If you bought a WiFi iPad, you don’t have much of a decision to make here—you get to the Internet by jumping onto your nearest wireless network (like a home network) or onto a hotspot (which is a wireless network, but usually in a public place, like an airport or coffee shop; it’s sometimes free, but more likely you have to pay to use it, as Should You Use WiFi or 3G? explains).

If you bought a WiFi iPad and have your own WiFi network, say at home, you can loop in your tablet with just a couple of taps—see the next page for instructions. If you don’t have your own network, you need to set one up or find a nearby WiFi hotspot you can legally use if you want to download email, web pages, and iTunes Store content out of thin air. (The iPad doesn’t have an Ethernet jack for those old-fashioned wired network connections, by the way.)

But if you bought a 3G-enabled iPad, you have a choice of connections—you’re not limited to WiFi networks because you can use AT&T or Verizon’s nationwide 3G network—the same one that smartphones use for email, web surfing, and telephone calls.

You need to decide which company to use—AT&T or Verizon—beforeyou buy your iPad. That’s because the two companies use different network technologies—AT&T’s is called GSM, and it’s popular around the world. Verizon uses a CDMA network that has more reliable national coverage. An AT&T iPad can’t jump on Verizon’s network, and vice versa. If you don’t know which to get, check the carrier’s coverage map for your area. AT&T’s is at www.att.com/wireless and Verizon Wireless has info at www.verizonwireless.com.

As for whether you should use WiFi or 3G as your highway to the Web, in general, stick with WiFi when you can. It’s likely to be faster. And remember, your carrier charges you to use their 3G cellular network and limits the amount of data you can gobble up each month (unless you’re grandfathered into AT&T’s old $30 unlimited-access deal offered with the original iPad). Depending on the plan you choose from either carrier, you can download from 250 megabytes (MB) to 10 gigabytes (GB) of data per month.

That said, if there’s no WiFi hotspot in range, let ‘er rip with the 3G. You’ll always have ’Net, as long as there’s an AT&T or Verizon signal nearby.

No matter which iPad you have, you can connect to the Internet over a WiFi network, known to geeks as an 802.11 or Wireless Fidelity network. It’s the same technology that lets laptops, handheld game consoles, and portable media players get online at high speed. In fact, when you first turn on your iPad and try to use an Internet-focused app like Safari, the iPad may pop up a box listing a bunch of networks and suggesting you join one. Just find your own network, tap its name, and then enter your password.

If you’re not prompted to join a network, here’s how to set up the iPad on your home wireless network for the first time:

Once you type in your network password, the WiFi icon () in the iPad’s top menu bar should bloom, indicating that yes, you are on the Internet. Fire up Safari, FaceTime, or Game Center and have fun.

If you don’t get the happy blooming WiFi icon, repeat the steps above. Typos are a common error, so carefully retype your network password. You should also make sure that your home network is actually up and working.

The iPad is smart enough to know you’re a busy person, so you should only have to run through this setup process the first time you successfully join a network. It remembers your network and password from then on.

Your iPad isn’t confined to your home network. It can jump onto any other WiFi pipeline within range: the wireless network at your office or on campus, free public wireless networks in city parks, or any other place the iPad picks up the sweet scent of a hotspot. When it finds networks in the area and you’re not currently connected to one, it lists the available networks you can tap and join. Most public-access networks don’t require passwords.

Along with free networks, you can find commercial hotspots for the joining, but you need a little something extra with one of these: money, as in your credit-card number. You usually see these networks in large public places, like airports, megabookstore chains, hotel rooms, and other spots that dispense WiFi access for an hourly or daily fee.

To join a pay network, tap its name (it’s probably something official-sounding) in the list your hotspot-sniffing iPad presents you. Next, tap open Safari. The network will be there, squatting on your browser’s home page with a request for your plastic digits before you can engage in any Web activity.

If you do a lot of traveling and don’t have the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad, you may want to consider signing up for a service plan with a commercial hot-spot provider like T-Mobile (hotspot.t-mobile.com), Gogo Inflight (www.gogoinflight.com), or Boingo (www.boingo.com). AT&T and Verizon have a hand in the hotspot business, too, and they may be a good choice, especially if you already use their services for residential Internet access. Check out AT&T’s offerings at www.wireless.att.com/sbusiness/wifi or the deals from Verizon at www22.verizon.com/residential/wifi/.

The word “wireless” brings with it a sense of freedom: no wires, no cords, no strings attached. But with all that freedom comes the potential for danger, because your personal information isn’t humming along inside a sheathed Ethernet cable from Point A to Point B—it’s flying around in the air.

Most of the time, this isn’t a problem. That is, unless someone evil is lurking nearby who knows how to snatch data out of the air. Then you could be at risk of identity theft or other ills if, say, you buy a pair of shoes with a credit card and the malcontent electronically nets your numbers out of the air.

To make things as safe as possible, keep these basic tips in mind when you ride the airwaves:

Remember, the Internet is a wonderful, glorious thing, but it’s sometimes a dark place, too. Be careful out there.

So you didn’t buy the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad and now you’re regretting it. What do you do—slap your WiFi iPad up on eBay and put the proceeds toward your Wi-Fi + 3G iPad Upgrade Fund? Lurch from hotspot to hotspot all over town? Sit on the couch and complain?

If trading up to a 3G iPad isn’t in your future, you have another option: a mobile broadband hotspot. This portable hotspot-in-a-box pulls down a cellular network signal from a carrier—probably Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint—and divvies it up into a mini WiFi network so four to five wireless devices (laptops, Portable PlayStations, iPads, and so on) can get onto the Internet at once. Novatel’s MiFi(above) and the Overdrivefrom Sierra Wireless are two models.

Newer mobile hotspots can use today’s faster 4G data networks, which give connected WiFi devices an HOV lane to the Web. 4G nets are rolling out slowly, though, so hopping on a 3G wave is still more common. For now, anyway.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Yes, having a WiFi network wherever you go has its advantages, but there’s a downside, too: cost. First, you have to pay for the box itself, which costs $100 to $250. Then you have to sign up for a service plan, which typically adds at least $40 a month to your bill and involves a contract.

If you do math, this is obviously more than the bare minimum $15 you’d shell out for AT&T’s 3G service or the $20 that Verizon Wireless charges for its low-end iPad data plan. Plus, the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models from either carrier don’t require any additional hardware to drag around or possibly leave behind in a hotel room. (You pay for the convenience up-front when you buy the 3G iPad; adding that cellular chip tacks $130 onto the iPad’s cost.)

But here’s where the pocket network does make sense: when you need to get multiple devices online wherever you go. This could be a family with three WiFi iPads, an iPad and two laptops, and so on. The monthly service fee covers everyone—and it’s way cheaper than buying individual 3G ‘Pads and 3G plans.

Verizon Wireless offers a special deal that includes a WiFi-only iPad 1, a MiFi, and lower data rates, starting at $20 a month for a gig of wireless data.

If mobile hotspots sound attractive, investigate your options further at Verizon Wireless (www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband) or Sprint (www.sprint.com). The regional carrier Clear (www.clear.com) even has mobile hotspots you can lease instead of buy, which may make more sense for travelers.

If you paid a little extra for the AT&T Wi-Fi + 3G iPad model, you don’t have to worry about going from WiFi hotspot to WiFi hotspot to stay connected. You have a connection wherever your iPad and AT&T’s 3G network intersect. The iPad’s WiFi works right out of the box, but before you can start using AT&T’s network, you need to sign up for a prepaid cellular data plan. (If you already have an AT&T account, you can add an iPad plan to your overall bill as a post-paid option at www.wireless.att.com.)

You have your choice of two monthly AT&T DataConnect plans:

There are three other things to know about AT&T’s plans:

Verizon Wireless is the new kid on the block when it comes to working with Apple hardware, but the company got its start by bundling MiFi hotspots with WiFi iPads a few months before a Verizon-ready iPhone hit the scene in early 2011. So when the iPad 2 rolled out in March 2011, Verizon was there with a 3G model that worked with its own cellular network. The choices are good, especially for people who aren’t exactly fans of AT&T.

Unlike AT&T, which has just two iPad data plans, Verizon doubles the fun with four, aimed to meet your simple—or extravagant—monthly mobile data needs:

As with AT&T, you can cancel your monthly Verizon plan any time. The tricky part is remembering to cancel it when you don’t need it for a few months. Otherwise, it just keeps showing up on your credit-card bill each month, like that gym membership fee you keep forgetting to cancel, too.

Once you decide on a plan—or one to start out with, anyway—it’s time to unleash your credit card. Keep in mind that this is a brand-new account that has nothing to do with any of the other wireless or iTunes Store accounts you may have (unless you contact AT&T and have it added to your overall services bill as a postpaid plan). The monthly charges on prepaid plans are billed directly to your Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express card.

You can sign up for 3G service right from the iPad:

Once you send off all your information, your carrier goes to work, first processing the info and then giving you a glorious “Data Plan Activated” message.

When there’s a WiFi network within range, the iPad automatically joins it (or asks you if you want to join it) so you can enjoy a speedier connection than you’d get with the 3G cellular network. But when you’re out of WiFi range, the iPad maintains its link to the Internet via its 3G chip.

When the iPad is using your cellular network, you see the familiar signal bars () in the upper-left corner of the screen. This is the same signal-strength graphic that cellphones use to indicate connection quality. The more bars, the stronger the signal.

The opposite of “full/five bars” is the dreaded No Service notice squatting in the top-left corner. No Service may not always mean you’re out of network range, though. It may also mean that you forgot to turn on the 3G chip (Turn 3G Service Off or On) or you haven’t yet signed up for a 3G account yet.

The icons in the top-left corner tell you which network you’re on, although the last two are exclusive to AT&T:

Even though your iPad may drop to turtle speed when you’re out in the thinner one-and two-bar coverage areas of a 3G network, just remember: a trickle of data is still some data, and better than no data at all.

You know how you can buy a router and share your one broadband Internet connection among several household members? Wouldn’t it be great if you could share a 3G cellular connection with other people, too? That’s just what mobile broadband hotspots (Use a Mobile Broadband Hotspot) do, but what if you don’t want to buy an extra piece of hardware?

That’s where iOS 4.3’s Personal Hotspot feature comes in really handy—you can turn your iPhone into a mobile hotspot to share your AT&T or Verizon 3G iPhone connection with your iPad, laptop, or other Internet-enabled device. Other users can connect to the hotspot via WiFi, Bluetooth, or (in the case of laptops), USB. This is the practice formerly known as tethering, but since that term often brings to mind tying a horse to a hitching post or a certain playground game with a ball on a rope, Personal Hotspot makes much more sense.

To use it, you need a compatible iOS device—like the iPhone 4. You may soon be able to use your iPad as a Personal Hotspot, too, if Apple decides to add the feature to the tablet. Older iPhones can tether with Bluetooth or USB, but can’t offer WiFi connections to other users. And your hotspot device needs to run iOS 4.2.5 or later.

Alas, you must also agree to give your wireless carrier more money. For AT&T customers, you need to have the $25 plan for 2 GB of data—and then add $20 for the Personal Hotspot, which, in turn, nets you 2 more gigabytes of data. Verizon users will pay $20 more for 2 GB of data, on top of your regular iPhone bill.

To use a Personal Hotspot on an iPhone 4, for example, tap Home→Settings→General→Network→Set Up Personal Hotspot (circled). When you do, you can upgrade your plan through your carrier’s website or with a phone call. Once you get your account adjusted, tap Home→Settings→Personal Hotspot→On. You can decide how other users connect to your hotspot—WiFi, Bluetooth, or USB—and set up a password.

The network name is the name of your phone. When other users (up to five of them) share your connection, a blue bar appears on the hotspot screen listing the number of connected users. To boot them off because your battery is draining fast (and it will), tap Settings→Wi-Fi Networks→Disconnect Wi-Fi Clients, turn off Bluetooth, or unplug the USB cable.

Always having an Internet connection is convenient in today’s data-munching world. You never have to worry about missing an important email message or sudden news development.

But there are times when you want to turn off your 3G service, such as when you’re getting perilously close to your monthly data allowance and don’t want to give AT&T or Verizon any more money. Another good time is when you travel to other countries and want to avoid monster charges for inadvertently roaming onto a third-party network (Brightness & Wallpaper).

In times like these, tap Settings→Cellular Data→Cellular Data→Off. You can also turn off Data Roaming by tapping Settings→Cellular Data→Data Roaming→Off. And if you need to turn off all your iPad’s wireless powers, choose Settings→Airplane Mode→On. When it’s safe to start surfing again, come back to these screens to turn everything back on.

If you need to upgrade your data plan, add another chunk of data because you’re almost maxed out, see how much data your iPad has gobbled this month, cancel your monthly plan, or change the credit-card number your carrier has on file, there’s one place to go: the Cellular Data account settings on the iPad.

To get there, tap Settings→Cellular Data→View Account. Since your account settings contain billing and personal information, you need to type in the same email address and account password you used when you originally set up the account on the iPad. (If you forgot your password, click the Forgot Password? link in the box.)

Once you get to the Cellular Data Account settings, your options are laid out before you. Tap Add Data or Change Plan if you want to tack on another batch of mega-or gigabytes, upgrade or downgrade to another plan, or outright cancel your plan. If you plan to travel overseas with an AT&T iPad, you can sign up for an International plan, explained on the next page.

Of the two 3G iPad carriers, only AT&T offers dedicated international data plans for the iPad. Much of Europe, along with other parts of the globe, use the same GSM network technology that AT&T does, but that’s not so much the case with Verizon’s CDMA network. WiFi iPads work wherever there’s WiFi, though.

If you and your iPad plan to pop across the pond to London or attend a business meeting in Berlin, you may want to get a plan and micro-SIM card from a wireless carrier in the country you plan to visit.

If that’s too much to bother with, AT&T does offer its own international plans to keep you connected. Be warned, however, that its prices are astronomical compared to the company’s relatively low, low U.S. network prices. For example, a mere 20 MB of international data within a 30-day billing period is $25. There’s no unlimited plan, so if you’re a heavy Internet user, the maximum plan is 200 MB of data for the month—at a whopping 200 bucks. (And you thought the currency exchange rates were crazy.)

Still, if you must, you must. Tap Settings→Cellular Data→View Account and tap Add International Plan to see a list of countries and plans available.

The iPad is not an iPhone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make telephone calls with it. Well, certain kinds of calls, specifically VoIP calls. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It’s a technology that basically turns Internet wires into telephone wires—and your iPad into a giant ad-hoc iPhone.

With special software and a microphone, VoIP lets you place calls from computer-to-computer or even from computer-to-regular-phone. And with programs like Skype, you can place calls from iPad-to-iPad, iPad-to-computer, or iPad-to-phone. Best of all, you can get Skype for free in the App Store.

To use Skype, you need to set up an account with the service. It’s sort of like setting up an instant-messaging program. During the process, you pick a user name and password that appears in the Contacts list of people you make Skype calls with.

To make a call from Skype, just tap the name of a person (who also needs to be online) in your Contacts list. To call a regular phone line, tap the little blue phone icon (circled), enter the number on the keypad, and hit the green Call button.

Skype calls themselves can be free if they’re going from computer or iPad to computer or iPad, but Skype charges a bit of coin to jump off the Internet and call a real phone number. The rates are low compared to standard phone services, and it’s a popular way to make cheap overseas calls. For instance, with a $1.25 monthly subscription, you can make unlimited calls to landlines in the country of your choice (you can choose from more than 30 countries). Check out the prices for Skype’s various calling plans at www.skype.com.

Skype can be a great way to keep up with the folks back in the Old Country on the cheap, but call quality can vary. The Internet can be a very busy network, which can affect the fidelity of the voice signals traveling across it.