The new iPad being used as a personal hotspot.

The Verizon version of the new iPad can run 25.3 hours straight with the LTE personal hotspot feature enabled. according to recent testing. AnandTech put the Verizon model through its paces, and as you might expect, these results are with the blindingly sharp Retina display turned off, which would otherwise put a huge dent into the battery performance.

iMore has enjoyed similar results on our new iPad running on the Rogers network, and said in our complete iPad (2012) review:

Tethering using the built-in Personal Hotspot feature (not currently supported by AT&T) was fantastic. It rivaled a home or office Wi-Fi connection. While it functions the same as the iPhone Personal Hotspot, I’d much rather use up my iPad data and battery while tethering, and leave my iPhone charged for phone calls and messaging. Also, because the iPad has an LTE radio and a much bigger battery, you can tether faster than an iPhone and for longer than any other smartphone.

So not only can you go longer, your phone remains fully charged and fully functional when you're done. This sets the new iPad up as an ideal mobile hotspot to handle your casual day-to-day computing, so long as you can resist playing around with it while on your Mac or Windows laptop.

Of course, the data cap issue still looms large, but if you have a monster grandfathered unlimited plan or your needs are modest, you may be able to get away with regularly using your new LTE iPad as a secondary internet connection.

If you're happily tethering away on your LTE or HSPA+ iPad connection, jump into the forum and tell us how you're experience has been.

Source: AnandTech