What do you need/use 3G on your tablet for? (real world use cases, please)

[ChromeJob]

I'm interested in how tablet users actually utilize 3G, either through tethering, or directly on a tablet. Please, no "how I would if I had it" cases; those are valid, sure, but for this thread I'd really like to hear from those of you who actually make data connections over 3G and work on a tablet.

Examples:

• For many of us Wi-Fi is available at work, but for some, there's no guest network, and workplace policies prohibit you from connecting a personal device. You're either on your cell provider inside the building, or you're SOL.
• Some airports offer free Wi-Fi (PHX), but others I've been to just tease you with a connection so you can buy air time from one of several providers.

Tell me your experiences, please. Where do you do this, for what activity, how often you have to do this?

 

[YAYTech]

I tether through my phone (unlimited data) regularly. Some regular uses include:

- checking email, reading news over lunch (few local fast food places have wifi) (could do this on my phone, but the tablet propped up with its case is much nicer to read on)
- remote desktop to my main work computer from on-site with customers to access files, check or update quickbooks, etc (could do it on my phone, but the tablet is waaaaay better for remote desktop)
- look up information (could do it on my phone, but if my tablet's handy, it's nicer to work with)

 

[iboost79#AC]

I'm interested in how tablet users actually utilize 3G, either through tethering, or directly on a tablet. Please, no "how I would if I had it" cases; those are valid, sure, but for this thread I'd really like to hear from those of you who actually make data connections over 3G and work on a tablet.

Examples:

• For many of us Wi-Fi is available at work, but for some, there's no guest network, and workplace policies prohibit you from connecting a personal device. You're either on your cell provider inside the building, or you're SOL.
• Some airports offer free Wi-Fi (PHX), but others I've been to just tease you with a connection so you can buy air time from one of several providers.

Tell me your experiences, please. Where do you do this, for what activity, how often you have to do this?

Public transit web browsing. Streaming music via Pandora, Slacker, and Spotify. Occasional GPS. And $30 a month for 5GB on T-Mobile's 4G is a sweet deal.

 

[jmiked]

I tether my Nexus 7 with my phone. I use the Nexus in combination the 3G connection almost exclusively for getting maps and location info when I'm out geocaching. The 4.3" screen on the phone isn't as easy to use as the 7" screen for the info I use.

 

[xKrNMBoYx]

Watch videos on a bigger screen on the go. Play some online games on the go. Upload videos/pictures on the go. For peoole who use tablets as work devices you can upload/backup documents, spreadsheets, powerpoints, drawingd anywhere you are. Last but not least GPS on a bigger screen.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Android Central Forums

 

[DogPsyche]

I very rarely have to use 3G. There's usually a WiFi hotspot around or I can tether if I absolutely have to; I've always got my phone with me so don't need 3G on my tablet too.

~Jaqi~
Sent from my lovely Nexus 7

 

[ChromeJob]

I tether through my phone (unlimited data) regularly. Some regular uses include:

- checking email, reading news over lunch (few local fast food places have wifi) (could do this on my phone, but the tablet propped up with its case is much nicer to read on)
- remote desktop to my main work computer from on-site with customers to access files, check or update quickbooks, etc (could do it on my phone, but the tablet is waaaaay better for remote desktop)
- look up information (could do it on my phone, but if my tablet's handy, it's nicer to work with)

So tethering is so simple/quick/easy you do it regularly? Kewl. Do you have it automated in any way (shortcut on home screen, script, etc)?

 

[ZachA]

I tether from my phone to my Nexus 7. I use when there no Wifi or the Wifi really slow which is a lot of places.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[worknman]

I'd like to get a mount for the 3g N7 and use the maps/gps app on trips

 

[starleaf1]

Public Wi-Fi access points are rare where I live.
So 3G is the only way to go for just about everything.

 

[JimboDeany]

So many wifi spots in London that haven't had too many occasions where I feel like I'm missing out. Occasional issues on long journeys where it would have been nice though.

 

[speednut]

Tethering is ridiculously simple and no root or any funny business is required.
I've successfully used Fattin Hotspot Toggle Widget for a long time to get past Big Red's subscription check. It's as simple as clicking an icon on your home screen to turn it on or off. Just need to configure the WiFi hotspot info into the tablet the first time, then you're good to go in the future.
Now I'm using (and preferring) Widgetsoid which has a WiFi hotspot toggle along with tons of other helpful toggles.

I tether when I need access and want to use a larger screen. No youtube or torrents via tether and no issues with Big Red either. YMMV

IMHO, paying extra for a 3G/LTE modem in my tablet is just as silly as a rear camera on a tablet.

 

[Ry]

Google Nexus 7 with mobile data review | The Verge

Amazon's Whispersync feature made the first few Kindles feel like magic. You never had to think about "syncing," or loading up on books before you went on your trip. You want a book? Open up the store on your Kindle and buy it, and whether you're in your house or 10,000 miles away, your book comes to your Kindle in exactly the same number of steps. That's what the Nexus 7 Mobile feels like too.

The more I use a cellular-connected tablet, the harder it becomes to live without one. Every morning, I leave my apartment and walk to the subway, and every morning I realize about halfway through the walk that I forgot to update Instapaper with everything I saved from the day before. On the iPad mini, it's hopeless; I just go re-read "The Art of the Steal" for the 4,537th time. But with the Nexus 7 Mobile, I opened Instapaper to check and see if I'd updated, and like magic new articles began to flow in.

I stopped thinking about where I'd be able to find a Wi-Fi hotspot. I no longer needed to make sure I had downloaded the documents I needed before I went to a meeting to discuss them. It all felt a bit like the first time I had a smartphone, or the first computer I used with Wi-Fi; all this preparation I'm used to doing, and all the location-scouting to figure out where I can get connected and get to work, was just gone.

The HSPA+ connection makes the Nexus 7 Mobile feel more like a portable device than any other tablet I've used ? including the Nexus 7. Same goes for the iPad with LTE, or Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7. With no connection, your tablet is only as good as the last time you synced it, but these always-on models are great for streaming music, quick Google Maps lookups (the Nexus 7 Mobile would make a killer in-car GPS, if only I had a car), and much more. Like many people, my Wi-Fi-only iPad rarely leaves my apartment, but I've been taking the Nexus 7 Mobile everywhere.

 

[DannyDefinit]

WiFi isn't readily available around my workplace, and our office internet is restricted (damn you, SonicWALL!) from any sites that are... well, fun! So any leisurely web browsing is done on my phone, or tethered from my phone to my tablet or laptop.

I mainly use it to check Google Reader, various blogs, some YouTube, a little Pandora streaming, and browsing a few Tapatalk forums such as Android Central.

 

[going_home]

I'm on LTE on my phone at work wifi hot spotting on my Nexus 7.

Seems like its faster than 3G.

Anyways, email both work and personal, surfing, craigslist, the forums, etc.

 

[benjamin19]

I am on Verizon and have a cellphone connected to my "bucket" of data as well as a tablet for 10 bucks. I have been contemplating taking the tablet off, then just using tether, since it all comes from the same data anyway. But I have found that when I am using my tablet for internet, when I hook my text messages and phone calls through tablet talk, I never have to look at my phone all day. With all connections turned off, and the screen not every turning on, I triple my battery life. I am a football coach, so on those long bus/plane rides, getting the extra 10-15 hours of cell phone use is easily worth the extra 10 bucks. Wifi tethering is great, but unless you are able to leave your phone plugged in, not only will you not have internet in 5 hours, but you also will not have a phone.

 

[Channan]

So tethering is so simple/quick/easy you do it regularly? Kewl. Do you have it automated in any way (shortcut on home screen, script, etc)?

I'm always tethering with my phone. I use Widgetsoid to toggle tethering on my Galaxy Nexus from the notification shade.

Image is large so click for pic.

I swipe down from anywhere to open notifications and just press the button with the two Wi-Fi symbols in the top right corner.

I bring either my iPad 3 or Nexus 7 almost everywhere I go because it's nice being able to browse the web on a larger screen wherever I am and without having to pay for another data plan.

 

[begoss]

I also tether regularly (unlimited data on "grandfathered" T-Mobile plan). I have a Galaxy Nexus and an early Nexus 7 and find myself pulling out the Nexus 7 more often than I originally expected. Like a few others have said, tethering is almost as easy as "1-click" these days.

I used to think "why carry a tablet all the time when I can do everything I need to on my phone?" ...but I soon realized carrying the tablet and the second or two it takes to grab it out of my bag is well worth it for all but the quickest tasks due to the better experience of Gmail, Web browsing, YouTube, etc. on the larger screen, and the better (for me) typing experience using a split keyboard in landscape mode on the Nexus 7.

Like many I have fast Wi-Fi at home and at the office, but I also realize that not everyone does. Also, I have worked in a number of environments (teaching night classes comes to mind) where the Wi-Fi network I "was behind" had Websense or some other content filtering system (blocking Facebook, IM protocols, etc.), so for me having my own data connection in these environments is a plus.

I know not everyone can tether depending on their device or carrier, or are reluctant to because of (evil) data caps, but if you can I think it makes a lot more sense than having separate data plans for each device. I think that's where the "market" will eventually shake out as more and more people start to realize the benefits, and as the carriers continue to compete for data users, I think tethering will become more commonplace.

That all being said, in a perfect world it would be great to just "grab" any one of my devices and have it be connected to a network on its own without me even having to think about it. And even though tethering makes sense for me, I also think tablets with built-in cellular "radios" will sell fairly well because so many people I come across don't tether -- because they don't know how, or they don't know they can, or they don't even know it's possible... it just doesn't seem very commonplace outside of the "techie" community -- from what I have see anyway.

 

[begoss]

So tethering is so simple/quick/easy you do it regularly? Kewl. Do you have it automated in any way (shortcut on home screen, script, etc)?

You can put the settings widget on your home screen, configured to go directly to the "tethering & portable hotspot" settings. Once there you just click the check box to turn tethering on/off. You will see an icon in the notification area on your phone to let you know the hotspot is active. Set up that way it really is as easy as two clicks! Using a third-party toggle app/widget or with some custom ROMS you could make it truly "1-click"... and once a device like the Nexus 7 has been connected to your mobile hotspot it will "remember" the connection - so (assuming you have Wi-Fi turned on) your tablet should "grab" the connection as soon as it enabled.

 

[odd1ne]

I tether a lot with my n7 mainly on the train going to work and on break at work. Sometimes handy to check train times and stuff

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums