Slash Lane
The highly-technical Anand Lal Shimpi over at AnandTech recently revealed that his tests of the new Verizon iPad found that it could act as a mobile hotspot by sharing its LTE connection with other devices — such as a notebook — for approximately 25.3 hours under the proper conditions — namely that the device's display remained turned off. That's roughly 5 times longer than the 4 hours and change of popular LTE MiFi hotspots from Novatel and Samsung.
Those claims were backed up Monday by independent tests conducted by the Verge, which configuring a notebook to utilize the new iPad's LTE connection, running tests that continuously cycled through web content for more than 24 hours before exhausting the battery of the iPad, which similarly had its screen turned off in addition to notifications and push email accounts.
"Best of all, we saw no evidence of dropped or stalled connections," the gadget blog reported. "That's not to say there aren't caveats here: LTE reception in our Manhattan office is top notch, and it remains unclear how things would fare in areas with weak signal."
The largely unpublicized hotspot feature remains exclusive to the Verizon models for the time being, as such capabilities are not yet available with the AT&T models. A spokesman for the carrier indicated earlier this month that it was "working with Apple" to enable the hotspot feature on the new AT&T iPad "in the future," but offered no timetable for when it might become available.
Verizon's LTE coverage map of the U.S. with service indicated in red.
AT&T's LTE coverage map of the U.S. with service indicated in blue.
For more on the new iPad and how it stacks up against its predecessors and competitors, see AppleInsider's in-depth review.
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34 Comments
Please tell me what app or web app provided those coverage maps. Thanks.
Cool. Now we can get even more complaints about how quickly LTE uses up your data plan........
What's the source link for the two maps? The captions appear to compare two different things and reversing the color used for each carrier:
First map shows tab clicked for "4G" coverage
Second First map shows tab clicked for "LTE".
Or was the AI editor attempting to say "....here is a comparison of at&t and Verizon coverage for both 4G and LTE. On both maps, Verizon is shown in blue and at&t is shown in red."
This is interesting. The new iPad could chip into the mobile hotspot market for those who also want to buy a tablet. Those devices do cost about half the price of an iPad if you buy off contract. Are there any data rate differences between buying a mobile hotpot on contract v. paying for AT&T or Verizon's month-to-month plans?
Please tell me what app or web app provided those coverage maps. Thanks.
The name is right there at the top of each image.
What's the source link for the two maps? The captions appear to compare two different things:
First map shows tab clicked for "4G" coverage
Second First map shows tab clicked for "LTE".
Or was the AI editor attempting to say "....here is a comparison of at&t and Verizon coverage for both 4G and LTE. On each map, Verizon is shown in blue and at&t is shown in red."
Good point.
Makes sense, since the iPad (and its battery) are bigger than most hotspots. There may be some obscure use out there where someone wants to pay for LTE for days on end with no access to a power outlet
What's the source link for the two maps? The captions appear to compare two different things:
First map shows tab clicked for "4G" coverage
Second First map shows tab clicked for "LTE".
Or was the AI editor attempting to say "....here is a comparison of at&t and Verizon coverage for both 4G and LTE. On each map, Verizon is shown in blue and at&t is shown in red."
I saw this images in a previous article and IIRC, Verizon is red in both, but AT&T is shown two ways in blue, all 4G, and LTE-only 4G (which has more limited coverage). Those are the three kinds of coverage you?d need to compare when thinking about Verizon vs. AT&T for where you live.