Tablet needs to take a SIM?

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Hi guys... I use my phone hooked up to my P3A but want to get a tablet. Do I need to buy a tablet to put my phone SIM card in? Not sure why as I thought the picture would be transmitted on the tablet via the controller and P3A. I heard that you do but I also heard a lot of people turn airplane mode on... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Depends on the tablet and your carrier. Some have different sized SIM cards, and some carriers who use internal (CDMA like Verizon) cards.

I bought an iPad Air 2 that has the T-mobile and AT&T card drawer. The SIM card ones have the barometer and GPS too. It works really well.

However, when you add a device with a card, watch out on your plan! I have T-mobile and I was on their pre-paid plan where I would put 6 months worth of credit (~$360) so I wouldn't get a monthly bill. I had about $200 still on credit with them when I added the iPad. What they do is change your plan enough to the point your pre-paid money is kept by them and they will not refund it nor credit it to your new plan. You lose it all! Also, the new plan may end up coming along with a lot of extra taxes and nonsense. Mine went from $60/mo exactly (Which was an easy $360 for six months pre-paid.), to $84.32/mo. with the iPad added on which they claim is only a $10/month additional fee, but they add so much taxes and stuff it's closer to $20. Not to mention them keeping any pre-paid plan monies you had with them too. Luckily I bought my S6 Edge (And prior phones too.) and plans from one of their stores and the manager is issuing me a few months of credit from their shop to re-coup corporate from keeping my pre-pay.

Aside, I tried to go the hotspot method to avoid the tablet SIM between the Samsung S6 Edge to a Samsung tablet, but the hotspot syncing slowed down the data/video stream far too much. Android and DJI Go is just too laggy for me with the Samsung bloatware. The Apple seems to run a lot cleaner, imho, but it costs in SIM world as well as initial price both.

Also, check the website Rootmetrics ( RootMetrics Coverage Map ) and their coverage map for cellular companies. Seems Verizon is the best for data overall for rural/remote areas if you want to fly out there, and if your city has banned drones with some ordinance or you are in a NFZ area.
 
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Thank you for the detailed response as it was very informative but I still am wondering if it's essential that I need to hook a tablet up with a SIM card. Or can I just control the the P3A with the tablet without any SIM cards :)

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Thank you for the detailed response as it was very informative but I still am wondering if it's essential that I need to hook a tablet up with a SIM card. Or can I just control the the P3A with the tablet without any SIM cards :)

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yes you can
 
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The camera images and all your flight data is transmitted via the USB cable that connects your tablet/phone and controller.

The data, via wifi or cellular, is used to update the GoogleMaps that are on your phone/tablet.

Some like to turn off all data on their tablets. I run an android tablet and leave the data on, so the map background will always be updated as I zoom in and out. Especially, when using the Litchi app.
 
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Thank you ever so much for all the feedback. I knew the signal was transmitted from the phantom to the controller and displayed on the tablet... But when I heard a lot of people put their Sims in their tablet it just threw me into so much confusion. But so so glad with all the feedback on this... Really has made a massive difference for my tablet purchase. Thank you all once again xx

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