Carrier AT&T or Verizon Service for iPad Mini

[iPhoneApple]

I am planning to buy a second generation iPad Mini with cellular service. Currently I am using a first generation iPad Mini with AT&T's 2GB for $25, but one of the drawbacks is that I cannot use the Wifi hotspot feature. As a result, I am considering switching to Verizon, but I am unsure if it is worth paying more for the same amount of data (2GB for $30).

Both companies have good coverage in my area.

Which company should I choose?

 

[Night Spring]

I don't know -- how important is that wifi hotspot to you? Is it worth the extra $5 per month?

 

[iPhoneApple]

I don't know -- how important is that wifi hotspot to you? Is it worth the extra $5 per month?

I think it is worth a few bucks extra, but I do not use it every month. I am not sure though if Verizon throttles their wifi hotspot service or if they have good in-building coverage.

I use AT&T for phone service so I don't know too much about Verizon.

 

[DollaTwentyFive]

I'm actually curious about the new AT&T plans. Right now I have the $20 for 1Gb/mo from Verizon and I rarely go over 250mb since almost everywhere I go, I have wifi. So I wrestle with paying the $20 each month. But sometimes I do need to use the iPad where there is no wifi. I do not have mobile hotspot on my iPhone.

I like the idea of $25 for 1GB that lasts 3 months. That would work well for me.

 

[Night Spring]

I think it is worth a few bucks extra, but I do not use it every month. I am not sure though if Verizon throttles their wifi hotspot service or if they have good in-building coverage.

I use AT&T for phone service so I don't know too much about Verizon.

I have the Verizon iPad, but I hardly ever use the hotspot. However, I've never heard of them throttling the hotspot.

As for how good their coverage is compared to AT&T, that varies so much from city to city, and even different spots within a city. I currently have an AT&T iPhone while my partner has a Verizon one, and sometimes he has signal where I don't, and vice versa. You'll just have to buy one and be prepared to return it if the signal isn't good at your location.

 

[iPhoneApple]

I have the Verizon iPad, but I hardly ever use the hotspot. However, I've never heard of them throttling the hotspot.

As for how good their coverage is compared to AT&T, that varies so much from city to city, and even different spots within a city. I currently have an AT&T iPhone while my partner has a Verizon one, and sometimes he has signal where I don't, and vice versa. You'll just have to buy one and be prepared to return it if the signal isn't good at your location.

Ok. Does Verizon have good building penetration?

 

[DollaTwentyFive]

Ok. Does Verizon have good building penetration?

Both AT&T and Verizon supposedly use 700 and 1700 mHz for LTE. Verizon seems to be more heavily invested in the 700 mHz spectrum.

As far as penetration, it's kind of a toss up. Lower frequencies tend to have longer propagation range. That is to say, 700 will propagate further from the tower at the same power level than 1700. On the flip side, frequencies in the microwave range or higher ( like 1700 mHz) tend to be able to bend themselves around the nooks and crannies of a building better than a longer wavelength frequency. So it is hard to say. Both parts of the spectrum have advantages.

As to the question of Verizon having good building penetration. Again, highly subjective. Where I live and work and travel Verizon has not let me down. My wife has AT&T and there have been a few occasions where I have had signal and she has not. The converse has not been true, thus far.

 

[Night Spring]

Ok. Does Verizon have good building penetration?

When I said sometimes AT&T had signals where Verizon didn't, and sometimes it was the other way around, I was talking both indoors and out. And then, there are places, both indoors and out, where neither has any signal. It just varies so much, there's no way I could generalize.

 

[edtorious]

How about Straight Talk or AT&T prepaid Go card? Will they work with the iPads? How do we go about activating them on iPad since iPad is not a phone Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

I used to be an ATT customer for many years. I switched to Verizon last year when the iPhone 5 came out because I wanted to take advantage of LTE. ATT didn't even have an LTE footprint at the time, and Verizon was in many large cities. Verizon continues to have a larger LTE footprint. I have LTE in more places than my friend who has ATT when we travel around.

Other than that, I think that $5 for hotspot is worth it. Never know when you want to hook up a laptop or whatever and need internet access.

Think about it this way, if you already had a verizon iPhone, you would be able to tether and wouldn't even need to get a 4G iPad, you could just get the wifi version.

 

[DollaTwentyFive]

I'm actually curious about the new AT&T plans. Right now I have the $20 for 1Gb/mo from Verizon and I rarely go over 250mb since almost everywhere I go, I have wifi. So I wrestle with paying the $20 each month. But sometimes I do need to use the iPad where there is no wifi. I do not have mobile hotspot on my iPhone.

I like the idea of $25 for 1GB that lasts 3 months. That would work well for me.

To quote my own post - I'm now even more curious about the TMo 200MB free plan. Anyone know if there is a catch? 200MB per month for me is probably just what I would use - probably even less.

 

[ninaco]

The iPad is my only hotspot device. I've got the Verizon iPad 3 and have used the hotspot function a bunch of times. I'm a telecommuter and it's my backup connectivity during power outages. For that reason, I'd go w/Verizon again.