Ipad 3G or not

[denverpilot]

I've never paid for or used 3G on my iPad. Like others, being frugal means an additional monthly bill isn't ever my first option on just about anything.

What I have done is have a mobile data plan on the iPhone suitable for tethering anything to it when needed.

That works well for both work-related on-call needs for remote access as well as the occasional tethering of the iPad to the phone to update a chart, get current weather, etc.

Recently work got us Sprint mobile data cards also so I'll probably drop my mobile data altogether now.

Having an issue with "sharing" it via the MacBook Pro... Will get that figured out first. (Just a routing good up. Will figure out what stupidity Apple does in Lion to try to NAT/share the connection and write a script to correct it.)

Sprint "4G" WiMax seems to be slowly growing around here. Was up at the college campus at CSU in Ft. Collins yesterday and like most college campuses, it was rock-solid there.

Didn't do any speed tests but it was snappy enough that it didn't annoy me. Sprint wouldn't be my first choice for anything usually, but free is free.

Once I figure out what Apple goofed in their PPP to WiFi connection sharing, then I'll have to decide if I want to keep my data tethering plan or not. Sometimes having a choice of carrier makes the difference between being connected and not out in the boonies.

 

[Bayou Boy]

Just a point of reference for those that think they have to have an external gps to supplement the internal one. I have a 3G and only use the internal gps. On many xcountry flights this summer from south Louisiana to Tampa, Atlanta, and as far west as Missoula I have never had a problem with signal in my Cherokee six. Ever. I have the iPad mounted in a ram mount from the windshield. That makes the two options much closer in price since I don't have to buy an external gps.

 

[ScottM]

Sprint "4G" WiMax seems to be slowly growing around here.

I have a Sprint 3G (1xEV-DO) and 4G (WiMAX) card. IOW it does both. I do not use the 4G part as much as I would have thought. The 3G side works fast enough to browse and other stuff. Sprint is going to deploy LTE commercially next year and their 54% owned partner, Clearwire that runs the WiMAX network is also going to deploy LTE in its TDD mode. Verizon, ATT and Sprint will use the FDD version of LTE FWIW. All that I am saying is that I would not expect a lot more growth of the 4G WiMAX network. IT is not going to be shut off any time soon, but the move is to deploy the other 4G network technology because it can handle more things such as VoLTE and it is a better fit for all of the FDD spectrum in the US. WiMAX never did develop a workable FDD mode in the IEEE 802.16e variety of the technology. There is some words that speak to it in the spec, but I can tell you that it does not really work in a realistic manner. There was talk of adding a real FDD capability for a Russian and Korean operator, but they instead decided on LTE like everyone else.

 

[MBDiagMan]

I've been wondering the same myself... the built-in GPS is not as accurate as the external devices, and the only reason I am even considering an iPad at all is for Foreflight. That's all it will be used for, I have no need for the device otherwise (boy do I wish they had it for Android).

But then I'm adding another $300/yr to my $150/yr Foreflight subscription, which makes it more significant. In essence, I am now forced to shell out $450/yr for this app (in addition to the insane buy-in cost, $700 or so for the stupid device).

So for now I've stayed with my paper charts, even though I really do want to have Foreflight.

I have Foreflight on my IPhone for $75 a year. The weather version is $150 as you say, but the $75 has weather too as long as you're low enough for a cell phone signal. The latest 4.2 version has Sirus weather at no extra cost except for the Sirrus receiver.

Since I already had an IPhone I found the $75 to be WELL spent. I use it constantly. If I think of a trip, I can simply pull it out of my pocket and almost instantly know how far, how much time and how much fuel. If I want to know the weather at the nearby airports, it only takes a second to pull it out of my pocket and check.

I'm hoping that Santa Claus will bring me an IPad, but at the same time, I don't know if it will offer that much more than the exact same application on the IPhone. If he does come through, the $75 includes one IPhone license AND one IPad license for the same money.

I could go on and on about Foreflight.

Doc

 

[Skylane81E]

I bought the 3g and have never used it, but I'm very happy because of the GPS part of the deal. It is plenty accurate to keep the little airplane on the right place on the chart. It's usually located me within 10m, or within the wingspan of my plane and even when it's bad it's still 100m, and that's good enough for me as I'm not going to (nor should anyone) use it to shoot approaches.

 

[denverpilot]

I have a Sprint 3G (1xEV-DO) and 4G (WiMAX) card. IOW it does both. I do not use the 4G part as much as I would have thought. The 3G side works fast enough to browse and other stuff.

Sprint's "SmartView" software is anything but... it really should just scan for both and pick up whatever's best for your location. Instead (at least on Mac) it has to be manually switched to see if there's 4G in the 'hood... so my experience is similar to Scott's. I use 3G most of the time unless I feel like I'm going to be somewhere for a while and have time to fart with doing a search for 4G. (That search is fruitless at least 50% of the time, anyway.)

It also whines and complains that it may not run well in 64-bit mode, "please reboot to 32-bit mode" on OSX Lion. They apparently had enough coder time to roll a version that would whine about the native OS's run mode, but not fix it.

Dumb software. Needs intelligent updates by someone with more than two brain cells to rub together. Especially since all it's doing is adding a GUI to a serial port (USB-emulated) PPP connection.