When I first bought the iPad mini, it was for the express purpose of reviewing it. I fully intended to return it within a couple of weeks. Once I decided that I couldn't do without the mini, I was determined to return it and buy the cellular version when it was available. The iPad is my full-time portable, and my Macbook Air almost never leaves my house. One of the reasons for this is the persistent connection to the internet on my cellular iPad. I have sold my 3rd generation iPad, and have gone wifi mini, full-time. Despite my need for an internet connection while out and about, this arrangement is not a problem. Here's why:
I have an iPhone on a Share plan from AT&T. Long before moving to my current plan, I have been able to share the connection from my phone with other devices. That has not worked for me in the past due to the unreliable nature of wifi sharing. You might connect to the phone's personal hotspot before leaving the house. A few minutes late, when you are ready to use your tethered device, it has lost the connection. To get it back, you need to pull out your phone, turn it on, go to settings, then to Personal Hotspot. Now, you need to point your iPad to the wifi setting and wait for your phone to show up as an option, and reconnect. This is quite an annoying dance that has to be repeated several times while out and about with your device. What I need is something that is always connected without the drama of losing the connection every time I stop using my device for a few minutes. This inconvenience has been reason enough for me to keep purchasing the more expensive, cellular option, until now.
The other major drawback to using your phone as a personal hotspot is you tend to drain not one, but two batteries. Tethering is one of the most battery intensive activities you can do with your phone. For some reason, it seems to use up two or three times the energy for sharing the connection, rather than just using cellular data for the phone by itself. The inability to maintain a connection and the drain on resources made the added expense of the cellular iPad well worth it.
That said, I have decided to keep the wifi only iPad mini. It turns out that wifi is not the only option available for sharing your phone's connection. Bluetooth sharing is also available. When you initially set up the hotspot feature on your iPhone, you are reminded that you can also use bluetooth to share the connection. You just need to make sure bluetooth is turned on, something that the phone automatically does if you choose the option. Instead of using the wifi settings on the iPad, open the bluetooth setting. Pair the iPad with the iPhone the same way you would a bluetooth headset. That's it.
Now, when I start sharing my connection before leaving home, my iPad mini says connected whether I am using it or not. When I take out my iPad a few minutes later, it is still connected and ready to use whatever data I need it to. It is the same as if it had its own data source. The only way to break the connection is to turn off bluetooth on the mini when done. This has been working brilliantly for me the past couple of days. Additionally, I have experienced no undue drain on the battery. This morning, I left home at about 10:30 a.m., and got back home at about 3:30 p.m.. I was streaming podcasts the whole time. Part of the time was through an area where the signal is particularly poor. When I left the house, my iPhone battery was at 100%. It was at 79% when I got home. I was even better for my iPad mini. That battery was at 95% when I left, and 89% when I returned. While catching up on podcasts on my mini, I read a few articles and managed my email.
I was blown away by the results, enough so, that I can confidently recommend you go ahead and pick up a wifi only model, even if you need a persistent connection as I do. You will save money on the initial investment, and, you will continue to save on your monthly data plan. Unless you need GPS on your mini, which the wifi only device does not have, then using bluetooth tethering to convert a wifi iPad mini into a persistently connected device is a complete no brainer.
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David Johnson
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