Re: Verizon wants Wi-Fi-only iPad On Their Creaky 3G Network

On 2010-03-10, Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org> wrote:
> In article <100320100749142339%nospam@nospam.invalid>,
> nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
>> > Why anyone would pop for a slower Verizon CDMA 3G connection is beyond
>> > me when they can get AT&T's faster 3G built in any high end iPad.
>>
>> because at&t sucks. verizon has much better coverage and is therefore
>> much faster and more reliable, not to mention that not just the ipad can
>> utilize the connection.
>
> How does Verizon's data plan stack up against $15 for 250 MB and $30 for
> unlimited data?

The plan at Verizon is $60/month for 5 GB, or $40 for 250 MB, because it
is a data card/tethering plan, so it isn't quite an apples-to-apples
comparison. That is, you could use the Verizon plan not only for your iPad
but also for your laptop, or your friend's iPad, or for your iPhone when
you are out of AT&T's 3G coverage.

That's exactly the same (5 G price as a tethering plan at AT&T, not
coincidentally, though you would apparently need to get the tethering plan
on something other than an (un-jailbroken) iPhone for there to be any useful
way to share it with the iPad.

Dennis Ferguson

On Mar 10, 11:08*pm, Dennis Ferguson <dcfergu...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On 2010-03-10, Michelle Steiner <miche...@michelle.org> wrote:
>
> > In article <100320100749142339%nos...@nospam.invalid>,
> > *nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> >> > Why anyone would pop for a slower Verizon CDMA 3G connection is beyond
> >> > me when they can get AT&T's faster 3G built in any high end iPad.
>
> >> because at&t sucks. verizon has much better coverage and is therefore
> >> much faster and more reliable, not to mention that not just the ipad can
> >> utilize the connection.
>
> > How does Verizon's data plan stack up against $15 for 250 MB and $30 for
> > unlimited data?
>
> The plan at Verizon is $60/month for 5 GB, or $40 for 250 MB, because it
> is a data card/tethering plan, so it isn't quite an apples-to-apples
> comparison. *That is, you could use the Verizon plan not only for your iPad
> but also for your laptop, or your friend's iPad, or for your iPhone when
> you are out of AT&T's 3G coverage.
>
> That's exactly the same (5 G price as a tethering plan at AT&T, not
> coincidentally, though you would apparently need to get the tethering plan
> on something other than an (un-jailbroken) iPhone for there to be any useful
> way to share it with the iPad.
>
> Dennis Ferguson

AT&T has stated the iPad $30 plan is for unlimited data usage on the
fastest 3G network. It is not capped at 5GB as Verizon's is. You also
get a built in cellular assisted GPS which is nice for fast fixes
with the AT&T 3G module built into the iPad.

For pales like Metro Atlanta where AT&T 3G is excellent it is a no
brainer. If you travel to some god forsaken area like BrokeBack
Mountain where you only could connect via AT&T's data Edge or even
the old data GSM from the back of your horse you could leave the 3G
off and borrow someones Verizon myfi. Since you were not tied to any
constant AT&T data plan and charge you would save $30 per month during
your visit.

I think AT&T's data plan is the most fair for any data plan in the
USA. I have not heard of anyone who can beat it on a month to month
basis. It would be prefect for anyone visiting the USA from abroad who
doesn't need a 2 year $1440 Verizon data plan for only a month or two.
That greedy two year contract with a $350 ETF is a killer, even for
the MiFi on a old widespread creaky CDMA 3G data network.

Dennis Ferguson wrote:

<snip>

> The plan at Verizon is $60/month for 5 GB, or $40 for 250 MB, because it
> is a data card/tethering plan, so it isn't quite an apples-to-apples
> comparison. That is, you could use the Verizon plan not only for your iPad
> but also for your laptop, or your friend's iPad, or for your iPhone when
> you are out of AT&T's 3G coverage.

That's the whole problem here. With an iPhone, you can jailbreak it,
install PDANet, and have tethering with unlimited data for about
$70/month. If you end up being able to do the same with an iPAD at
$30/month for unlimited, then that's a really good deal (for the U.S.).

5GB for $60 a month is far too expensive for 3G to be a mass-market
product. Maybe that's been a good thing for Verizon. Their 3G CDMA
network is far better than AT&T's W-CDMA network, both in terms of real
speed, and coverage. If Verizon wants to compete with AT&T in this
market segment then they need a device similar to the iPad, with a
similarly priced data plan. They can probably get away with charging a
little more than AT&T because their 3G network is faster and larger, but
not significantly more.

Personally I can't imagine buying a 3G iPad for where I live and for
where I travel to the most. In the San Francisco Bay Area, AT&T/Cingular
coverage has always been far worse than Verizon coverage, and the AT&T
3G network is a disaster. I go to Atlanta a lot for work, and while
downtown is fine for all carriers, in the surrounding counties (Fulton,
Gwinnett, DeKalb, & Cobb) the AT&T coverage is not great.