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Ipad Question - Wi Fi and 3G

kewanee

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I do not have an Ipad and don't know if I will be getting one, but am trying to do the research 'just in case'. Is it easy to switch the internet access between wi-fi and 3G? Can you tell which service you are currently using? I read an article in the local newspaper about some people who went to Europe and thought they were using the hotel's free wi-fi, but when they got home had a multi-thousand dollar phone bill. Were they just clueless on how to use their ipad, or would that be easy to mess up?
Also, does anyone know about the 3g data plans you can buy? Is it totally separate from your cell phone? and how much do they cost per month - are the costs similar to cell phone plans? I currently just use a tracfone, so am obviously concerned about high monthly costs.
Thanks for any info.
ps what appeals to me right now is 1) lightweight and would be so much easier to carry than a laptop on vacation to access the internet and 2) maybe the mobile apps - not sure here.
 

slip

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My wife has an Ipad, first generation. The data plans are $15 and $25 a month.
You can do it for a month and then not renew. That's what we do for vacations.
I don't know how a big bill like you posted could happen? When you are running out of
data the system lets you know you have to renew.

My wife loves hers but if you have to do a lot of typing you would need an
external keyboard. I have a Tracphone also, so I know what you mean about
monthly fees. The Tracphone works great for us. The data plan for the Ipad is billed when
you sign up and you would have to renew monthly.

It's also easy to switch from 3G to Wifi. You just hit a couple of settings.

Hope this helps.
 

Clemson Fan

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It tells you in the upper left hand corner whether you're on 3G or wifi. Also, if you travel out of country you can go in settings and turn off any 3G roaming to avoid any crazy bills. It's very easy.

Most ipad data plans are on the order of $20/month for 2gb of data. Personally, I only buy wifi only iPads and I use my iPhone as a mobile hotspot to connect it when We're not around an open wifi spot. That way I only have one data plan to monitor which is on my iPhone and I can use the wifi hotspot feature on it to connect our iPads, itouches and laptops when we don't have access to wifi.
 

LisaH

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I have a wifi only ipad2 so no worries about accidentally using 3G while traveling overseas. However, I also have an iphone4 and, like Clemson Fan said, it's very easy to turn off 3G .
Clemson Fan, do you mean tethering by using iphone as "mobile hotspot"? I have not had the need to do so yet (most of the airports nowadays have free wifi) but I was told that you need to break the iphone in order to tether. Is that correct?
 

Conan

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There's a separate setting on the control page that you can set to prevent it from accessing its (US domestic) 3G account when you're roaming outside the country. So when you're abroad it's WiFi or nothing even though you subscribed to 3G service.

Also there are separate international data plans you can buy on a monthly basis for when you are roaming outside the US and want 3G access, but it's quite expensive.
 

HatTrick

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The iPad 2 has separate settings for 3G and Wi-Fi.

Turn the Cellular Data setting "Off" and the iPad2 will use only Wi-Fi (if the Wi-Fi setting is "On") for data access.

There's also a Data Roaming setting that can be turned "Off" when you're traveling.

And, of course, there's an airplane mode to temporarily prevent the iPad 2 from trying to use 3G or Wi-Fi.

Data plans for the iPad 2 are separate from cellular data plans. And because the communications companies don't subsidize the cost of iPads like they do iPhones, there are no contracts. Data plans for the iPad are month-to-month; they can be cancelled at any time.
 

Clemson Fan

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Lisa,

You don't need to jailbreak the iPhone to use it as a mobile hotspot. I use AT&T and it costs me an extra $20/month to turn on the mobile hotspot feature, but i also get 2 extra gb for that $20. So, my data plan is $45/month for 4gb and the ability to use it as a mobile hotspot and to wirelessly connect up to 5 other devices. I can also use the AT&T app to turn that feature on or off and they'll prorate that extra $20 fee so I can only turn it on while traveling if I want to.
 

bjones9942

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I want to clarify some of the other posts ... AT&T's 3g data plans are not 'monthly' plans per se. They 'renew' monthly, but are for a specific amount of data. The $14.99 plan will get you 250 mb and the $25.00 plan gets you 2 gb. Once you get close to those limits you get a message asking if you want to add more usage. If you do, you'll get hit with another $14.99 or $25 (depending on which you select). 250 mb is a very small amount of data if you're surfing the web. If you get that message and have a few more days where you need 3g, buy the extra 2 gb.
 
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bryanphunter

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I want to clarify some of the other posts ... AT&T's 3g data plans are not 'monthly' plans per se. They 'renew' monthly, but are for a specific amount of data. The $14.99 plan will get you 250 mb and the $25.00 plan gets you 2 gb. Once you've get close to those limits you get a message asking if you want to add more usage. If you do, you'll get hit with another $14.99 or $25 (depending on which you select). 250 mb is a very small amount of data if you're surfing the web. If you get that message and have a few more days where you need 3g, buy the extra 2 gb.

Another thing I didn't realize about the monthly data plan is when you renew or purchase additional data, your monthly renewal date changes. My initial renewal date was the 12th of every month. A few months ago we used the ipad while traveling and reached our limit around the 2nd of the month. Added another 2GB data that day and now we renew on the 2nd every month.
 
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