Apple iPad and MiFi 2200 bundle for Verizon Hands-on

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Since there are no changes to the design of the iPad or to its software, we’re not going to cover that here, so you may want to check out our earlier review of the device. What we were curious about is what type of data speed the iPad would get while using the MiFi 2200, opposed to a home broadband Wi-Fi connection. When using the iPad along with the MiFi 2200, we averaged during the day around South FL about 500-800 Kbps for download speed and 300 Kbps for uploads. Then later at night when there is far less network congestion, we were able to get close to 1.2 Mbps for downloads and 720 Kbps for uploads. While these aren’t blazing speeds, they are about what we expected, and are fast enough for using the iPad while you’re on-the-go. Most basic web sites loaded in under 10 seconds, though more graphically intensive sites, such as PhoneArena.com could take 30-40 seconds to load. We were also able to stream movies via Netflix without any problem, though it did take about 30 seconds to buffer at the beginning, but once the movie started there was no lag or stuttering. Watching clips from YouTube also worked without a hitch. We then connected the iPad via Wi-Fi to our home broadband cable internet, which is rated at 25 Mbps and ran the same test. This time around, the iPad was getting close to 20 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. Web pages also loaded much faster, even PhoneArena loaded in under 10 seconds. When accessing a movie in Netflix, the beginning buffer only took about 12 seconds before the video started to play.
In all honestly we’re not sure why Verizon has started to sell the iPad almost 7 months after its introduction, though it might have something to do with AT&T now selling the iPad with built-in 3G. This may also be a precursor to Verizon selling more Apple products down the line. In any event, we would have preferred this iPad to come with 3G EVDO built into it, instead of requiring the use of the MiFi 2200 that you need to carry around as well, though it is pretty small and fits in a pocket easily. What we’d like to see for the next iteration of the iPad is for it to come equipped with 4G that would use Verizon’s LTE network to provide faster data speeds. At this point, the current iPad and MiFi 2200 are an OK bundle if you want to use it on Verizon’s 3G network, through you have to carry around two devices, as opposed to a single device with AT&T’s 3G iPad.