iPad2: Verizon vs. AT&T 3G?

Thanks, ehmtwo. Do you know if the rumors regarding the speculated changes to Verizon's data plan pricing structure are anticipated to be better or worse than the current plans?

Also, are you in the NYC area, and, if so, how is data signal strength inside buildings?

Thanks.

Thanks again, ehmtwo.

Uh, oh. So it seems you are saying the reception inside buildings can be spotty when you are not near a window or outside wall, even with Verizon and thus probably also with (or even worse with) AT&T.

I go to NYC a couple times a year and that is one of the places that I was hoping that having a 3G iPad2 would help me to have reliable internet access. Not necessarily in places like the elevator or subway, but at least anywhere in a normal hotel room as well as inside "normal" parts of other buildings without having to position myself right next to a window.

Regarding the group share data cap, what would constitute a "group"? A collection of data enabled devices by the same user, like having a person's iPhone and iPad on a single data plan and drawing from a shared pool of data usage?

OK, I'm going to post some replies to my own OP/question, both so that others can comment, answer, or confirm these, and also in case this info might be helpful to others trying to make the same decision on AT&T vs. Verizon 3G.

Based on a comment I read by barrync on another thread, it seems that Verizon has a $35 reconnect fee. Is this true?

Am I to understand that, aside from the initial sign up, Verizon will charge you an additional $35 fee, on top of the cost of the actual data plan, every time you sign up for a month of 3G service that is not continuous with the prior month's service?

This would be a big deal for me as I plan to only purchase the 3G service for 2 or 3 months out of every year, and not necessarily in contiguous months, when I travel.

I definitely don't want to pay an additional $35 every time I activate a month of a 3G data plan here and there.

Part of the reason why I chose not to get an iPhone and that attracted me to get an iPad is that I was not required to sign up for a monthly data plan every month and could purchase a data plan a la carte, only for the months that I wanted it.

While the iPad 3G data plan offering is certainly set up to do this, there would be a huge penalty if this reconnection fee were true.

Apparently the AT&T data plans do not have this reconnection fee.

If so, I think I would lean very strongly to the AT&T version.

Also, it seems like the Verizon iPad's have an issue regarding toggling 3G data service on and off and/or having to turn on the roaming setting (even though you are not actually charged for roaming, supposedly).

This seems to still be unresolved despite 2 updates to the iOS since this issue was identified.

This seems to be two more dings specific to the Verizon version.

BobTheFisherman wrote:

michaeljoo wrote:

Also, it seems like the Verizon iPad's have an issue regarding toggling 3G data service on and off and/or having to turn on the roaming setting (even though you are not actually charged for roaming, supposedly).

This seems to still be unresolved despite 2 updates to the iOS since this issue was identified.

This seems to be two more dings specific to the Verizon version.

What's your source? "...it seems like..." is not very convincing. It appears from your posts that you've convinced yourself that Verizon is not for you. Go get an AT&T iPad.

True, which is why I used such language, because I am not entirely sure on the matter.

My source for these potential issues is this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2784042?start=165&tstart=0

There are 12 pages dating back from March with multiple people describing similar or related problems with the Verizon iPad. The thread sort of died down earlier this month, but then had a few post this past week or so, and it seems based on those posts that the issues raised in the thread may not have been fully resolved for all (though it may have been for some).

It's true, as I indicated in my OP, that coming into this I did lean towards the AT&T version based on what I considered "secondary" issues/features (pricing structure, GSM, and use of AT&T hot spots). All else being equal, I would go for the AT&T version.

However, what would trump all of those secondary issues/features, are differences in the quality of service (coverage, penetration, and speed) and any other identified "significant" issues that might impact use, which is why I posted here to get feedback from others.

For me, if this toggling of the 3G data service and a reconnection fee (if there is one) would count as "significant" issues in my book.

Hopefully, the toggling 3G service issues will be fixed by an iOS update, and the reconnection fee will turn out to not be true.

BobTheFisherman wrote:

Why don't you just call Verizon and AT&T and ask them about their respective data plans, terms, reconnection fee, etc. I would want to know first hand rather than second hand from a forum. As you already discovered in another thread some posts say there is a reconnect fee and other posts say there is not.

Call or visit AT&T and Verizon.

Yes, good point. I do plan on calling Verizon to find out more about this.

However, I have already spoken with a few different Verizon and AT&T reps in stores, and, as pvonk recently posted, they don't always know what they are talking about, depending on who you get, and/or they can say contradictory things and, in the end, you usually can't rely on what a rep said if if something goes wrong.

Certainly none of the Verizon reps I spoke when inquiring about their plans mentioned anything about a reconnection fee. This could be due to (a) there is no reconnection fee, (b) there is but they didn't know, or (c) there is, they knew, but didn't want to disclose that, especially since I didn't know to ask about it specifically.

Even so, now that I have read that there may possibly be such a fee, I will stop by a Verizon store or call to see if I can ask specifically about it, and see if I can see it in writing somewhere.

I haven't been reading the threads in the iPad forum too long, so up til posting about it myself the only post that I've read regarding this reconnection fee issue is the one by barrync in the 3G toggling thread, in which the reconnection fee was only mentioned and not the main topic.

I take it that there has been some discussion on this topic, which surprises me. It seems like an easy enough answer, it is or it isn't. Someone must have had service for a month, stopped it, and then got service again and been able to report the outcome. (Then again, the Verizon version hasn't been out that long, so maybe not).

pvonk wrote:

1). Deactivation fee. There's been a lot of talk a number of months ago about this, I never found a definitive answer, but the newest info is that there isn't an activation fee; you'll need to investigate this further. Unfortunately, you can't take the word of a VZ customer rep (aka sales droid) as their answers are often contradictory.

2). Coverage - my iPad is with ATT and my cell phone is VZ. For years, ATT was "recognized" as having poorer coverage than VZ, but some recent posts indicate data coverage is pretty close. For me, ATT works as well as VZ in general, but your post, indicating the NE as one of the areas you'll be in is not fine grained enough. I can get a signal on VZ in one corner of one room in a vacation house, walk 5 feet off the location and I lose the connection, whereas ATT works fine on the property. The opposite is true at other locations (either indoors or outside). The bottom line is that data coverage varies a lot when looking within a half mile area. I suspect it's a coin toss as to which provider to use, unless you know specifically where you'll be. I went with ATT for the possibility of using microSIM cards when traveling abroad. When doing so, never use roaming with either ATT or VZ unless you have a very fat bank account. Foreign travel almost requires you to go with ATT (due to it's use of GSM, which is used in most of the world -CDMA used by VZ is rarely found outside the US.

Thanks, pvonk.

Yes, I plan to ask a Verizon rep more pointedly about the deactivation/reconnection issue, despite the fact that reps can be contradictory, as you said. Even so, now that I know what to ask about, I am hoping that someone will be able to point me to something in writing either on their website, or in some brochure.

I also agree that ultimately you probably have to just test the coverage out in the areas you plan to use the device, but by asking I was hoping to identify if there were some obvious differences/holes in service that were well known and could be avoided.

AT&T's use of GSM was one of the secondary issues that had me leaning towards AT&T over Verizon from the beginning. I would have compromised on that were it generally acknowledged that Verizon's network was significantly better.