O2, Vodafone list simple iPad data deals

O2 has followed Orange and announced its 3G data plans for the iPad. So has Vodafone. Pay £2 to O2 and you get a day's access, which amounts to no more than 500MB of data. Want more? 1GB and 3GB allowances are available for £10 and £15, respectively. These are monthly limits, but they're on 30-day contract. The following …

[Pyers]

02 deal looks good on paper...

Unless, like me you've been using an iPhone on 02 for a long time now. I reckon 90% of my data download is GPRS, even in London 3G is hit an miss. On that basis 1GB would go a loooooong way!

[Mike Hanna]

Will...

...the operators be selling the 3G&WiFi (or even plain boring WiFi) models at a discounted rate in order for us to pick up their tariffs?

[Gilbo]

Seriously

They must be out of their minds.

I'm with Vodafone, presently sat in a small building on the outskirts of Westbury surrounded by fields and sheep, and am getting 5 bars of 3G.

Where I live in central London I'm lucky to get 2 bars, and my iPhone spends most of its time trying to work out whether it should use 3G, EDGE or GRPS. Walking 20m down the street can make the difference between full strength 3G and no signal at all. It's absolutely appalling and when I do get 5 bars it's like Christmas has come early.

Why on earth would I want to pay £100 extra and then £20/month for such a patchy service on top of my iPhone contract? Let's face it, most people buying these already have an iPhone and I'll guarantee that there's bugger all way to tether it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Tethering w/o jailbreaking

It's not Wifi tethering, but there is a way to set up tethering on your iPhone (bluetooth and USB) without jailbreaking it. The website is: help.benm.at

[Anonymous Coward]

Small print

I have not read the small print on these contracts but I hope there is an option to buy in for connectivity for short time spans (say day,week, month).

Cash strapped and having to count the pennies but desiring iPad with full/partial connectivity as and when needed (alternatively: Anonymous Coward)

[Steven Raith]

Cash strapped, counting the pennies....

....but considering an iPad?

Methinks someone doesn't understand the concept of being skint.

Steven R

[D.ST]

Any SIM

Are they unlocked? And if so will any SIM work? I know you'd have to cut them down to Micro SIM size but that's been shown to work. If so couldn't you get one of the cheaper PAYG SIMs with unlimited data?

[Simon Says]

3 better for longterm?

Seems to me that 3 still offer as good or better data rates for their mobile broadband. Either 1GB for £10 as the official iPad tariffs do, or opt to buy a chunk of data in one lump that can is valid for up to 12 months - e.g. 12GB for £79.99, which works out at £6.66 per GB. If you get it with a MiFi then you save a bit of money as you only need the WiFi version of the iPad (though you do end up having to take the MiFi device with you of course).