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I have the wifi pad -- should I switch to 3G?

R

random person

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
730
234
Silly post, I know. But it's driving me crazy! Love my 64gig wifi and it works like a champ. Have only had one or two instances where wifi was not available, but the last one was a doozy -- a luxury resort with no wifi! Used my airport express for in-room but no solution for being elsewhere at the resort.

A big deal? No, but frankly had both models been available at launch I would for sure have purchased the 3G. And now I'm thinking I should have waited!

Talk some sense into me, willya? I can give my wifi one away but then I will have spent a small fortune on ipads for no good reason! Yes I have the money but it is the principle of the thing!
 
I should add that I could go the mifi route especially since I am in a two wifi iPad household. Anyone have experience with contract-less pay as you go mifi resellers? Are they reputable?
 
I'm in the same boat as you, hate it when I don't have a WiFi signal on my iPad. While I could swing buying another iPad that just seems frivolous and wasteful to me.
 
random person said:
I should add that I could go the mifi route especially since I am in a two wifi iPad household. Anyone have experience with contract-less pay as you go mifi resellers? Are they reputable?
Click to expand...

I have the MIFI, but will cancel it. I don't want to carry another device when I can have 3G built into my iPad.
 
I have a 3G and it was well worth the wait so I'd say switch. If you are within the return window, I'd say its worth the restocking fee. If not, you might be able to sell your current iPad for almost what you paid.
 
If you will really use the 3G function, then just sell it (don't give it away). You should only take a ~$50 hit for being impulsive and buying the WiFi model. I had decided before I got my Wifi Model, that I didn't want to pay again for 3G service. That said, I see a phone with a WiFi access point in my future...
 
random person said:
And now I'm thinking I should have waited!
Click to expand...

If you would have thought about it before the purchase you might have waited (as I did).

There are those who claim wifi is everywhere. There are those of us who know it isn't and if it is available, you sometimes have to pay for it). For those instances I WAITED for the 3g. You have two options: try and sell your wifi (think international) and buy a 3g, or accept there may be areas wher you cannot network with your wifi. Perhaps in the future you an tether. If you end up buying the 3g, I hope the whopping 27 days earlier you had your wifi was worth the financial loss.
 
err404 said:
If you will really use the 3G function, then just sell it (don't give it away). You should only take a ~$50 hit for being impulsive and buying the WiFi model. I had decided before I got my Wifi Model, that I didn't want to pay again for 3G service. That said, I see a phone with a WiFi access point in my future...
Click to expand...

A phone capable of becoming a wifi access point is very tempting. The Palm Pre Plus for Verizon can do this--and the best part is there is a special going on--no extra data charge for using it as an access point for the life of the contract. It would be hard to trade my iPhone for it right now though.
 
Don't switch. I have a wifi and love it. Jailbreak and get mywi you can use your iPhone as a wifi hotspot wherever you are. Saves you 130$ on the device and30$ /month data plan
 
eawmp1 said:
If you would have thought about it before the purchase you might have waited (as I did).

There are those who claim wifi is everywhere. There are those of us who know it isn't and if it is available, you sometimes have to pay for it). For those instances I WAITED for the 3g. You have two options: try and sell your wifi (think international) and buy a 3g, or accept there may be areas wher you cannot network with your wifi. Perhaps in the future you an tether. If you end up buying the 3g, I hope the whopping 27 days earlier you had your wifi was worth the financial loss.
Click to expand...

Now, don't be mean! I'll probably stick with the wifi version and buy the 3G version next upgrade cycle.
 
Or if you find you need 3G, you could get a Cradlepoint PHS300 and a pay as you go USB stick to put in it. Then you would have access for both of your iPads as well as other devices that can use wifi.


Edit: I use Virgin Mobile US. They are on the sprint network.
 
I dont know what the fuss is about the ipad 3g. Is an additional 130 bucks + 30 bucks monthly for crappy quality on the go video.

I use mywi now, used my nexus one prior with wifi tethering and i get no compressed BS on my ipad.

If your the type to not mind throwing money away and your constantly on the go then by all means the 3g sounds perfect for you.

But a person like me that travels back and forth and fortunately deals with places that offer wifi the 3g was never an option.
 
TeamDNA said:
Don't switch. I have a wifi and love it. Jailbreak and get mywi you can use your iPhone as a wifi hotspot wherever you are. Saves you 130$ on the device and30$ /month data plan
Click to expand...

this x one million

by paying $9.99 once and getting mywi on my iphone, i am saving the $130 initial cost difference between wifi and 3G models and an additional $360 per year. let's say you have your ipad for two years, that's $720 just on 3g alone!! add that to the $130 and there's $850 you just saved.

we're in the year 2010, internet access shouldn't cost this much.
 
I dont know what the fuss is about the ipad 3g. Is an additional 130 bucks + 30 bucks monthly for crappy quality on the go video.

I use mywi now, used my nexus one prior with wifi tethering and i get no compressed BS on my ipad.

If your the type to not mind throwing money away and your constantly on the go then by all means the 3g sounds perfect for you.

But a person like me that travels back and forth and fortunately deals with places that offer wifi the 3g was never an option.

I'll say stick with your wifi find ways to circumvent the missing 3g chip.
A lot of us go the tethering route and we love it.
 
TeamDNA said:
Don't switch. I have a wifi and love it. Jailbreak and get mywi you can use your iPhone as a wifi hotspot wherever you are. Saves you 130$ on the device and30$ /month data plan
Click to expand...
and absolutely kill your iphone battery. all depends on how long you tether it for though i guess.
 
random person said:
I should add that I could go the mifi route especially since I am in a two wifi iPad household. Anyone have experience with contract-less pay as you go mifi resellers? Are they reputable?
Click to expand...

antiprotest said:
I have the MIFI, but will cancel it. I don't want to carry another device when I can have 3G built into my iPad.
Click to expand...

Get/keep the Mifi. The extra MRC is worth it because you can use it with multiple devices. I'm going to carry a Mifi so I can have 3G with my iPad, iPhone, MacBook, Dell laptop for work, ThinkPad for anyone who needs it, friends...
 
PBG4 Dude said:
I'm in the same boat as you, hate it when I don't have a WiFi signal on my iPad. While I could swing buying another iPad that just seems frivolous and wasteful to me.
Click to expand...

You could probably get what you paid for out of your iPad as long as you sell it before the Int'l release date.
 
I had the wifi verison and just sold it to get the the 3g version. The wifi version was nice. I had it tethered to my HTC HERO and it worked fine. However, my plan is to get a none smartphone, which will lower my plan and just buy the ipad data plan when i need it. I have wifi at my home and my work and I never take my ipad anywhere else. So actually I would be saving money. And the big one is you're not binded by some contract, you can get out of it anytime you want.
:D
 
Love Juice said:
and absolutely kill your iphone battery. all depends on how long you tether it for though i guess.
Click to expand...

Please define "kill" in the context above? I get about 2hrs of MyWi use on a full charge which is more than what I need during my commute to and from the office. 1hr in....charge in the office....1hr home; this works for me and is the primary time I'd use 3G. You can also get battery extenders if really needed: http://www.imaxpower.com/IMP500-3G-3Gs-iPhone-iTouch-external-battery-p/imp500.htm
 
Tether Iphone 3GS :- MyWi

Hello

I have installed MyWi on my jailbroken 3GS and for $9.99 this is running very well.

This is as good as a 3G ipad but no GPS.

Regards
 
I got to use my 3G today at one of my 4 weekly locations without wifi.

It rocked.

I'm happy.

Life is good.

LOL, but I seriously spend 7-8 hours a week where there isn't wifi but I could be getting "work" done, so factor that into my opinion!

The irony today was I walked over to the FBO to use the bathroom and could have used their wifi - but it was nice to get my email not on public wifi!
 
I switched.

Wifi + MyWi works great, but now that I actually have the 3G, the convenience is SO much better. Plus, I don't have to worry about whether or not both batteries are going to last.
 
+1 for MyWi :). I barely take my iPad out of my house. So when I do need it, I just tether. I spent a week in San Francisco tethering to my iPhone while it was plugged into a wall in a hotel with no free wifi. It worked amazingly well. I definitely don't need to spend $130 + $30 a month.
 
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