26 October 2009
SPRINT'S MIFI 2200 ALLOWS YOU TO CREATE YOUR OWN HOTSPOT
A few weeks ago I was traveling with my wife and kids and we were paying for Internet access in our hotel room. We all had our own laptops, iPod touches, etc. that we wanted to check from time to time, but because of the way our Internet connection was set up, we had to use just one computer and wait our turn. If we had the Sprint MiFi 2200, that might not have been an issue. The little gadget has the dimensions of about three stacked credit cards and uses Sprint's broadband mobile wi-fi service. Up to five users at a time can access the Internet through the device. I do have a few concerns about it such as
- how slow will the connection be if a few people are accessing it at the same time. Sprint's broadband access is not as fast as cable or DLS wi-fi and dividing up the bandwidth further could be noticeable.
- the price of $300 is a lot for the device and you're stuck with a two-year contract
- the monthly price of $60 is not cheap and you're limited to 5 gigabytes of bandwidth, something that can easily be reached if you want to use the gadget to watch television or movies on your computer.
Still, if devices like this become more commonplace, business travelers should be happy.
