All iPads Alternative for using mobile data without cellular model

[Silly John Fatty]

The time has come to replace my iPad, but I'm thinking of getting a wifi only model this time to save money.

Since I would need the mobile data only at home, I was thinking of getting one of these mobile data boxes to which you connect via wifi.

What do you call these things?

I'll have to see if it's worth it however, the price difference between the cellular and wifi only iPad I'm looking at is 100 €.

 

[sparksd]

Talking about a mobile hotspot?

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-mobile-hotspots

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Talking about a mobile hotspot?

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-mobile-hotspots

I think that must be it, but it looks kind of different than what I had in mind. Is that this thing where you put a SIM card in it and then connect to it over wifi?

They all seem to have screens, they didn't have them 10 years ago or so.

But I think that's it, yeah. Is there any other similar solutions called differently maybe?

 

[rui no onna]

I think that must be it, but it looks kind of different than what I had in mind. Is that this thing where you put a SIM card in it and then connect to it over wifi?

They all seem to have screens, they didn't have them 10 years ago or so.

But I think that's it, yeah. Is there any other similar solutions called differently maybe?

Yep, mobile hotspot (also referred to as pocket wifi) is what you're describing. Make sure the model you buy supports the LTE/5G bands for your carrier.

Personally, I find it simpler to just buy cellular iPads. The mobile hotspots just seem more prone to overheating and glitching. The ones I've used before could only go for 4 hours before I have to restart or let it cool down. The massive batteries (comparatively speaking) on iPads also make them a good wifi hotspot for other devices (wifi-only iPads, laptops, etc).

 

[sparksd]

Yep, mobile hotspot (also referred to as pocket wifi) is what you're describing. Make sure the model you buy supports the LTE/5G bands for your carrier.

Personally, I find it simpler to just buy cellular iPads. The mobile hotspots just seem more prone to overheating and glitching. The ones I've used before could only go for 4 hours before I have to restart or let it cool down. The massive batteries (comparatively speaking) on iPads also make them a good wifi hotspot for other devices (wifi-only iPads, laptops, etc).

I agree - I went with cellular for my Mini 6.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Yep, mobile hotspot (also referred to as pocket wifi) is what you're describing. Make sure the model you buy supports the LTE/5G bands for your carrier.

Personally, I find it simpler to just buy cellular iPads. The mobile hotspots just seem more prone to overheating and glitching. The ones I've used before could only go for 4 hours before I have to restart or let it cool down. The massive batteries (comparatively speaking) on iPads also make them a good wifi hotspot for other devices (wifi-only iPads, laptops, etc).

Okay, thanks for letting me know. That surely speaks for the cellular model. I’ve compared prices now and most of them are higher than those 100 Euros I’d have to add to the cellular iPad.

 

[Greenmeenie]

If you’re at home just use your home wifi. And if you travel, create a hotspot with your phone & link it to your wifi ipad.

 

[HDFan]

And if you travel, create a hotspot with your phone & link it to your wifi ipad.

Not a viable solution when you hit your carrier's hot spot data limit, assuming they have one.

 

[Greenmeenie]

Not a viable solution when you hit your carrier's hot spot data limit, assuming they have one.

True. Depends how much you use it. Works for me. I use it to upload photos & videos & some light web surfing.

 

[hovscorpion12]

For my iPad. I use my T-Mobile 5G hotspot. I have 100GB of hotspot data

 

[Silly John Fatty]

If you’re at home just use your home wifi. And if you travel, create a hotspot with your phone & link it to your wifi ipad.

I don't have internet in that home and it's not worth having a contract because I'm not there often enough. And yes, I've been using my iPhone as a Hotspot already, but I found it didn't work very well. I think I'll just go with a Cellular iPad. My iPhone plan also doesn't include that much data, because I never really need that much.

 

[FranApple]

I don't have internet in that home and it's not worth having a contract because I'm not there often enough. And yes, I've been using my iPhone as a Hotspot already, but I found it didn't work very well. I think I'll just go with a Cellular iPad. My iPhone plan also doesn't include that much data, because I never really need that much.

What do you mean “it doesn’t work very well”? I’ve used my iPhone’s hotspot for many years, sometimes it’s my sole internet connection when I travel. Who even knows how many countless TB of data I’ve used over my hotspot. IT’s always worked well and the speed has been fantastic. These days, iOS makes the connection process almost seamless.

 

[rui no onna]

What do you mean “it doesn’t work very well”? I’ve used my iPhone’s hotspot for many years, sometimes it’s my sole internet connection when I travel. Who even knows how many countless TB of data I’ve used over my hotspot. IT’s always worked well and the speed has been fantastic. These days, iOS makes the connection process almost seamless.

Personally, I’ve encountered the failed to enable personal hotspot error multiple times.

I’m on iPad like 8+ hours a day. Meanwhile, the average onscreen time on my iPhone was like 10 minutes per day. I find tethering just isn’t as reliable as having built-in cellular on the iPad.

 

[Digitalguy]

I am a big cellular user, I have 3 unlimited SIMs (in addition to the one in my phone), each for $10/month, plus a limited one for $5 (which I'll cancel before it renews in the Spring). Currently I have one on my thinkpad nano, one on my 2018 11" iPad pro, and one on my Surface go 2 (and the limited one is on my iPad mini)
The cards support 5G but most of my cellular devices don't. 4G gives me around 100Mb/s, but when I tried 5G with my 12.9 M1 iPad pro I was getting 700 to almost 1Gb. So I thought about buying a mobile hotspot with 5G. Well they were extremely expensive, in the $500-700 range, so I said to myself, for that price I can buy a 5G phone, so I got a Samsung S23 for $650, which also is a nice camera for when I know I need one (I am not replacing my 2019 phone for now).
I don't tether for my phone unless I have no other choice, sometimes it doesn't work with my laptops and the connection is always much less stable compared to built-in cellular, let alone the fact that it drains the battery of the phone.

 

[Greenmeenie]

I don't have internet in that home and it's not worth having a contract because I'm not there often enough. And yes, I've been using my iPhone as a Hotspot already, but I found it didn't work very well. I think I'll just go with a Cellular iPad. My iPhone plan also doesn't include that much data, because I never really need that much.

Well, here’s the thing. If you plan t

I don't have internet in that home and it's not worth having a contract because I'm not there often enough. And yes, I've been using my iPhone as a Hotspot already, but I found it didn't work very well. I think I'll just go with a Cellular iPad. My iPhone plan also doesn't include that much data, because I never really need that much.

Your original post said that you’d only use the mobile at home, so that’s why I said use the internet. But now you’re saying you’re not at that home that often. But I’m confused... If using your iphone as a hotspot isn’t enough, then it sounds like you are at that home often enough to get wifi. Personally I think it’d be cheaper than getting one of those mobile boxes you mentioned. Depending on your current iPhone carrier, you can get a deal on home wifi for $25 to $30 and it’d be super fast & unlimited… unlike using your iphone as a hotspot, one of those mobile boxes you mentioned or even if you got a cellular iPad. A cellular iPad plan usually is around $30 and capped or they throttle your speeds if you go over. So again, getting wifi in that home is your best option in my opinion.

 

[rui no onna]

Your original post said that you’d only use the mobile at home, so that’s why I said use the internet. But now you’re saying you’re not at that home that often. But I’m confused... If using your iphone as a hotspot isn’t enough, then it sounds like you are at that home often enough to get wifi. Personally I think it’d be cheaper than getting one of those mobile boxes you mentioned. Depending on your current iPhone carrier, you can get a deal on home wifi for $25 to $30 and it’d be super fast & unlimited… unlike using your iphone as a hotspot, one of those mobile boxes you mentioned or even if you got a cellular iPad. A cellular iPad plan usually is around $30 and capped or they throttle your speeds if you go over. So again, getting wifi in that home is your best option in my opinion.

It seems like it might be second/vacation home. If one is there for just 1-2 months a year, it’s not worth paying for service year round.

For the iPad, you don’t need to keep service on it all the time. You can just subscribe to prepaid plans when needed.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

What do you mean “it doesn’t work very well”? I’ve used my iPhone’s hotspot for many years, sometimes it’s my sole internet connection when I travel. Who even knows how many countless TB of data I’ve used over my hotspot. IT’s always worked well and the speed has been fantastic. These days, iOS makes the connection process almost seamless.

I kept dropping out of it this year, did everything to fix it but didn’t work. Maybe my first gen iPhone SE is just too old. I’m replacing it right now. But I did not have this same issue years ago.

Well, here’s the thing. If you plan t

Your original post said that you’d only use the mobile at home, so that’s why I said use the internet. But now you’re saying you’re not at that home that often. But I’m confused... If using your iphone as a hotspot isn’t enough, then it sounds like you are at that home often enough to get wifi. Personally I think it’d be cheaper than getting one of those mobile boxes you mentioned. Depending on your current iPhone carrier, you can get a deal on home wifi for $25 to $30 and it’d be super fast & unlimited… unlike using your iphone as a hotspot, one of those mobile boxes you mentioned or even if you got a cellular iPad. A cellular iPad plan usually is around $30 and capped or they throttle your speeds if you go over. So again, getting wifi in that home is your best option in my opinion.

They’re vacation homes and I’m not there often enough to have a wifi. So I would either use my iPhones hotspot or get a local SIM card for the iPad.

Finally I found an iPad for a good deal, should pick it up today, and it’s got cellular.

The 5G mobile data modules were more expensive than the price difference for cellular on an iPad, and this is much more stable.

 

[Alameda]

The time has come to replace my iPad, but I'm thinking of getting a wifi only model this time to save money.

Since I would need the mobile data only at home, I was thinking of getting one of these mobile data boxes to which you connect via wifi.

What do you call these things?

I'll have to see if it's worth it however, the price difference between the cellular and wifi only iPad I'm looking at is 100 €.

Don’t you already have Internet access at home?

 

[960design]

The time has come to replace my iPad, but I'm thinking of getting a wifi only model this time to save money.

Since I would need the mobile data only at home, I was thinking of getting one of these mobile data boxes to which you connect via wifi.

What do you call these things?

I'll have to see if it's worth it however, the price difference between the cellular and wifi only iPad I'm looking at is 100 €.

I have only purchased WiFi iPads.
I just link it to my iPhone, easy peasy.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Don’t you already have Internet access at home?

It's a holiday house, so it doesn't have internet. It's not worth it, but I would prefer it.

 

[Shanghaichica]

You can tether from your phone. I have unlimited data and unlimited tethering on my plan so I just tether from my phone to my ipad if I don’t have internet.