No. The iPad says it needs a WiFi connection and my smartphone acting as a hotspot doesn’t count as WiFi. The options are that I connect it to iTunes on a PC which triggers full unencrypted backup on the PC or that I connect to an actual WiFi network which is usually a router connected to some kind of a wall socket: cox, phone line or Ethernet. Taking unpatched devices to a McDonalds is not an acceptable option.
RE: I don’t understand why I need an enterprise grade PC or a landline in order to ...