verizon vs ATT

[slothead]

Chuck,
How do you connect your Droid to your iPad, and what app do you use in your iPad to talk to the Droid?

Thanks,
Tom

Do you already have a smart phone that can do wireless tethering either built in or hacked? I went with the wifi only iPad route and use the wifi tether on my droid to give myself 3G on the rare occasion that I use it. Much cheaper for the iPad and no monthly charge. Just a suggestion.

 

[ComicDom1]

Any GPS app for the iPad either works with the 3G GPS, or is a refinement of the wifi positioning of the non-3G model. Essentially, the wifi model is not going to be of any use while travelling. Even 3G does not work everywhere if there are obstructions preventing satelitte access. As far as listening to music and using the GPS, that is already a feature of the iPad and has been since day one.

Unless I am wrong, my mifi system works off the same towers as my cell phone. So basically mifi is just a cell phone without keys and should provide a sufficient hotspot when traveling. Providing a mobile hot spot is the whole purpose of the mifi so if you can run a navigator program on your cell through wireless you should be able to off the iPad using a mifi with it. Furthermore mifi can be used plugged in or battery operated so it's truly portable. I use this at home now with no difficulty. Google maps can also be accessed as well as mapquest or any gps app.

Jason

 

[Wakawaka]

Comicdom is correct, the mifi works off cell towers - same as your cellphone.

Mifi is a waste I think. But hey, can't stop the needing I guess lol

 

[chuckz28]

Your Droid must be rooted first. if it is there are two apps you can try in the Android market. One is called Barnacle tether and the other is simply called WiFi tether. both are free once you download one you can go into settings to setup a wep connection name and password to protect it and bit share. you will be asked for root access , click ok and your ipad should see the internet available in WiFi connections. To stop at anytime just hit stop. it will show down at the bottom how much data is being sent and received in kbs and the device it is connected to. I have used it a few times now and it is very handy to have. my ipad is mostly for home use though so I knew going in I wouldn't have to use this kind of connection much but it is great to be able to when I take it out.

Chuck,
How do you connect your Droid to your iPad, and what app do you use in your iPad to talk to the Droid?

Thanks,
Tom

Do you already have a smart phone that can do wireless tethering either built in or hacked? I went with the wifi only iPad route and use the wifi tether on my droid to give myself 3G on the rare occasion that I use it. Much cheaper for the iPad and no monthly charge. Just a suggestion.

 

[ComicDom1]

Comicdom is correct, the mifi works off cell towers - same as your cellphone.

Mifi is a waste I think. But hey, can't stop the needing I guess lol

If you live where I do Mifi, tethering your cell phone to your computer, Hughes net, or dial up are your options.

No cable, no fiber optic, no DSL so which would you choose?

Seriously we only had cell tethering for the last 3 or 4 years and the recent cap until now was 5 gb unless you wanted to pay $199 or more for the 10GB cap. Hughes net only allowed me 385 MB of download a day( their so called Fair access policy or FAP) and then they would throttle me down to slower than dial up. To make things worse they over sold the bandwidth so many times unless very late at night we were slower than dial up anyway. Try to run your Ipad or computer on that!

I have been using cell phones since the 80's and do travel at times. I have been all across this country and I can tell you first hand Verizon has the best coverage of all the carriers I have tried. A&T&T can claim what they want but its only true if you live in an area where they can provide the service they advertise and they do not talk about reliability. Sprint is the most reliable and good pricing compared to others but they just do not have the coverage area. I will not even talk about the limited coverage of T-Mobile. So over all for the best pricing, reliability, service, and coverage Verizon is the answer for me. I also tested different GPS services but that is another subject completely(LOL).

So if you think Mifi is a waste, you probably live in a good coverage area and haven't experienced what many of us who live in rural area's and travel across the country put up with. Great for you but bad for us. If you doubt this just surf the net for complaints against Hughes Net (formally Direcway) and read the horror stories.

Personally I will and use my IPad and MiFi while at home and on the road until Fios or something better comes along. Until it does MiFi is the best solution and so far it works fabulously.

Jason

 

[slothead]

Thanks Chuck,
I will PM you...

Your Droid must be rooted first. if it is there are two apps you can try in the Android market. One is called Barnacle tether and the other is simply called WiFi tether. both are free once you download one you can go into settings to setup a wep connection name and password to protect it and bit share. you will be asked for root access , click ok and your ipad should see the internet available in WiFi connections. To stop at anytime just hit stop. it will show down at the bottom how much data is being sent and received in kbs and the device it is connected to. I have used it a few times now and it is very handy to have. my ipad is mostly for home use though so I knew going in I wouldn't have to use this kind of connection much but it is great to be able to when I take it out.

 

[kitakits]

I normally do my research before choosing which carrier I'd want to be...

 

[pmmartin]

I have had a Driod since December Which I love and formerly used it all the time. I got an iPad in July and the Droid is now an in car GPS and a phone. I seldom use the Droid or my laptop anymore. I even use the iPad as a phone very often with Whistle and it is the best phone I have.

I use 3G on the iPad and this summer when I was in an area where I had very little wifi service I often used near the 2G limit in the month.

I have the Droid on Verizon and the iPad on AT&T. I can report that 99 percent of the time I have had a better,stronger signal with AT&T which certainly has surprised me. I will either soon stop using the Droid and just use the iPad which is usually with me or I would consider getting an iPhone from Verizon when they become available. The Droid is nice but it just can't compare what the iPad and iPhone are able to do. They just have such a great interface and do everything so well. This is just my opinion of course and it will differ from others and I am OK with that. You may tell me I am wrong if you wish and I won't get angry.

 

[EARL97850]

With the iPhone going to be available on Verizon soon, I understand you can jailbreak it and use it in tether mod but do not have any wireless connectivity...correct?

Cya

 

[indieguy]

something to watch for

One thing to watch for, I don't know how AT&T's "non-contract" works but with Verizon if you stop one month, then start up again, you have to pay the re-activation fee, which is $35. And you may not get the same data deal (which appears to be a discount). So, something to keep in mind.

 

[chesterhound]

Indieguy:

With AT&T, there is no reactivation fee.

chesterhound

 

[slothead]

I have satisfactorily rooted one of my Droids, added Barnacle Tether to it, and use that to get online with the iPad when not in a Wifi hot spot.
Life is good.

 

[DFDureiko]

I'm debating between ATT and Verizon. the activation fee is a biggie. but Verizon is better in rural CT. I'm waiting patiently for a Verizon iPhone. Will verizon lock out tethering as ATT did? and I understand they did because their 3G network could not handle it?
the "deal" of 20 bucks a month for 1 gig at Verizon sounds good, till you factor in the re activation charge....

 

[PvtMatter]

Data usage packages from AT&T

I am ready to spring for an ipad and am considering the verizon wifi version with a wifi hum and a 3g att version. My question is about data usage. The verizon plan looks more expensive for less time. I wonder on the ATT plans if what 2gb of data time gets you with the ipad. Do most people find it adequate or do they run over? I just want to compare what 1gb vs 2gb gets you. Any thoughts?
Michael

I read, I believe on AT&T web site, that 2GB would cover 90% of people's usage and 250MB would cover 65%. I am using WiFi @ home and believe for a moderate "on the road" user, 250 is sufficient. As to who is the best carrier? I have Verizon and AT&T in the family. Verizon seems to provide better coverage.

 

[ctsluder]

I have att iphone which is jailbroke and I bought the mywi from cydia which is a tethering app, that is what I use when out and about shopping and such, other then that I use wifi as much as I can.