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Would an iPad work out in the boondocks?

Robin4

Robin4

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 6, 2010
355
26
RTD-NC
This is a college town. This kid has been unable to find a job after trying so very hard. He plans to move back to Virginia and live with his parents. He is devastated and very depressed. He says he won't be able to talk to his girlfriend, look for other jobs outside of that area, etc. as cell phones don't work well. She is in Seattle. His Internet, if any, might be dial up.

I was going to suggest a 3G iPad so he could use Skype but I don't want to give him false hope. Would it work?
 
Robin4 said:
This is a college town. This kid has been unable to find a job after trying so very hard. He plans to move back to Virginia and live with his parents. He is devastated and very depressed. He says he won't be able to talk to his girlfriend, look for other jobs outside of that area, etc. as cell phones don't work well. She is in Seattle. His Internet, if any, might be dial up.

I was going to suggest a 3G iPad so he could use Skype but I don't want to give him false hope. Would it work?
Click to expand...

Name of the town? We can take a look at cell coverage by carriers. If 3G doesn't work on a carrier for the iPad, perhaps there is a carrier that does provide service for cell phones and he can get a portable wifi device to use with the iPad. At any rate, a long distance relationship from Virginia to Seattle by a kid without money and spotty connections is not a recipe for success. I don't know how the iPad will help here...
 
Long distance isn't going to work out well unless you've been together for awhile and plans to meet up regularly. No money: difficult.

Check the major carriers for coverage. A person can test drive them for 30 days typically.

VoIP probably won't work well over modem. But that means there's a landline (probably expensive long distance though).

No DSL / Cable / FIOS? There might be DSL.

Job: there are always jobs somewhere.
 
palpatine said:
att says it has coverage. maybe he ought to call around and see what is possible. they are constantly putting up new towers, so things change pretty rapidly.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this info will at least give him some hope. He'll research it when he gets there.
 
Robin4 said:
Thanks, this info will at least give him some hope. He'll research it when he gets there.
Click to expand...

I hope things get better for him. I don't know if the iPad will help much, but perhaps it will lead to something cool, like maybe a job writing apps :)
 
My husband is in Iraq and has pretty bad Internet access. I travel a lot. We use Skype everyday. If you do not use the video portion (audio only) your connection doesn't have to be very good to work. Last month I was traveling and we talked everyday for 6 days. 20 - 40 mins a day and I was on 3G. I used less than 100M of data. On days when I'm on wifi and he has a good connection we use the video too.

Of course, Skype can be used on just about any computer, not just iPads.
 
donnaw said:
My husband is in Iraq and has pretty bad Internet access. I travel a lot. We use Skype everyday. If you do not use the video portion (audio only) your connection doesn't have to be very good to work. Last month I was traveling and we talked everyday for 6 days. 20 - 40 mins a day and I was on 3G. I used less than 100M of data. On days when I'm on wifi and he has a good connection we use the video too.

Of course, Skype can be used on just about any computer, not just iPads.
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Thanks for the info.

Also, please thank your husband on my behalf.
 
This may be crazy talk but if he's unemployed and living with his parents maybe he shouldn't be spending hundreds of dollars on an iPad.
 
What kind of home phone plan do they have. I have ATT and pay $70ish per month, which includes unlimited local and long distance within the US plus DSL Internet, and unlimited access to ATT wifi public network.
 
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