I want to see how others feel about this. I've been on a pseudo-holiday the past week and a half to Canada (road tripping the whole way from San Francisco and back) and courtesy of the gdgt offices, I've been using a Verizon MiFi to keep in touch while on the road. I've been genuinely impressed! While traveling the interstate highways, it's almost always had a solid, fast, and reliable connection.
I didn't use it for the week I was in Canada (would it even work? Not to mention international roaming charges), but now that I'm back in the States and heading back to San Francisco, I'm using it again. Earlier today, I was rocketing down the I-5 in Central Oregon while in the back of a van and working on gdgt related things, just like I was at home. Amazing!
If you're on the road frequently, I can totally see how this would benefit you and your fellow colleagues or family. Not sure I'd be willing to pay the $60/mo or so for internet access myself though (and a 5GB data cap). Anyway, do you have or want one? What do you think about this?
Discussion about
This thing is so sweet!
I work onsite at a gov facility that blocks a lot of sites for obvious reason. I use it everyday and have for the past 4-5 weeks. 5GB cap? Come on? I go nowhere near that at work, its not like I am watching videos all day or downloading 900MB files all day.
Just say, I don't want to pay. Blame it on the rain, not the cap. I do want the newer version withe onboard network storage.
Just say, I don't want to pay. Blame it on the rain, not the cap. I do want the newer version withe onboard network storage.
It depends on usage. For you, it sounds perfect. I do a lot of photography and watching online video (Hulu, Netflix, Youtube). I'd blow through the 5GB cap quite quickly! However, I'd only worry about this if it was my primary internet connection.
For traveling and such, I do think this thing is totally key.
For traveling and such, I do think this thing is totally key.
It interests me if they come out with a GSM version, but it's yet another box to carry and honestly, Joikuspot is working perfectly well for me most of the time when I actually need this functionality. Most of my daily notebooks have built-in 3G, and the rest (i.e. the Apples) are tethered to the N95.
I picked up one of these for a vacant line on our company account and have been using the heck out of it for the past 2 months. It's an easy addition to a pants pocket or messenger bag without noticing and makes my iPod Touch a much more useful device.
Regarding the international roaming, it's just over $3/MB in Canada and just over $5/MB in Mexico. I verified this with Verizon business support as we often have staff on customer sites in Canada that do not allow guests on their networks. It's expensive, but when you consider the primary use for us is letting these travelers get access to Outlook Web Access, they're not exactly racking up the bandwidth.
Just this past Friday I was in a small airport without wifi and was able to use this to get a VPN connection to solve a server issue that otherwise would have had to wait several hours. That event alone is worth the cost of the device for 6 months.
Regarding the international roaming, it's just over $3/MB in Canada and just over $5/MB in Mexico. I verified this with Verizon business support as we often have staff on customer sites in Canada that do not allow guests on their networks. It's expensive, but when you consider the primary use for us is letting these travelers get access to Outlook Web Access, they're not exactly racking up the bandwidth.
Just this past Friday I was in a small airport without wifi and was able to use this to get a VPN connection to solve a server issue that otherwise would have had to wait several hours. That event alone is worth the cost of the device for 6 months.
