All iPads Do I Need Cellular Capability?

[bluespark]

Whenever I've purchased in iPad in the past, I've always paid extra for the cellular option. And it has usually paid off (or so I thought), because I often need to quickly send a document or log onto my work system when I'm not in range of wifi. Lately, though, I've seen a couple of comments from people who use wifi-only iPads with their phones' "hotspot" feature. How well does that actually work? Is it as good as having a cellular-capable iPad in terms of how quickly you can connect, ease of connection, and data speed? Should I just get a wifi iPad?

For context, I'm considering either ("considering either" means "agonizing between") an iPad Pro 11" or an iPad Air 4. I primarily do business-type work (including virtually accessing my office system through VMWare Horizon).

 

[Apple_Robert]

Given your stated usage, I would get the cellular. Hotspot isn’t necessarily faster a lot of the time and you can drain your device batteries pretty quickly using the hotspot.

 

[djake80]

If you only need it once in awhile, hotspot works perfectly fine. If it's something you'll need for a couple hours at a time or more, and quite frequently, you'll either want to carry around an extra power bank since the iPad will drain your phone battery, or grab the cellular option. I do the former, but only because I can charge my iPad or iPhone with the power bank and I only use a hotspot once or twice a month so it's not a big deal.

 

[cupcakes2000]

I have a 100gb limit on my iPhone plan, (20euros a month), I just use my hotspot. It auto connects as soon as I’m in range of my iPad. Seems to be fast and work well. I wouldn’t say it’s a dealbreaker to have cellular on the iPad.

 

[rui no onna]

I've seen a couple of comments from people who use wifi-only iPads with their phones' "hotspot" feature. How well does that actually work? Is it as good as having a cellular-capable iPad in terms of how quickly you can connect, ease of connection, and data speed?

Nope.

Connection isn't instantaneous like with cellular but if you don't need it often or you're not under time pressure, it might be tolerable.

Some other problems I've encountered with Personal Hotspot (not always but often enough to be an issue):
* iPad won't connect with a message like "Can't enable hotspot on the iPhone"
* During peak times, hotspot data can be slower/times out more often compared to direct cellular

 

[mk313]

Personally, I'd say no, I wouldn't go with the wifi only option, but you should try it out on your current one. Turn off cellular & try hot spotting to your phone for the next few days to see if it meets your needs. Upsides include lower upfront cost & lower monthly cost.

Downsides include battery drain and (in my experience) it doesn't always connect as fast at the iPad's internal cellular modem does.

I'm not sure if they still offer it on new iPads, but if so, it's really hard to beat the 5 gigs for 150 days plan from T mobile. I buy one every 150 days. I never use all of it, but it's so convenient to have cellular available whenever I need it for $2/month.

 

[muzzy996]

Great points have been made thus far.

IMO it's all a matter of convenience and whether or not the added cost is worth full independence from other devices. For me personally it is right off the bat. Given that I don't own an iPhone so I don't have automatic hotspot capability even more so.

 

[IngerMan]

I use Hotspot often out in the field. I am cheap except when buying my electronics ?. I just hated seeing the extra $12 a month to my cell plan when I could get hotspot for free, it started as $10 flat rate then they added other cost to it. That’s $360 to $480 over the life of the device or half of the device cost for the next upgrade.

My last iPad was cellular and I don’t find any speed difference and the inconvenience is very small for me. I have not noticed any battery drain from my iPhone. For me the extra cost of cellular option on the device and the cellular plan costs exceeds the benefit of FREE...I can do with out and its one less plan for me to be of concern.

 

[bluespark]

Very helpful, everyone -- thanks. I'll go ahead and order my iPad with cellular. I don't currently have a way to test the hotspot, as I'm on a legacy phone plan that doesn't have that feature. I'll probably need to switch away from that plan at some point anyway, so was going to go ahead and do so if the replies said the hotspot was the way to go.

mk313, I have used the T-Mobile 5 gigs for 150 days plan more than once on a different iPad. It's a great deal, and I'll see if I can get it on my new one.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Personally, I would not (and don’t) buy the iPad with cellular capability. I prefer to use my phone as a hotspot. I have a generous data allowance per month so it does not affect me. On an average I am using my iPad and laptop connected to my phone simultaneously for about 3-4 hours (when I am working outside, for example at a cafe or a park’). As for battery life, often I’m carrying a battery pack, which allows me to replenish the phone’s battery levels. My logic is if I can use a single data connection to connect two additional devices, why would I need a second parallel connection tied to a single device. This arrangement has served me well till date.

 

[Robbosan]

No cellular = no GPS.

 

[MisterSavage]

I used hotspot from my iPhone with my iPad for several days when my home Internet was down. It wasn't great but was sufficient for playing games, email, etc.

 

[RevTEG]

Because I have unlimited data, I‘ve never needed to ask that question, along with, wonder if there’s WiFi available. ?

 

[gautampw]

I went with 256GB with cellular instead of 512 wifi only model. If you can afford cellular with decent amount of storage then go for it.

 

[glenthompson]

It may depend on your cellular data plan. I have Verizon unlimited but the hotspot on the iPhone is limited to 22gb before it’s throttled. I get unlimited data on the iPad via cellular. Much prefer over hotspots because it’s always there.

 

[MaxGolden12]

I got the Cellular mainly for the built in GPS. I rarely need to use data on an iPad and if the W-Fi only models had a GPS as well, I would’ve likely just gone with that.

 

[Robbosan]

If you hot spot to a cellular iPad with no sim in it, will the gps work the same as if you had a sim in it?

 

[kristalsoldier]

If you hot spot to a cellular iPad with no sim in it, will the gps work the same as if you had a sim in it?

I am not sure, but I don’t think so.

 

[AutomaticApple]

you can drain your device batteries pretty quickly using the hotspot.

Bringing a battery pack with you might help out.

 

[frank33v]

If you hot spot to a cellular iPad with no sim in it, will the gps work the same as if you had a sim in it?

Yes, I use my cellular ipad all the time without a sim in it and use it as a gps for the rv.

 

[MaxGolden12]

If you hot spot to a cellular iPad with no sim in it, will the gps work the same as if you had a sim in it?

The GPS does not require the iPad to have an active data plan to function properly AFAIK.

 

[Robbosan]

Yes, I use my cellular ipad all the time without a sim in it and use it as a gps for the rv.

thanks

The GPS does not require the iPad to have an active data plan to function properly AFAIK.

thanks

 

[kristalsoldier]

The GPS does not require the iPad to have an active data plan to function properly AFAIK.

Interesting. Thanx for the corrective.

 

[MisterSavage]

The GPS does not require the iPad to have an active data plan to function properly AFAIK.

I would tend to agree with that. I download offload maps of my town in Google Maps on my iPhone. One day I was annoyed that it wasn't reading street names as it was giving me directions. When I got to my destination I investigated and was shocked to discover that I had forgotten to take myself out of airplane mode (WiFi was enabled). I wouldn't have thought that I could get directions on a drive without cellular.

 

[stanza.richi]

Some days I’m happy with my wifi only, some days I think I had to pick cellular one. I have to admit that hotspot with iphone xs work really well in my experience: connect quickly, browsing fast. Only complaint is the battery drain.

if you need only to send some or upload/download files sometimes I think it could work. if you have to do that multiple times each day maybe cellular could be better.