Another Mobile Wi-Fi Solution

I just saw a website where you can purchase an application for your smartphone that turns you phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, providing wi-fi service for up to 5 other wireless devices.  It is available for a $24.99 one-time fee for lifetime access.  You must have an unlimited data plan on your phone.  I see that it is not available for Verizon Wireless customers, so we can’t try it out.  Sounds interesting!  Check it out at http://walkinghotspot.com/.

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Right on Track

I just read an article on the internet, MSNBC, about a wireless router that is now available for your car or RV.  It turns your car or RV into a WiFi hotspot. The timing of this article was very appropriate considering our post from this weekend, where we were trying out using our laptop tethered to our Blackberry to access the internet as we were going down the road.  The article, The Mobile Internet Makes Its Way Into Cars, addresses the cost, the demand and the security of the system.

The system is offered by Autonet Mobile.  It can be purchased as an accessory with the Cadillac CTS.  Chrysler and Jeep dealers sell and install the router under name of “uconnect web”.  There are other online dealers, and it can now be purchased through Advance Auto Parts.  The unit is priced at $499.  Installation is extra.  A one-year contract is required, monthly fees start at $29 for 1 GB of usage.  There is also a 5 GB plan for $59 a month.

The system can be moved from one car to another, as long as the other car has also been wired for the unit.  It allows all laptops and other portable wireless devices to access the internet going down the road.  Access is suppose to extend to about 100 to 150 feet from the vehicle.

The main advantage I see to this over our Blackberry tethering to our laptop is that it would provide wireless access to the internet for everyone in the vehicle.  It would provide another means of entertainment to the passengers.  They can stream internet radio to their individual devices, watch YouTube videos, access the various mapping sites (i.e. Google Maps, MapQuest), interact with all of the social networking sites and surf the web.  Our system only provides internet access to the one user who is tethered to the Blackberry.

I would imagine that this system could find a great deal of interest among full-time RVers, whose vehicle is also their home. In the MSNBC article their is debate about how much demand there will be for this system, because of the ability to have home internet service, and services such as ours through our cellular provider.  Skeptics think people will not be willing to pay to have even more internet access than they already have. Who knows?

Personally, we like the idea of being able to take our internet away from the vehicle (i.e. to the park, beach, hotel room, etc). We don’t have any interest in changing to this system.  First of all it would be more expensive for us, even if we didn’t consider the initial purchase of the unit. Currently our 5 GB plan through Verizon on our Blackberry is only $30 a month. Secondly, there are only two people in our immediate family, and one of us has to drive, so there is no need for both of us to have internet access.  At least not until they invent auto-pilot for our vehicle.

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