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Posted by: Synner667 May 7 2009, 07:07 PM

Sounds like a dream come true, a WiFi cloud that you can carry with you.

As explained in http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/technology/personaltech/07pogue.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all, "Getting online isn’t impossible, but today’s options are deeply flawed. Most of them involve sitting rooted in one spot — in the coffee shop or library, for example. (Sadly, the days when cities were blanketed by free Wi-Fi signals leaking from people’s apartments are over; they all require passwords these days.)

If you want to get online while you’re on the move, in fact, you’ve had only one option: buy one of those $60-a-month cellular modems from Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile or AT&T. The speed isn’t exactly cable-modem speed, but it’s close enough. You can get a card-slot version, which has a nasty little antenna protuberance, or a U.S.B.-stick version, which cries out to be snapped off by a passing flight attendant’s beverage cart.

A few laptops have this cellular modem built in, which is less awkward but still drains the battery with gusto.

But imagine if you could get online anywhere you liked — in a taxi, on the beach, in a hotel with disgustingly overpriced Wi-Fi — without messing around with cellular modems. What if you had a personal Wi-Fi bubble, a private hot spot, that followed you everywhere you go?

Incredibly, there is such a thing. It’s the Novatel MiFi 2200, available from Verizon starting in mid-May ($100 with two-year contract, after rebate). It’s a little wisp of a thing, like a triple-thick credit card. It has one power button, one status light and a swappable battery that looks like the one in a cellphone. When you turn on your MiFi and wait 30 seconds, it provides a personal, portable, powerful, password-protected wireless hot spot."


Fantastic stuff, and really brings the always connected world of the cyberpunk one step closer.

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Posted by: hobgoblin May 7 2009, 07:45 PM

funny enough, i use my phone for this kind of stuff...

anyone familiar with bluetooth?

Posted by: Backgammon May 7 2009, 10:23 PM

I don't understand how this differs, really, from a cellular card?

Posted by: hobgoblin May 8 2009, 05:26 AM

no need to plug it in? just power it up and put it away...

Posted by: Fuchs May 9 2009, 06:35 PM

I have a smartphone for my mobile web access needs. It also serves as a modem for my laptop, mp3 player, notepad, reader, etc.

Posted by: Zenfar May 12 2009, 01:03 AM

Bluetooth and other technologies are known as PANs or Personal Area Networks. You could defintely see a more useful PAN in the Shadowrun world with your weapons and cyberware linked to your communication devices and such....

Posted by: Aaron May 12 2009, 01:41 AM

Meh, I'm not real impressed with it. It looks like a cellular modem with a bit of wireless router in it. It's only got one antenna, dual-band to be sure, but still just the one. Unless they're doing something really clever that I can't find on the InterTubes, I'll stick to using other people's wireless networks.

Posted by: hobgoblin May 12 2009, 07:55 AM

i think the supposed clever bit is that it allows multiple devices to share a wwan connection...

Posted by: deek May 12 2009, 12:50 PM

I think this is awesome. I don't see why some are poo-pooing this. If I am reading this right, its basically a device that will fit in your pocket, turn it on, you get wi-fi access to the internet...without having to plug it into anything. So, if I am sitting at a park, in the bathroom, at a store, anywhere, and want to hop on the internet, I just turn this device on, put it back in my pocket and use whatever device I have available to connect to the internet.

Whether that is a computer, iTouch, DSi...

I don't know, I think this sounds pretty cool!

Posted by: hobgoblin May 12 2009, 07:48 PM

QUOTE (deek @ May 12 2009, 02:50 PM)

Posted by: Fuchs May 13 2009, 11:32 AM

I prefer to use my smartphone - just one device that lets me surf the web, listen to MP3s, read word documents, read PDFs, make phone calls, e-mail and sms, make pictures and videos, record something, etc. etc. And it can serve as a modem for my laptop.

Posted by: hobgoblin May 14 2009, 05:41 AM

Just make sure to keep a spare battery, or external battery pack on hand in case you cant find a socket close by...

Posted by: Kronk2 May 30 2009, 04:45 PM

QUOTE (Fuchs @ May 9 2009, 02:35 PM)