Which to Buy? AT&T vs. Verizon for Hotspot and Europe
I've done tons of research and can't quite seem to get any clear answers. I plan to buy the new iPad but have two competing desires: to use the hotspot in the US (which favors Verizon) and to travel internationally (mainly to Europe) frequently (which favors AT&T). Advice is welcome. The questions that I can't seem to find answers to are:
1. What are Verizon's international roaming rates for iPad data? (for one time use, not a monthly plan). AT&T's are high but at least international data plans are available and work easily.
2. Is the Verizon hotspot feature one that works NOW? If I buy the new iPad, does it just turn on when I buy a data plan?
3. Do any carriers in Europe plan to use 4G/LTE so that buying one version versus the other makes sense when I swap in the local microsim card? From what I can tell, no one seems to know the answer.
4. Does anyone know what carriers, if any, in Europe support the hotspot feature? I'm mostly interested in France and Spain.
Thanks so much.
1. What are Verizon's international roaming rates for iPad data? (for one time use, not a monthly plan). AT&T's are high but at least international data plans are available and work easily.
2. Is the Verizon hotspot feature one that works NOW? If I buy the new iPad, does it just turn on when I buy a data plan?
3. Do any carriers in Europe plan to use 4G/LTE so that buying one version versus the other makes sense when I swap in the local microsim card? From what I can tell, no one seems to know the answer.
4. Does anyone know what carriers, if any, in Europe support the hotspot feature? I'm mostly interested in France and Spain.
Thanks so much.
Comments
I've done tons of research and can't quite seem to get any clear answers. I plan to buy the new iPad but have two competing desires: to use the hotspot in the US (which favors Verizon) and to travel internationally (mainly to Europe) frequently (which favors AT&T). Advice is welcome. The questions that I can't seem to find answers to are:
1. What are Verizon's international roaming rates for iPad data? (for one time use, not a monthly plan). AT&T's are high but at least international data plans are available and work easily.
2. Is the Verizon hotspot feature one that works NOW? If I buy the new iPad, does it just turn on when I buy a data plan?
3. Do any carriers in Europe plan to use 4G/LTE so that buying one version versus the other makes sense when I swap in the local microsim card? From what I can tell, no one seems to know the answer.
4. Does anyone know what carriers, if any, in Europe support the hotspot feature? I'm mostly interested in France and Spain.
Thanks so much.
No there isn't LTE yet at least for another year. However our 3G speeds are pretty decent, I get about 14MB+ average . The Hotspot feature is not only available but there are no tarifs for using it, that goes for tethering, I couldn't believe company's charge for that when I heard it. There is also prepaid unlimited internet for about 50 CHF a month here in Switzerland. Yes US telecoms are the worst in the world. Might be fast with LTE but with a 5GB cap you just get there faster. Plus our coverage is fantastic, at least in all the cities.
If you go to Spain or France I would use Orange you can get a prepaid card for internet pretty easy but there not cheap. I think they charge like 3 euros a day, unlimited of course, so 90 euros a month.