + the extra cost for cellular version ipad then you add in the monthly data plan. you may say oh it's only $10-20a month, but when u add it all up you r paying almost $100 a month for just INTERNET. more power to you if you can afford it, just giving me opinion
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad mini Why have an iPad data plan when you can tether?
- Thread starter Irock619
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If still on an AT&T Unlimited Data phone plan tethering is not allowed without changing the plan.
If you use some (but not tons) of data, it's easy to get away with little or no cost cellular data on an ipad.
Up to 200MB per month is free with T-Mobile.
1GB good for 30 days is $10/mo at T-Mobile, $20 per month at Verizon.
1GB good for 90 days is $25 at AT&T - best deal if you use between 200MB and 800MB per month and don't have good T-Mobile coverage. I think they still have it, wasn't well published but showed up via the iPad as an option.
BTW these are prepaid plans so you can cancel any time and resume a couple months later if/when desired. No lock-in or ETF.
How is juggling a third device or adding bulk to your phone a better solution? Seems even more inconvenient, and a hot spot is going to cost as much or more than just getting the cellular ipad to begin with.
ok, you still need to pay for phone data + ur rMini data + your house internet....
Simple: Your phone only has so much battery life. Tethering only decreases it by that much more. Also, some data plans don't have tethering and the phone companies will often gouge you more for the feature on phones than on cellular model iPads where (at least for Verizon and AT&T) the feature is complimentary in all pre-paid and most post-paid plans.
This is why I have a cellular iPad mini (and will probably only get a cellular minis from now on) and a cellular iPad Air.
I would be paying for my phone data and home internet regardless of which model iPad I have, or if I had one at all.
As I said before, the extra $10 a month is worth keeping my unlimited iPhone plan.
I also have a car payment, insurance, electric bill, etc. How does any of that matter?
rui no onna already posted about it, but I'll post it again and expand on it: tether by Bluetooth. The default tethering works by wifi. Wifi takes up a lot of battery on the phone's part. Perhaps partly due to that, Apple have programmed it so that the wifi hotspot shuts off if there is no transfer activity for 10-15 minutes, thus forcing you to manually reconnect afterward.
Bluetooth doesn't drain the battery nearly as quickly (especially with two devices that support Bluetooth 4.0 "Low Energy"), and the connection does not cut out due to inactivity. As long as you leave "hotspot" enabled on your iPhone and have Bluetooth enabled, making the connection after setting it up is simple, too. From one of the two devices, go to your Settings > Bluetooth and then tap on the saved device. Within about five seconds the connection will be made, and it won't break unless one of the two devices goes out of range or has Bluetooth disabled (which is my quick and easy way of breaking the tether).
I temporarily worked in an office with no wifi network, and tethered via Bluetooth for 6-9 hours each day. No problems, wonderful technology. If you've already bought an iPhone and you have a phone plan that supports tethering, it's the ideal way to "get your money's worth."
Granted, having cellular built into the iPad still represents the ultimate in convenience. Even though it takes me around 10-15 seconds to get the initial Bluetooth tether up and running, being able to pick up the iPad and use the internet immediately is obviously faster. Bluetooth represents a minimal drain, but it's still a drain on both iPad and iPhone that wouldn't occur if the devices weren't tethered. I don't think the extra cost of cellular in an iPad and the cost of a data plan for the iPad is worth it, but I can understand why some people would prefer such an arrangement.
Then there are folks like my family. By not using smart phones, we save more than enough money to buy data for our cellular iPads - and lots of other stuff.
We use our prepaid cell phones for one purpose: making phone calls when needed. The iPads do everything else and do it brilliantly.
We use our prepaid cell phones for one purpose: making phone calls when needed. The iPads do everything else and do it brilliantly.
Data plans only go up to 10gb/month (in germany) then they get very expensive or very slow.
I use much more than 10gb/month of cellular data traffic.
So I have data plans for every ipad and my cellphone.
Also if you get a data plan they throw an ipad in
I use much more than 10gb/month of cellular data traffic.
So I have data plans for every ipad and my cellphone.
Also if you get a data plan they throw an ipad in
Last edited:
I have a "dumb" phone. In my job I encounter situations where I cannot take a camera in to the location, so I would have to leave the smart phone behind, and then can't make calls. So, For now, I keep the dumb phone and do everything else with the iPad.
Not if you tether through Bluetooth. As I wrote above, there was a month where I was tethering daily from 9 AM to 5-6 PM between an iPhone 4S and an original iPad mini. The iPhone's battery would still be above 50% at the end of the day (phone would be taken off of the charger around 4-5 AM). I had a Mophie battery case, but I found that I never needed to switch it on.
That's still draining more phone battery than if you weren't tethering, of course, but it's far from "slaughtering" the battery. Unless you're using your phone for calls, your battery usage while tethering will likely be less than your normal day-to-day usage. The reason is that you'll only be using one device at a time, so you'll likely be using your iPad for emails, web browsing, and texting, thus allowing you to keep the iPhone's screen off and processor load light.
Verizon - Voice + Tether?
In the 3G days, on Verizon you could either be on a voice call or you could be using your data plan, but not both at the same time. I have a Verizon iPhone 5 LTE and a Verizon LTE iPad Air running on a TMobile SIM (200MB free per month). The other day I had to be in a conference call on my iPhone while viewing slides in a remote Webex session on my iPad Air. I assumed I could not tether to the iPhone because I needed an active voice connection. I ended up burning through my TMobile 200MB plan forcing me to tether for the rest of the month.
I was wondering if the voice or data Verizon limit has changed now that they support LTE? Anyone know?
In the 3G days, on Verizon you could either be on a voice call or you could be using your data plan, but not both at the same time. I have a Verizon iPhone 5 LTE and a Verizon LTE iPad Air running on a TMobile SIM (200MB free per month). The other day I had to be in a conference call on my iPhone while viewing slides in a remote Webex session on my iPad Air. I assumed I could not tether to the iPhone because I needed an active voice connection. I ended up burning through my TMobile 200MB plan forcing me to tether for the rest of the month.
I was wondering if the voice or data Verizon limit has changed now that they support LTE? Anyone know?
No you still can't use voice and data at the same time with iPhones on Verizon
It would cost more for me to add tethering to my cell phone plan. I don't want to jailbreak my phone so don't have a way to do it for free. I hardly ever use data so wouldn't want that monthly fee every month in case I need it.
T-Mobile gives me 200MB of free data a month. I don't get signal at home but usually any place I go where I want to use data has coverage and 200MB is plenty.
T-Mobile gives me 200MB of free data a month. I don't get signal at home but usually any place I go where I want to use data has coverage and 200MB is plenty.
I don't pay anywhere near $100 for INTERNET. Let's see... my cell bill with TMO is about $40 per month and that includes a new iPad Air on EIP, 3GB tablet data per month, and 1000 minutes PAYG on the phone good for a year.
Most of my friends are paying AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint $100+ per month for the pleasure on owning an iPhone 5 on a single line with limited data.
I'm certainly not rich... but if the day comes where I can't afford a measly 10 or 20 bucks to have something I really want... then it's time to seriously consider what I'm doing with my life... because something is seriously wrong.
I get the cellular models just for the "real GPS" the cellular models have. Never connect to a cell data service, well, once I bought a month of service just to play around but never made much use of it. I've tethered a few times but 95% of the time I use the iPad there's wi-fi around.
The GPS wouldn't work with no sim if you are not in range of wi-fi right? Same as a wifi only iPad?
Reason i asked is i have always used a GPS iPad but just sold it as it was on contract and i wasn't using the data, i tried my retina wifi mini the other day not tethered, and it connects to any wi-fi in range, not perfect but works.
I personally have a 32gig rMini celluar version, and I would never consider going back to a wifi model. Now don't get me wrong, wifi versions are great but once you have no wifi available or can't tether, your pretty much stuck to what you have on your ipad. The conveniance of being to check your email, watch netflix, or just simply using safari makes the extra price you pay for a celluar version worth it.
No, GPS has nothing to do with the SIM, just like your cellphone. Remove SIM and GPS works fine without it. That's why I get the cellular iPad, because I have the "real" GPS and don't need any other data plan. The WI-FI only model has no GPS chip.