IPAD & 3G Question

[Martin]

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking about getting an ipad for christmas and am just wondering about connecting to the internet etc.

I'm wanting to use it whilst at work etc in the car and out and about and I'm not sure the details of this 3G thing.

Obviously in the house I will be able to connect to my home hub wirelessly etc to go on the internet, however how does it work when I'm not at home.


I'm not sure if I get very good signal around here, but does the 3G thing cover everywhere, and is there a good way to find out if the signal would be good enough? I had a quick look here (http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/Coverage), and my house is light purple, but I'm not sure if that means its good or not.

Also, if the signal was not strong enough, would it revert to another form of connection like phones do etc?

I just want to know that if I buy the ipad I will be able to connect to the internet out and about somehow :P I also know that this costs around £15 a month for 10GB on the 3 network, is that a good deal?

Cheers x

[HotelUser]

Wherever you get connectivity on a phone you should be good on the iPad for service. You live in a pretty highly populated country and it's not huge like Canada so you have much better service than we do here. Phone companies have coverage maps on their website too, that should give a moderate depiction of how good your coverage should be.

If you are in a dead zone it reverts to wifi automatically :)

[Martin]

Oh right :D that's good then. I was just worried I would buy it to find I couldn't make use of the 3G aspect etc :P

I've looked at the coverage maps, and T-mobile was the best here, but I don't think they're available on the ipad. Think it's gotta be 02, 3, or vodaphone or something

Will look into it later. Still watching a billion reviews of the i-pad to decide if I really want one or not. :P


Cheers David x

[StefanWolves]

get one. you wont be dissapointed.

3g is good, its the same as when your phone connects to the internet, so if you have good signal on your phone at the places you go so will the ipad. if there isnt 3g it will automatically revert to edge or just normal signal (still usable, but soooo slow)

if youre not planning on using it out and about, or just occasionally, dont bother getting the 3g, just tether it to yout phone (if your phone can do it) and save yourself £100.


Oh right :D that's good then. I was just worried I would buy it to find I couldn't make use of the 3G aspect etc :P

I've looked at the coverage maps, and T-mobile was the best here, but I don't think they're available on the ipad. Think it's gotta be 02, 3, or vodaphone or something

Will look into it later. Still watching a billion reviews of the i-pad to decide if I really want one or not. :P


Cheers David x

[Recursion]

1. Ring T-Mobile, they'll sort you out with a microsim
2. Don't get an iPad for Christmas, wait for the second gen one in June which will be literally 10000x better.

1st gen Apple products are never great and I garuntee you they'll take some features from the iPhone 4 and carry them over to the iPad 2, like a gyroscope, retina display, cameras etc.

[StefanWolves]

Totally agree, however the new one more likely be out at the start of next year, feb-march.

1. Ring T-Mobile, they'll sort you out with a microsim
2. Don't get an iPad for Christmas, wait for the second gen one in June which will be literally 10000x better.

1st gen Apple products are never great and I garuntee you they'll take some features from the iPhone 4 and carry them over to the iPad 2, like a gyroscope, retina display, cameras etc.

[Pazza]

if you've got bt broadband at home they have loads of connectivity points which you can log into to save on 3g ?

[Conservative,]

Love how my house is the only one in the road that is in a deadzone LOL..

anyway, as others have said, if you're not connected to your own network (eg; home, work ect.) then you're using your 3G internet :)

[HotelUser]

1. Ring T-Mobile, they'll sort you out with a microsim
2. Don't get an iPad for Christmas, wait for the second gen one in June which will be literally 10000x better.

1st gen Apple products are never great and I garuntee you they'll take some features from the iPhone 4 and carry them over to the iPad 2, like a gyroscope, retina display, cameras etc.

Tom has a good point here but at the same time a horrible one because it's always the guessing game with Apple. They'll come out with an update that completely obliterates its predecessor but several years ago when I waited and waited for the new iMac to come out (now the second newest of the iMac revisions) it was, in comparison to the iMac I bought, hardly any better, just a slight processor and price bump. It's like throwing a dart in the dark.

[Stephen]

well the price of the ipad will go down a little bit once the new one is out won't it so unless you're desperate to buy it then you might aswell just wait and see what the new one is like