So I'm writing this up since there's a lot of people looking at getting iPad wifi and using mobile hotspot for data, saving monthly charges as well as data charges.
Did a bit of traveling this week in the US, so got a lot of time with the mobile hotspot feature since I'm using a US SIM card. We brought with us my phone and 2 iPads. I have the AT&T data package with tethering, which enables the mobile hotspot option.
So, the good points:
- 1 data plan shared on 3 devices
- surprisingly, only averaging 150mb a day between all 3 devices
- full gps functionality on both iPad and iPad 2. They function exactly the same as on 3G back home.
- iPad battery seems to last longer.
The bad:
- battery drain. Jesus Christ we can't get the iPhone charged fast enough lol
- mobile hotspot only stays on until the connection is broken, ie when iPad isn't sleeping. When you wake up the iPad it won't reconnect until you turn on the iPhone and go back to the Mobile hotspot screen, at which time your device can connect. Gets really annoying.
- AT&T blows. So slow. Divide your bandwidth by 3 so it was painful sharing that slow connection.
Summary:
While mobile hotspot is great for emergencies or traveling, I would not use it on a day to day basis. The drain on the iPhone is ridiculous. I need a full charge mid day just to keep up with the data demands, and that's without any voice calls, and minimal texting. If you can afford it, each device should have it's own data capabilities.