Especially cafes, supermarkets & banks.
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Cellular or Wi-Fi only?
- Thread starter Marco123
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Especially cafes, supermarkets & banks.
If you are highly mobile, the cellular option is pure joy. Always on connectivity and never have to worry about wifi passwords, overused networks and security issues. It's one of the big reasons I've ditched my laptop in favor of the ipad Pro.
Depends entirely on country. I’m in Japan now and while WiFi is everywhere, often I’ve had difficulty connecting to the free ones and for others you may need to get the password from the store. So for me cellular is a safer option to stay connected as data SIMs are not that expensive.
True. Some retail store still require a password you have to ask for directly, which can be kind of an inconvenience. But cellular makes sense for those who want to avoid that or don't have access to wifi abroad.
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Always WiFi for me.
Pros:
1) I always have my phone with me to tether.
2) I don't want to pay additional fixed monthly charges for a second card.
3) Roaming charges for a second card can be expensive and additional to what you already pay for your phone.
4) Free WiFi is available almost everywhere, be it hotels, public areas in most cities, restaurants, shopping malls etc.
5) When you have more than one iPad in the family, which is usually the case, savings multiply with the number of iPads.
6) Battery consumption for Cellular iPad is higher if you use data intensive programs and where Cellular signal is weak.
Cons:
1) No GPS. So maps for directions don't work. Must use the phone for this.
2) Tethering iPhone to iPad depletes the battery of the iPhone faster.
3) If you have a limited data plan on your phone, you can quickly exhaust your monthly quota.
Pros:
1) I always have my phone with me to tether.
2) I don't want to pay additional fixed monthly charges for a second card.
3) Roaming charges for a second card can be expensive and additional to what you already pay for your phone.
4) Free WiFi is available almost everywhere, be it hotels, public areas in most cities, restaurants, shopping malls etc.
5) When you have more than one iPad in the family, which is usually the case, savings multiply with the number of iPads.
6) Battery consumption for Cellular iPad is higher if you use data intensive programs and where Cellular signal is weak.
Cons:
1) No GPS. So maps for directions don't work. Must use the phone for this.
2) Tethering iPhone to iPad depletes the battery of the iPhone faster.
3) If you have a limited data plan on your phone, you can quickly exhaust your monthly quota.
I've never had a cellular tablet. Most of my time is spent in places with reliable wifi. When I'm out and about, I use my phone. In a pinch, my phone can create a wifi hotspot, but I've only ever needed to do that very rarely.
For those who mentioned getting the cellular tablet because it includes a GPS, what do you use that for?
Its too big to be walking around a city with your face in an iPad. Driving, is similarly awkward, maybe having it on your lap, but that would seem rather dangerous, i.e., looking down at your lap while driving.
Its too big to be walking around a city with your face in an iPad. Driving, is similarly awkward, maybe having it on your lap, but that would seem rather dangerous, i.e., looking down at your lap while driving.
Very useful for travel to have the equivalent of a full map
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I travel to many countries. It's very easy and cheap in places like Thailand to get a tourist SIM and you are all set for something like $10 for a week of unlimited use.
I used to always get cellular for myself, but with T-Mobile stopping "new" free 200mb plans (which was enough for 10 or 11 out of 12 months of the year for me) and more and more free WiFi at places I decided to just go WiFi with my 10.5". It has worked out great. If I was a daily "on the go" user, I'd probably would get cellular and get it's own plan.
sure - either with my wife holding it, if not it's on the consol beside me - just like when I used a map
The iPad mini works great as a portable device with LTE & GPS. I even tempted to have a holder in my car and use it for navigation unit. And yes, many vendors make iPad holder for cars.
I used it with off-line maps in a lot of places where WiFi is unavailable, pulling it out for reference, not full-time in-hand usage. But now that I have it, I generally use an 8" Galaxy Tab S2 Android tablet instead of the Air 2.
I usually by a new (resale) or mint LTE on Swappa for some savings. I can get it usually around the same price as a new WiFi version from the store, plus there is no tax. The carriers try to fool you by reducing the price by $200 when you sign a 24 month contract, which in the end you still end up paying that $200 and more between the monthly service and taxes and such.
LTE is convenient when I travel to Florida and back from Michigan. I don't want to be tethering to my phone while we're trying to use it for Waze. We like to use it to look up stops and see how far away we are and such with Google Maps. Also saves me from hooking up to slow hotel wifi. Do I NEED it? No, but it's more convenient and worth the extra for me for that type of use.
LTE is convenient when I travel to Florida and back from Michigan. I don't want to be tethering to my phone while we're trying to use it for Waze. We like to use it to look up stops and see how far away we are and such with Google Maps. Also saves me from hooking up to slow hotel wifi. Do I NEED it? No, but it's more convenient and worth the extra for me for that type of use.
Its a fairly niche use, but i use my cellular ipad for charts when i'm sailing - easier to work with than the boat's chart plotter, less risk of interrupting the autopilot controlled by the plotter and you don't annoy the helmsman by fiddling with the chart plotter when he's trying to monitor his course. It records the boats track for the day and provides a backup in case the chart plotter has problems.
I remember when the 3GS was out in 2009. Our IT guy rolled his eyes at the two of us that had them. I don’t see why you’d need that, if I want to check my email I can just get out my laptop. He just couldn’t understand why someone would pay so much for an iPhone that could do everything his laptop could do.
I feel this way about ipads without LTE. Public WiFi is just so...messy...I don’t use it. And Tethering my iPhone to my tablet is cumbersome and as others have pointed out, burns the iPhone battery that much quicker. The way I use my apple devices often involves me using my iPhone and ipad at the same time and the idea of them both streaming from the iphone’s antenna bothers me. (I know this makes me odd).
The $130 is a bit much to pay for the antenna, but, for me, the $10 a month is not even noticeable. You push the home button, you’re online, no mess, no fuss, anywhere you are.
Now, all of this said, I work in the field a lot and my work makes me move physically from space to space all day, so I’ve never had the luxury of persistent WiFi. I guess I view LTE as my version of persistent WiFi. And my budget allows me to afford the extra expense. (Additionally, and I realize I’m probably in a very select minority on this, depending solely on the iPhone creates a single point of internet failure in the field, which is unacceptable to me.) Certainly if it were a choice between LTE or not getting an ipad I would tether. My opinion here is merely to suggest to OP, that if budget allows, go for LTE. I got my first one with a mini 2 LTE and I’ve never looked back. You can always turn off your data if you don’t find yourself using it and the resale of the LTE option should depreciate in relation to the rest of the device.
My first iPad, an iPad 3 had cellular. In the years I owned it before trading it in to Apple to get a 10" iPad Pro, I probably only used its LTE capability maybe 5 times. And considering I also had the free T-Mobile 200 MB per month, I just never really had to use cellular because of the availability of WiFi. Which is why when I purchased my iPad Pro, I opted for the WiFi only model. Everyone has to consider their personal usage before deciding on which to get.
Forum member Eyoungren posted a photo while back with his iPad mounted in his vehicle and uses it for Maps. I Imagine there would be some usefulness for those who don't have onboard GPS in their vehicle if they can appreciate a larger display being mounted in the vehicle.
WIFI only for me, 99.99% of the time I'm using my iPad i am in range of WIFI networks (either my own, or work) and when i'm not i can tether. Most of the time I'm not in wifi range, my ipad is in my bag or whatever.
I'd prefer to NOT be incurring mobile charges unless i explicitly tether it.
I'd prefer to NOT be incurring mobile charges unless i explicitly tether it.
I dont see the point to get the LTE iPad unless you have a lot if work to do on the go or you dont have a smartphone. Apart from that, the wi-fi model is the way to go and if you really need a bigger screen on the go the hotspot with your iPhone is there for those rare occasions you need it.
But sincerely my iPhone is the the only thing I use on the go. I dont see myself to always carrying my iPad around when I'm out and its not worth the extra money it cost for both the iPad and the monthly fee with my carrier.
But sincerely my iPhone is the the only thing I use on the go. I dont see myself to always carrying my iPad around when I'm out and its not worth the extra money it cost for both the iPad and the monthly fee with my carrier.
When I am not at home or work, I prefer cellular for a few reasons. It is more secure. If there are a lot of users, like in an airport, connection speeds may be low - I get tired of slow download speeds. When I travel, I like the flexibility that cellular provides.
I always do Wi-Fi only as my phone is always with me and I'd rather just use the Hotspot than pay for a more expensive iPad and also for its data
I'm sorry if I'm missing something here. What's so bothersome about using your iPhone to tether to the iPad again?
