Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

The orginal Vita had a 3G option that was severly limited. It was AT&T exclusive at a time when AT&T was not doing so hot. It did not offer any network connectivity for games, and has a limit of 20MB downloads over 3G to this day. 

With that said, even with 3G the Vita can do some impressive things. You can use Remote Play and PS Now over 3G. The apps say wifi is required, however your can force your way in, and once connected, it works quite well when a good connection is available. You can also use a few of the video streaming apps. Crackle, MLB.TV, and Snag films all work over 3G. Netflix and Hulu are still restricted, but I am guessing this is due to them being launch apps, and not being kept up to date over the years. You can also call land lines and cell phones, or even video chat over Skype, although this feature is no longer getting updates, so it will eventually stop. 

In the beggining, you could actually stream music over Music Unlimited, with Skype in the background while playing a game. If you recieved a call, the music and the game would be paused, if you answered, and then they would resume once you ended the call. Vita really was quite amazing back in 2011, it is only a shell of its former self today, but it was a great example of how amazing handhled gaming can be. It is an absolute shame that 5 years later, we don't have any device on the market that can so this, and even new entries look to be less advanced.

Not really. Daisy chaining is not a good answer to such a simple problem. First of all, carrying multiple portable devices is already rediculous in as it is. Second, one device being purposly gimped from the manufacturer, is flat out ludicrous. Seriosuly folks, we are talking about a device launched in 2017, this is not 2004 when a Wifi enable portable device is an amazing feat.

Umm... How does your parents knowing how to tether their phones make me not understand how people use their phones? Our experience can be different with the subject sure but saying that I don't understand sounds a bit nonsense. I rarely have seen people use their phones for hotspot at all, specially since phone data is at a premium in Canada (for example) with 1gb of data per month for $70/month. Sure we have Wind that has "unlimited" data for $45/month but their network speeds is like 3mbps down if you are lucky and you get throttled heavily after 5gb of usage. And their reception isn't very good at all with the exception of some selected areas. This is in vancouver, one of the most populated cities in Canada.

I personally like it this way so I don't have to deal with people playing games with terrible reception. If you have ever played Smash Bros on the wiiU which uses p2p and you are matched with people that have horrible wifi, you would understand why I am glad the Switch doesn't have this. While I understand the benefits, all it would result in is more people complaining about how playing online sucks while in reality with p2p games, one or more people just have a shit connection.

Edit: It will be like this but more frequently... (skip to 53 seconds) Do you want to play matches like this more frequently? I sure don't...

The problem is people gamers are expecting very little from gaming devices, but the general public is expecting them to be just as functional as the next device. Things like Netflix, Hulu, PlayStation Vue, Pandora, Spotify, Blu-ray Playback, and a web browser as absolutly vital to any device, games device or not. 3G/LTE are in the same league as these apps and services. People expect a mobile device to be connected in 2017, and lmited wifi availablity is not an acceptable answer. So will tether, but most people don't want that hassel on a regular basis, or can not use that due too restrictions.

The problem here is in many places Wifi hotspots are not allowed due to data sensativity. Many businesses don't allow employees to create their own hotspot, doing so can lead to suspension up to termination.

Absolutly. Consoles and handhelds do not exist in a vacuum. The Vita and 3DS are direct competitors to Phones and Tablets, and they did not adapt with the times, and it is for that reason that they have sold 80M units compaired to the 240M+ that PSP and DS sold. I did not want to see the same mistake happen again with the Switch, but it appears it has.

Wrong, handheld consoles are not something new, people know what can expect from handheld console,people know they are not phones that they are gaming devices on 1st place. 3DS and Vita proves that 3G/LTE are not important feature for handheld consoles.

shit!! would be great to use online features on the go, not necessarily multiplayer...

it's even worse if you think what that means, that it probably won't have that many online features and applications to make 3G connectivity worthwhile :S

wifi from phone hotspot.. and a USB battery
easy solutions to your 'problem'

Wasn't there a Vita model with access to 3g?

Does it matter? I'm out on a daily basis and never see people with 3DS's or Vita's, bet they rarely leave the house.

Yup, Vita had 3G version too and nobody really cared about that version.

Mobile hostpot and a battery pack, so easy. I have unlimited data on my phone and I can use the wifi of my apt almost everywhere cause I live in the 21 century :p, so why another bill?