topic Re: Question on Owning A Tablet in Electronics

Question on Owning A Tablet

Black Cat Back — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 23:59:16 GMT

A friend of mine doesn't have a computer connection at home. She said she can't buy a Kindle or tablet because she has no computer and wi-fi.

Is that true? I don't own a tablet, so I'm not sure how that works.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

Peaches McPhee — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 00:03:14 GMT

Yes and no.

You need wifi/computer access to get the content (books, movies, games, for example) from the internet. You can do this in a public place that has wifi. You use the wifi to download content to your tablet.

Once it is there, you can use/view the content anywhere; you don't need wifi for that.

But you do need wifi/computer access to get the content to begin with.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

hckynut — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 02:55:08 GMT

As the other poster said, yes and no.

If you don't have wi-fi in your home you ain't going to do anything that requires that connection to wi-fi to work.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

Nuttmeg — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 04:25:55 GMT

A person needs Wi-Fi in their home to enjoy a tablet. A Public networks in your local McD's is not safe. A tablet and or smartphone updates apps each time you turn the device on. Sometimes the device does a software or hardware update. The device needs a charged battery and a good connection. You may not have a strong connection on a public network.

You do need a computer to have internet service installed in your home.

You can buy a tablet with a cellular 3G/4G data plan. A data plan maybe expensive compared to cable,FIOS, or DSL.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

glb613 — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 10:34:38 GMT

A friend of mine decided to get only an iPad for home use. The cable company who installed her internet service brought a notebook computer with him to install the wireless router. If her internet provider doesn't do this, take a notebook computer with you and install the router for her.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

apple1964 — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:04:23 GMT

I have xfinity [Comcast] that now has wifi.. my tablet works well with this. This wifi was a new free update with my new modem also for free.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

chrystaltree — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:24:47 GMT

We have elderly friend who has and greatly enjoys his Kindle Fire, he has wi fi through Comcast. He does not have and has never owned a computer. Yes, you need wi fi for a Kindle but you don't need a computer.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

Black Cat Back — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 17:13:27 GMT

Thanks for all the good information. That all makes sense. I'll let her know and have her do some research. The sad fact is... she doesn't even have cable TV. She uses the converter box. So, she has no cable service at all.

In this day and age, and I'm no tech wiz, it seems so inconvenient.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

jaxs mom — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 21:05:02 GMT

You don't need an internet connection at home, you don't need a wifi network.

Both tablets and kindles are sold with the option of a cellular data plan. In the case of the e-ink kindles ( like the paperwhite), which are strictly ebook readers, there is no monthly fee and you can buy books right from the device. In the case of the Kindle fire tablet and iPad you have to pay a monthly fee to have a cellular data plan ( you can also connect with a wifi network at home or away if you have the password to the local network for free). You just choose which carrier you want to use when purchasing the tablet.

So she can just go on Amazon's website, choose which model of Kindle Fire tablet she wants, choose the data storage about ( 16 GB or whichever) and then choose Verizon or AT&T and then choose how much data she wants to be able to use per month.

With Apple you can go into the store, or Best Buy or their website and choose which iPad model, the data storage amount and then her data service provider, they offer service plans from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon. You should be able to also go into any of those carriers local stores and buy an iPad with data plan.

Since she sounds like she's electronics challenged her best bet is to either, have a local sales person walk her through the purchase or have a friend that has well versed in tablets help her complete the transaction. She has to buy a device that is cellular capable ( not just wifi only). These days it uses the 4G network, so they call it 4G. As in Wifi +4G.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

glb613 — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 21:36:21 GMT

You most certainly do need an internet connection. What do you think 4G is? It's a cellular connection to the internet.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

jaxs mom — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 21:45:13 GMT

I was answering all the people that are stating you need a home internet source and wifi. You don't need to get your connection from a home based system. I'm perfectly aware that 4G is an internet connection.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

glb613 — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 00:06:12 GMT

On 8/6/2014 jaxs mom said:
I was answering all the people that are stating you need a home internet source and wifi. You don't need to get your connection from a home based system. I'm perfectly aware that 4G is an internet connection.

You wrote:

"You don't need an internet connection at home, you don't need a wifi network"

which is wrong. You do need an internet connection if you want to get online at home . You may not have to have a cable internet connection with a wireless router. You can use a cellular connection if your device is 3/4G capable but it doesn't mean it's cheaper.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

jaxs mom — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 02:16:38 GMT

No it's not wrong. You don't need a modem or a router at home to get internet for a tablet. No one said anything about cheaper. I wasn't addressing cost. I was only correcting the misinformation that one requires a modem and router with wifi at home to get an internet connection for a tablet. You don't.

Considering that the OP stated her friend doesn't own a computer and doesn't have a modem or router it may not be any more expensive to just get the data plan for the tablet and have access all the time wherever she is instead of paying to set up a wifi network at home that she will only use for the tablet anyway and that only works at home. Plus it doesn't sound like she's tech savvy enough to deal with password protection and maintaining a wifi network.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

glb613 — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 02:48:03 GMT

You are still wrong making a statement you don't need an internet connection at home. You can't get online without one. Whether it's cable, DSL or cellular, it's an internet connection.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

VolvoGirl — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 03:41:19 GMT

I think you guys are just getting too technical about the wording. I with jaxs mom on this one. Just semantics. You don't need to have a separate internet service at home with a modem and router, etc. You don't need a router and wireless internet (WiFi) in your house. If you have a cell connection that is enough. Or like me, I also have a T-Mobile Hotspot device so I can connect anywhere I can get a cell signal. I've used it to connect when my cable was out.

Re: Question on Owning A Tablet

jaxs mom — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 15:12:25 GMT

On 8/6/2014 glb613 said: You are still wrong making a statement you don't need an internet connection at home. You can't get online without one. Whether it's cable, DSL or cellular, it's an internet connection.

Then why did you only post about wifi and home networks when you initially replied to this thread, telling a story about how a friend had her home network set up? You didn't even mention 4G/cellular. It just further implied that she needs a home network.

And yes as volvogirl posted you can also use a hotpot device. I can create a hotpot with my iPhone but it doesn't sound like the OPs friend has a smartphone either.