Using an iPad as a router?

Etresoft said:
+Why? Third world or first world, networks operate the same way.+

OrangeMarlin said:
+I'm sorry, but if the iPad connects to a WiFi, certainly the MBP does.+

I wasn't going to go into this, but now I must. We have one state/government owned (85% of the shares) telecom service provider here that, when it was set up 20 years go also sold 15% of the shares to private individuals. So while this state owned provider enjoys a total monopoly on providing any form of telecommunication services at the same time they have a huge motive to make as much profit as they can. Please try to avoid using logic here, I know, a lot of this will be well beyond the comprehension of modern day man.

So here goes the sordid tale: Beginning in 1997, when the internet first came to our shores, we were paying about $800 a MONTH for 3 kbps dialup. Then they gratefully dropped the price about 5 years ago so up until about 6 months ago in the Marshall Islands we were paying ONLY about $400 a month for DIALUP (again about 3 kbps as along it wasn't raining and shorting the the wires out). If you wanted a 128k hookup the price was about $800 a MONTH, 256k was $3,000 a MONTH (and yes, we are talking *US dollars* here).

Earlier this year they connected a fiber optic cable from Guam to the rest of Micronesia including the Marshall Islands. Now you can get dialup for $39.99 a month unlimited use (before it was $1.80 an hour) and the "higher speed" 256k is now only $129 a month + 1 cent a minute. So you can see, even at these prices, we are still in internet h-e-double toothpick.

Now, for the complicated iPad/Macbook reverse tethering question/issue. If I took my Macbook Pro to one of the wireless "hotspots" on island, I could purchase a "Minute Card" for $10 that would give me 100 minutes (10 cents a minute) for high speed wireless internet access. These $10 cards will also work with the iPad. However, they also offer a service here *ONLY for cell phones* where you can buy unlimited wireless high speed access for *$15 a month*. You take in your cell phone, and the telecom company rep programs the phone to receive this service. They decided last week that they are going to treat iPads like cell phones and allow them to be available for this $15 monthly unlimited high speed service. So I have a choice: high speed wireless internet access for my Macbook Pro at 10 cents a minute, or use the iPad at $15 a month for the same speed of service.

Ok, if you are with me up to here, prepare because here is where it gets REALLY complicated.

The problem I am having is that for me to download say, the 60 MB upgrade of Safari (5.02) for the Mac, I would like to be able to use my iPad with the high speed internet--as opposed to my dialup on my iMac or the expensive wireless for the Macbook Pro--but when I try to download this to the iPad the Apple Download page keeps shifting me to a web page that says I can't download this to an iPad for later transfer to my iMac (I have tried numerous apps, none of them can do this). It is strange, this only happens on the Apple site with the iTunes and Safari updates, all other downloads I can do with numerous apps such as GoodReader, etc. I even tried using the Atomic Browser app at the "Desktop Safari" setting to trick the Apple web site, but to no avail. So that is why I want to tether my Macbook Pro to my iPad, so I can download this stuff to the Macbook Pro because my iPad won't let me.

Anyway, while it is a small but annoying problem I loathe giving this telecom authority more of my money than it has already sucked out of my pocket over the years when it comes to internet access.

Sorry for the long explanation, but, um, you guys asked.

Life in the jungle.

I already have the micro sim adapter, how does that work with the 3G USB adapter? Sorry for the question, I have never seen the 3G adapter.

Thanks Etresoft, I appreciate your help.

The hot spots aren't everywhere, in fact they are few and FAR between. It would be good enough for me to say, pop the sim card out of the iPad, put it in the 3G USB adapter, and then use that with my MacBook Pro at a hot spot... is that how it works, or am I missing something here?

The good thing about the Marshall Islands is that there are no contracts, no fines, no prosecutions, no rules, no papers to sign, etc. In the jungle, it is every man for himself.

The only iPhones available here are ones that have been jail-broken, and that doesn't appeal to me because my vast anal retention-like persona demands I always have the latest update of everything (which actually led to the problem stated above), so it sounds like the idea of a 3G adapter is a good one.

*But that still brings me to this question: Why do you suppose the Apple site lets you download virtually any other desktop update onto the ipad for later use and sharing..... except for the desktop versions of iTunes and Safari?*