Staying connected with an iPad Mini over Wi-Fi only
When I first bought the iPad mini, it was for the express purpose of reviewing it. I had every intention of returning it in a couple of weeks. Once I decided I couldn’t do without the mini, I decided to return it and buy the cellular version when it became available. The iPad is my full-time laptop, and my Macbook Air hardly ever leaves my house. One of the reasons for this is the persistent internet connection on my cellular iPad. I’ve sold my 3rd gen iPad and moved to wifi mini, full time. Despite my need for an Internet connection while away from home, this arrangement is not a problem. This is why:
I have an iPhone on an AT&T Share plan. Long before I switched to my current plan, I was able to share my phone’s connection with other devices. That hasn’t worked for me in the past due to the unreliable nature of wifi sharing. You can connect to your phone’s personal hotspot before you leave home. A few minutes later, when you are ready to use your connected device, the connection will be lost. To get it back, you need to take out your phone, turn it on, go to settings, then Personal Hotspot. Now, you need to point your iPad to wifi settings and wait for your phone to show up as an option and reconnect. This is a pretty annoying dance that needs to be repeated a few times while you’re out and about with your device. What I need is something that is always connected without the drama of losing connection every time I stop using my device for a few minutes. This inconvenience has been reason enough to keep buying the most expensive cellular option so far.
The other big downside to using your phone as a personal hotspot is that it tends 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 consume two or three times the power to share the connection, instead of just using mobile data for the phone. The inability to maintain a connection and the depletion of resources made the extra expense of the cellular iPad worth it.
That said, I’ve decided to keep the iPad mini Wi-Fi only. Turns out Wi-Fi isn’t 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 the phone does automatically if you choose the option. Instead of using the wifi settings on the iPad, open the bluetooth settings. Pair iPad with iPhone the same way you would pair with a bluetooth headset. That is all.
Now when I start sharing my connection before I leave home, my iPad mini says connected whether I’m using it or not. When I pull out my iPad a few minutes later, it’s still connected and ready to use whatever information I need. It’s the same as if you had your own data source. The only way to break the connection is to turn bluetooth off on the mini when you’re done. This has been working brilliantly for me the last few days. Also, I haven’t experienced undue battery drain. This morning I left home at about 10:30 am and returned home at about 3:30 pm. I was streaming podcasts the whole time. Part of the time it was through an area where the signal is particularly poor. When I left home, my iPhone battery was at 100%. It was 79% when I got home. I went even better for my iPad mini. That battery was at 95% when I left and 89% when I got back. While I caught up on the podcasts on my mini, I read a few articles and managed my email.
I was so surprised by the results that I can confidently recommend you go ahead and choose a Wi-Fi only model, even if you need a persistent connection like I do. You’ll save money on your initial investment and continue to save on your monthly data plan. Unless you need GPS on your mini, which the Wi-Fi only device doesn’t have, then using bluetooth to turn a Wi-Fi iPad mini into a persistently connected device is a complete no-brainer.
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David Johnson
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