We pay good money for unlimited data plans. What exactly does unlimited mean, and why is it that we need a new data plan for every single device we buy? Doesn’t make much sense to me, and I’m sure a lot of you might be in the same boat.
So, why doesn’t a data plan for an iPad make sense for some of us? It’s because we have an iPhone in our pockets, and the last time I checked some of us were capable of tethering that device to a computer. This might not be the case in all countries, but up here in Canada Rogers is currently letting us tether our phones. We call them up, and they enable access. Pretty simple stuff.
Mr. Jobs never announced that we’d be able to tether this device to any other device in our arsenal, but he did announce that the iPad had bluetooth. The fun thing is that the iPhone allows for tethering over bluetooth. See where I’m going here? I think Jobs got it right when he said that most people can survive on 250MB of data on their iPhone’s, and I’m sure that for most people, they won’t even bother with the 3G data plan, but for those of us who need it once every fifty-two weeks, a tethering option would be optimal.
The logistics will probably come down to semantics, and Telecommunications companies will probably do everything in their power to make sure that tethering isn’t an option, but on the rare occasion that a company has the balls to be a little bit different and afford us the option with our devices, being able to tether over bluetooth will be a valuable tool.
This is all pure speculation at this point, but it’s one question that I’d like answered. If I can tether my iPhone to an iPad and save myself $150.00 plus an additional monthly charge, I’m going to do it. I’m sure most of you would too.
January 27th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I thought about this as well, but you know Apple won’t let that happen, they’ll find some way. I love my iPhone but I wish THAT had free tethering.
What I really want to know is how well the iPad will work with Network Drives. If it has Wi-Fi access, I wonder if it can support viewing photos stored on a NAS? If so, how well? I’m over having to sync and store to a drive, especially with a device like this. They didnt say much tho on this.
January 27th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
@James – Apple doesn’t care about data plans – except that they are low. High data plan rates would kill their products. It won’t be Apple that would try and prevent it. It would be the carriers.
January 27th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
*shakes fist at carriers* ;)
January 27th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
@James,
I’m pretty sure, and don’t quote me on this, that the tethering issue is completely Telco related. They’ll deny it to they’re blue in the face, but it’s hard to point the finger anywhere else. I also love the network device idea, but it’ll probably never happen. I hope Apple proves me wrong though.
January 27th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Nice in theory, but doesn’t work. Place two iPhones beside each other, put iPhone #1 in airplane mode and then turn on Bluetooth. Turn on Bluetooth on the other (iPhone #2), and activate Internet Sharing. The iPhones can’t see each other to pair. iPad runs the same OS, and therefore will exhibit the same behaviours.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
I’ll jailbreak this thing if I have to… ;)
January 27th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Amen. I think that the iPad could be exponentially better when paired with an iPhone to use for its camera, internet connection, and possibly even as a keyboard (I’m not entirely sure how well the iPad will perform flat on a tabletop.).
Being able to shoot video with an iPod nano, Flip cam, or iPhone and then edit it right away on the pad would be awesome, and provide the opportunity to dramatically improve the video quality on the quickly thrown together video blogs you see all over.
But it ain’t happening. Hopefully with the iPad G2…
January 27th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Holy Crap. You just blew my mind! That would be…dare I say… EPIC!
January 28th, 2010 at 12:38 am
I might have to JB my iphone – don’t wanna do it but I might have to, that way I can get my iphone to think it is a wi-fi router and share its connection with the ipad…. and that WOULD be EPIC!
January 29th, 2010 at 10:33 am
I’m a Sprint customer, so an iPhone wasn’t an option for me while still in contract. However, I’ve been using my Treo Pro plus software called Windows Mobile Wi-Fi Router to serve as a hotspot for my iPod touch. It works really well but drains my phone’s battery, as I’m sure internet sharing over Bluetooth would. I bought a rechargeable USB battery pack to add some extra juice on longer commutes or trips.
$150 savings on iPad + hundreds of dollars in savings on a data plan is a lot to consider. I’m not the happiest with the Treo Pro, but the option is available for the HTC Touch phones, and for the Palm Pre you can use software called My Tether with some hacking.
February 9th, 2010 at 12:58 am
I wonder how a Mifi would work in your setup. I’ve heard great things about it. Have you tried one, or looked into it? I’d be really curious to hear the results if you have.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Can we sue Apple and AT&T for false advertisement? I spent $600 on my iPhone 3GS, with the advertisement of MMS and Tethering! When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 3GS he did not mention a delay on both of these items. After much waiting we finally got MMS and we are still waiting for Tethering. And there’s talk that when AT&T finally makes tethering available that this will cost us more! Now with the release of the ipad coming soon I don’t see getting a break on another data plan! Boycott the ipad!
February 9th, 2010 at 12:56 am
I’m not sure i’d lay all the blame on Apple for the tethering/MMS/Data plan debacle. Hopefully I don’t sound like an apologist, but I’m sure Apple’s trying to balance the needs of consumers with the needs of the telco companies. Whether we like it or not, Apple needs access to a wireless network, and the AT&Ts of the world hold all the power.
I was happy to see that Apple negotiated with multiple wireless data providers for the iPad. Hopefully as dataplans become more of a necessity we’ll see prices shrink.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Don’t bother Tethering… Simply dont purchase the iPad until a better 3G deal is offered. In my opinion, if I am already paying 30 bucks a month for the iPhone’s unlimited data plan, that plan should automatically carry over to the iPad. The cell phone company wont lose any money, Its not like I will be using the internet on the iPhone at the same time as using it on the iPad.
Also, one other thing… on my iPhone, I am unable to access the wireless network at my job, because the iPhone/iPod does not allow me to enter proxy information in to the network settings. That sucks big time!
February 9th, 2010 at 12:53 am
I agree with you 1000%. I hate that cellphone companies are allowed to charge consumers multiple times for unlimited data. Something’s gotta be done about it.
I was unaware of the proxy issue with the iPhone. I did some googling as well and the only thing it turned up was jailbroken apps. That totally blows.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:02 am
@Mizike — On my iPod Touch 2G (fully updated to 3.1) when you press the blue error next to the network name, you get a bunch of network options like Static IP Config. Right under that are HTTP Proxy options including manual and auto.
Now, VPN connections or SSH tunnels would be awesome.
April 20th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I am doing tethering from my iphone plan to my notebook using wire connection as my company note book w/o bluetooth function.
Now I got an Ipad, I have problem pairing the Ipad to Iphone, do you have a solution that can share?
May 4th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Here are my findings…..Using Spirit..I jailbrke my 3gs. Took about 15 minutes. 14 minutes to think about it…1 minute to JB. Yes it was THAT FAST.
Then….I was able to share inet conn with my MBP, using Bletooth. No prob. BTW I am using MyWI(Rock). But cant get ipad to pair? Wont bootooth…..wont wireless. Anyone else tried this?
May 4th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
I’ve heard alot about MyWi but haven’t been able to try it out myself. I’ll probably give it a try once my iPad arrives. I’ll keep you posted. :)
June 30th, 2010 at 1:38 am
@kilgore
I was reading about this today and apparently you need to use the non-rock version of MyWi. I think MyWi(Rock) is the free version? Then, you use your iPhone as a WiFi router and connect your iPad over WiFi. (or your whole network if you like).
I don’t have unlimited but at 6gb data plan I can run my home business and 3Gs is actually faster in most things than DSL. (Cable not available at my location).
Also, about the tethering issue. This is definitely a carrier issue. In Canada, Roger’s allows tethering. I don’t recall my plan changing in price, either. Of course with no ‘unlimited plan’, they stand to make more money ALLOWING tethering than not. Maybe that’s AT&T’s real problem