So indecisive about 3G or WiFi only

[bossxii]

Having used my iPhone to tether via PDAnet for well over a year I can say no chance I'll waste $130 on the 3g radio or the 3g data I'm already paying for on my iPhone.

Nothing better than a BT or Wifi adhoc tether setup. iPhone remains in your pocket and you have a nice PW protected hot spot walking around with you. It's no different than using one of the MiFi devices all the carriers want you to pay $60 per month for, screw that.

In nearly 15 or 16 months of having my iPhone avail to tether to my MBP, the heavies use was March 09 to stream Slingbox to my MBP to watch the NCAA tourney. I think i used somewhere just shy of 5gigs. Not a word from ATT. Average use was less then 200mb a month otherwise.

 

[Richdmoore]

This is the latest tethering statement I can find on the web, still "coming soon" from AT&T, but no set date (it's been "coming soon" for over a year.)

http://www.macworld.com/article/143745/2009/11/tethering.html

I can't see paying twice for 3g with both an iphone & ipad, but I don't want to jailbreak my phone either. I'm hopeful something will be worked out for existing AT&T customers, but it doesn't sound very likely to me. (AT&T may charge $15 or $30 just to allow tethering anyway......)

 

[Luba]

The Mifi solution sounds the best, but it costs the most and it's a bit of a hassle to remember to also carry the Mifi card.

I had decided not to get the 3G version, but trying to log into the free Wifi at Border's today was a hassle. The sign in screen won't load for about 10 minutes and when it finally did, I had to go through a couple of pages of disclaimer statement/login. Finally, logging in, it wasn't as fast as my Wifi at home. I talked to a couple of customers, and they experienced the same thing . . . often not that fast, and similar to 3G speeds. Riding in a car I wouldn't surf on my iPhone because the screen is too small in a moving car, but with the iPad and 3G, I think it would work out.

I also wonder how safe using free Wifi in cafes is as compared to using cellular 3G.

 

[flynz4]

I really have been pondering the MIFI also, but i'd want to buy it out right so i could go month to month on it.

BUT, the pricing on the iPad is very tempting.... even if it IS on AT&T. So now i'm just pondering it and trying to sort it all out while i save up the cash.

When I bought my MiFi... the early termination fee ($175??) was less than the cost premium of buying it outright. Also, the early termination fee at Verizon is on a declining balance each month.

/Jim

 

[drjsway]

A 3G chip costs $7 and doubling your storage is nowhere near $100. If you were buying based on value, the best bet would be to get the $499 one.

I suspect Apple may even be subsidizing the $499 model just to say they hit that price point.

 

[Chaos123x]

If your really unsure just get the 3G one.

That way if you ever need 3G you got it.

If you don't need it, no biggie there is no contract.

 

[drjsway]

To me, the 3G just isn't worth it. Most people have a 3G phone will them at all times. Why not just tether it?

It's not about price, it's about value. I'll buy a $50k car but only if it has $50k worth of car in it.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

When I bought my MiFi... the early termination fee ($175??) was less than the cost premium of buying it outright. Also, the early termination fee at Verizon is on a declining balance each month.

/Jim

I've been out of contract with V for gee, almost a year now? Long enough that th thought of going back in contract makes me want to puke! Lol!

But the dynamics that is my life right now, and will be in the future indicates no long term contracts. The ipad optional data is actually pefect for me, I just have to decide if for me, the size is going to work. I'm happy with my touch

I have time to keep pondering because it will be awhile before I get the money to buy one for me!

 

[Bacara]

My apologies if this has already been covered but has it been confirmed whether or not you can tether the iphone to the ipad?

 

[TraceyS/FL]

My apologies if this has already been covered but has it been confirmed whether or not you can tether the iphone to the ipad?

Right now only with jailbreaking (well, in the states).

it wasn't talked about, and i'm pretty sure part of the reason why was because that Apple would have had to stand up there and say, "in every places that always/offers tethering for your iPhone, you will be able to tether your iPad to it sharing the data plan."

Since AT&T still isn't offering tethering to iPhone users... that would have been a lot of "egg on the face".

 

[Bacara]

Well if it does that will seal the deal on which one i buy. I already have tethering on my iphone (UK user on O2) so may as well make use of that. that could save me a pretty penny Thanks for that

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Well if it does that will seal the deal on which one i buy. I already have tethering on my iphone (UK user on O2) so may as well make use of that. that could save me a pretty penny Thanks for that

The jailbreaking solution right now creates a wifi hotspot from your phone, which sounds perfect. There are a variety of places i have read that - so poke around for it. I don't have an iPhone so i don't pay that much attention

 

[pagansoul]

I'm just going to save my money and when the 2 months are up will make up my mind. It doesn't have to be now and I don't even know how the thing will work. When it's on display in the stores I'll be in a better position to know what I want.

 

[melman101]

I've already downloaded and installed MyWi on my iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 ;-) I think my mind is made up. I need the 32GB no matter what.

 

[MacCurry]

I'm getting the 32GB Wifi model. I ditched my iPhone in Oct 2008 for an Android phone and I'll use it as a wifi access point for my iPad.

 

[Michael CM1]

This is the latest tethering statement I can find on the web, still "coming soon" from AT&T, but no set date (it's been "coming soon" for over a year.)

http://www.macworld.com/article/143745/2009/11/tethering.html

I can't see paying twice for 3g with both an iphone & ipad, but I don't want to jailbreak my phone either. I'm hopeful something will be worked out for existing AT&T customers, but it doesn't sound very likely to me. (AT&T may charge $15 or $30 just to allow tethering anyway......)

I think tethering costs $30 for a BlackBerry user. I'm hoping that Apple might be nudging AT&T on doing something like allowing a small sliver of bandwidth every month for iPhoners to use with tethering. You know, something like 25 or 50MB of free tethering. It could be tracked through some official tethering app. After that, you can pay tiered prices like you do for minutes. Why everybody hasn't figured out that we want tiered data -- just like tiered minutes -- is beyond me.

 

[AFRet]

I was considering going all-out and getting the 64GB with 3G model. However, the more I think about it, I'm leaning away from 3G. Already have it on my iPhone, and use it quite a bit there. Don't see the need for another 3G device. I think WiFi will serve me quite adequately.

Also, I'm leaning toward waiting on any purchase at all, perhaps even for a second generation model, or at least to see what sort of apps and reviews are out in the 'wild' once it gets officially released, and more folks can try it out for real.

 

[Luba]

At first I was Wifi only since 3G is an extra $130, but I plan on taking it out and it can be a hassle logging into free Wifi -- sign up page doesn't load on first try and the free Wifi isn't that fast, similar to 3G speeds. I didn't do an extensive test, just a few bookstores/cafes.

If Mifi prices were lower & most importantly no contract so I didn't have to pay every month whether I used it or not, then Mifi would be the way to go. But that's not going to happen anytime soon.

With 3G I could use the iPad on the train/bus/car, and with no hassle sign up for a month surf. I am imagining you would sign up for 3G on a month to month basis via the iTunes store or a dedicated app. Anybody have any idea how signing up would work?

So right now, I am thinking 32B 3G iPad.

 

[RMXO]

At first I was Wifi only since 3G is an extra $130, but I plan on taking it out and it can be a hassle logging into free Wifi -- sign up page doesn't load on first try and the free Wifi isn't that fast, similar to 3G speeds. I didn't do an extensive test, just a few bookstores/cafes.

If Mifi prices were lower & most importantly no contract so I didn't have to pay every month whether I used it or not, then Mifi would be the way to go. But that's not going to happen anytime soon.

With 3G I could use the iPad on the train/bus/car, and with no hassle sign up for a month surf. I am imagining you would sign up for 3G on a month to month basis via the iTunes store or a dedicated app. Anybody have any idea how signing up would work?

So right now, I am thinking 32B 3G iPad.

you can sign up from your ipad.

 

[goobot]

i plan on hacking my sim to go into both my iphone and ipad

 

[marksman]

The Mifi solution sounds the best, but it costs the most and it's a bit of a hassle to remember to also carry the Mifi card.

I had decided not to get the 3G version, but trying to log into the free Wifi at Border's today was a hassle. The sign in screen won't load for about 10 minutes and when it finally did, I had to go through a couple of pages of disclaimer statement/login. Finally, logging in, it wasn't as fast as my Wifi at home. I talked to a couple of customers, and they experienced the same thing . . . often not that fast, and similar to 3G speeds. Riding in a car I wouldn't surf on my iPhone because the screen is too small in a moving car, but with the iPad and 3G, I think it would work out.

I also wonder how safe using free Wifi in cafes is as compared to using cellular 3G.

This is a true consideration. While we all experience the benefits of nice wifi at home, the reality is the majority of publically available wifi is not very good.

I had been thinking about going the wifi only route, and I still may just resorting to jailbreaking and tethering to my 3g iphone, or doing it above board if AT&T makes it possible for the same price...

The only reason I would consider 3G though, is for this reason and that is wifi is not really that great. When I am out and about with my iphone I tend to just ignore most wifi and use 3G instead. It is just much less of a hassle. If I am only somewhere for 10 minutes, I am not going to spend 5 minutes trying to login in to some convuluted scheme so then I can use sub-par wifi for 5 more minutes when I could have just used 3G for 10 minutes.

 

[FSUSem1noles]

Well, I was fortunate enough to be able to get my hands on the NetShare app, wayyyy back when, have been using it ever since...

There's no way I'm paying AT&T another $30 bucks, especially when I won't even be using the 3g on a daily basis...

 

[Lamonster]

you can sign up from your ipad.

My guess you'll have to do it before you leave a wifi area.

 

[Sketh]

I suspect Apple may even be subsidizing the $499 model just to say they hit that price point.

According to the WSJ, and a few other sources, Apple is still making bank on the 499 model. About 200 bucks each.

 

[anthonymoody]

I'm super torn about this, but for a reason I've not seen mentioned here.

I would love to save the cost on the radio and data charges. As a related aside, my intent on the data would be to literally turn the data plan on and off on the fly as needed. If AT&T pro-rates this feature as they do all iPhone add-ons, this would be a relatively cheap way to get 3G data only when you absolutely needed it. You'd still have to pay the $130 premium for the radio of course.

If I went with wifi-only I could of course JB and use MyWi or similar as has been pointed out. HOWEVER, for me there's one big issue with this: international travel. SJ mentioned that international data deals would be announced soon. Hopefully this means prior to shipping either model.

The issue is that AT&T's international data roaming rates for the iPhone are f*#$ing insane. Like prohibitively expensive such that when I travel I turn off data roaming and use wi-fi only. This works "okay" but there are definitely times and places where there's no wifi, and so I basically can't use my iPhone.

So to have to use such a plan with a JB'd iPhone in order to surf on the iPad in such places would cost a fortune, at least until we hear what the international data deals look in terms of cost, contract requirement or not, etc.

All that said, wifi only means 30 days sooner But I have to think long term here as I intend to use my iPad as my primary computer...

TM