So I take my tech seriously. I received an iPad last November for my birthday and quickly took to it. I have long been sold on Apple and have a Mac at home along with a bunch of PC's. I have a Blackberry tour and will make the iPhone switch, just not sure when – just do it or wait for the 5?
So that is one question, a few more are the iPad I have is an ATT, and I am on Verizon. I would rather stay on VER for phone; can I switch without having to get the Mifi? The iPad is the biggest capacity with WIFI and Data although I have not activated the data. Can I tether as opposed to getting VER bill for phone and ATT bill if I activate the data for iPad?
Also when synching iPad and iPhone, can I choose which files move to the iPhone? I have 50+ Gigs on the iPad and don’t need everything on the iphone.
I know I am over dramatizing but could you some calm, rational educated opinions puh-leeze. Thanks in advance for any insight/help.

You can only tether the iPhone to the iPad to use the data plan with the iPhone, not the other way round. Is that what you meant?

For syncing , yes there will be no problem syncing different things to different devices, I currently have two iPhones, an iPad and 4 iPods synced to the same library and they are all setup differently.

Originally Posted by DefBref

You can only tether the iPhone to the iPad to use the data plan with the iPhone, not the other way round. Is that what you meant?

For syncing , yes there will be no problem syncing different things to different devices, I currently have two iPhones, an iPad and 4 iPods synced to the same library and they are all setup differently.

Yes I guess I maen can I use the phone's data plan to go on line with the pad where i don;t have Wifi? And would I be able to do that with twop different carriers?

And as far as synching - you are synching all i devices to itunes/home computer?

There are a couple of different ways to go about tethering if you have iPhone and iPad. I don't think you need to be worried about having different carriers as that does not come into play.

First off, the legitimate way is to pay your phone carrier for their tethering bundle. This will enable the "Personal Hotspot" feature on iOS 4.3 and allow you to connect several devices to your phone to share its 3G connection via WiFi. Depending on where you are and who your carrier is this can either be free or very expensive!

Next, you can jailbreak your iPhone and install an app such as MyWi or PDANet. Both these are paid apps (with free trials), but cost a one off fee and are considerably less than a monthly tethering package. MyWi is $20. They do not enable the "Personal Hotspot" feature of iOS, but they provide their own hotspot feature in their apps. For example, MyWi enables Wifi, Bluetooth, and cable tethering. In this scenario you are using your existing phone data allowance, so the thing you need to do is watch you do not exceed your allowance. Also, it has been reported that carriers, such as AT&T, can still see you are tethering without an official package and many users have reported receiving emails from them asking them to start paying for the service or stop doing it.

It is also possible to use apps such as MyWi on your iPad (if jailbroken) where you have activated your cellular data on that device, and again share that over wifi, bluetooth, or USB to other devices. I don't think it is strictly applicable to your situation, but good to know none the less. You don't need to pay for MyWi again in this scenario. The licence like most stuff on Cydia (the JB apps store) is "per user".

Hope that helps. Please ask if you have any questions. Visit the hacking section for lots of good information and the facts regarding jailbreaking.

Yes to the tethering and yes to the syncing.

If your gonna go the tethering route you could consider just getting a wifi only model.

Originally Posted by DefBref

You can only tether the iPhone to the iPad to use the data plan with the iPhone, not the other way round.

Not strictly true my friend. You can for example run MyWi perfectly well on the iPad and share it's 3G connection to other devices over wi-fi, bluetooth, and USB. I do this regularly if for whatever reason I cannot get a wifi connection for my laptop and am in a bind!
I can connect my phone to it via wi-fi, although I have never come across a situation where I acutally would WANT to do this! But, its possible none the less

Non jail broken? In which case i am wrong, but if it requires jail breaking and he's getting an iPad 2 can he do it then?

I know he doesn't specifically say he's getting a iPad 2 but I would think most people would be looking at getting one new.

Yes, must be jailbroken. I read the OPs post differently. He said he received his iPad last November, therefore it is definitely a 1 and jailbreakable.
It is the phone which he is looking to purchase now..., hence the question about waiting for a 5...

Did I misunderstand?

Gents - first off THANK YOU very much.

Second, have an original iPad, not planning on getting a 2 just yet. Have a jailbroken iTouch - but that does not come into play. Plan on keeping the original iPad and hopefully tethering with a new iPhone in situations where I have no wifi. Again, not planning on connecting to ATT for iPad unless it is only/last resort.

I would wait for the iphone 4S/5, but thats up to you.

The tethering is well-covered so I'll just talk about the syncing. they can have very different sync setup at the iTunes level, so you can choose what gets put on each device, but you won't be able to sync any kind of game data unless it pulls info from the Internet. you can't sync the iPad to the iPhone if you're wondering about that (unclear from your OP).