HT204023: Share your Internet connection with Personal Hotspot

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Isabel Visagie
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Q: So just to make sure.  If I have an Ipad 4 with only wifi (NO Cellular), and I have an Iphone with wifi and 3G, will I be able to use my Iphone cellular on my Ipad4?

So just to make sure.  If I have an Ipad 4 with only wifi (NO Cellular), and I have an Iphone with wifi and 3G, will I be able to use my Iphone cellular on my Ipad4?

iPad, iOS 6.1.1

Posted on Feb 19, 2013 1:51 AM

by Isabel Visagie,Solvedanswer
Isabel Visagie Isabel Visagie
Level 1 (0 points)
A:

Hi Yes I see I have "Personal Hotspot" on my 4S.  Great, then I can buy the ipad with only wifi and save a lot of money.  Thank you so much, helped a great deal.

Posted on Feb 19, 2013 5:49 AM

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Isabel Visagie

Q: So just to make sure.  If I have an Ipad 4 with only wifi (NO Cellular), and I have an Iphone with wifi and 3G, will I be abl ... more

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  • by Meg St._Clair,Helpful

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Feb 19, 2013 4:49 AM in response to Isabel Visagie
    Level 9 (59,674 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 19, 2013 4:49 AM in response to Isabel Visagie

    If your carrier supports the Personal Hotspot feature and you have it activated (some carriers charge extra), you can use the your phone's cellular connection to connect the iPad to the internet.

  • by Isabel Visagie,Solvedanswer

    Isabel Visagie Isabel Visagie Feb 19, 2013 5:49 AM in response to Meg St._Clair
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2013 5:49 AM in response to Meg St._Clair

    Hi Yes I see I have "Personal Hotspot" on my 4S.  Great, then I can buy the ipad with only wifi and save a lot of money.  Thank you so much, helped a great deal.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Feb 19, 2013 5:56 AM in response to Isabel Visagie
    Level 7 (25,306 points)
    Feb 19, 2013 5:56 AM in response to Isabel Visagie

    Check out how much more your iPhone plan will be with the option for tethering, versus how much an iPad plan would be (the tricky part may be actually estimating how much cellular data you think you would actually use).

     

    Tethering plans with some smart phone carriers can be very expensive, and those charges will apply monthly even if you do not use tethering at all in a given month (basically, just to have the option of tethering, your carrier is likely going to bump you to a more expensive monthly phone plan).  The nice thing about the iPad cellular plans is they can be activated/deactived month by month, as needed, so you only pay for the months you actually will be using data.

     

    For most people, unless you know you will be tethering a LOT, it is better (that is, cheaper in the long run) to dump the tethering option on your monthly smart phone plan, and pay the extra for a wifi+cellular iPad and only pay for cellular when you actually need it.

  • by Isabel Visagie,

    Isabel Visagie Isabel Visagie Feb 19, 2013 10:41 PM in response to Michael Black
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2013 10:41 PM in response to Michael Black

    Okay I'll have to do that.  I think they will ask me an arm and a leg for tethering.  But...if I use my ipad to say write an email and Im not close to wifi to be able to send it, is it possible to sync my iphone and ipad and then send the email from my phone,  I'm not all that "jacked up" with technology. 

  • by Michael Black,Helpful

    Michael Black Michael Black Feb 20, 2013 4:41 AM in response to Isabel Visagie
    Level 7 (25,306 points)
    Feb 20, 2013 4:41 AM in response to Isabel Visagie

    No, you cannot connect them that way just by themselves.  You would need a cellular or wifi signal to send the email.  But, if you are like me, anytime I have my iPad with me, I also have my iPhone.  My iPad is wifi only, and in those instances where I have no wifi, I just use my iPhone.  But, I avoid paying the ridiculous (IMO) extra monthly fee for tethering, nor do I pay for cellular on the iPad.

     

    Most of the time I ever use my iPad, I find I'm within range of a wifi node I can use, and for the few times I'm not, I just use my iPhone itself for email or web or whatever I need.  If money is a real concern, and you already have a smart phone with data plan, it may be possible to just avoid any extra connection fees of any kind with the addition of the iPad.

     

    Depends on your budget, where you are and how you use your device(s), but worth thinking about a bit before buying any tablet.  Tethering, to me, only makes sense if you really use it a lot every month - otherwise, your are paying a great deal for something you are not using.