Inexpensive Wi-Fi That Travels With You

Image by Global X via Flickr

By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD

Wi-Fi is everywhere.

Or so it seems until you really need it and there is no coffee house with a free hot spot. Or when you don’t want to pay a fee to connect at the airport or a hotel for an hour.

Our pockets and bags are filling with Web-connected devices: laptops, smartphones, netbooks, tablets, e-readers and even cameras. But to connect one when Wi-Fi is not available means using a cellphone network, and that usually requires buying a new data plan for each device.

The cost-cutting solution might be to create your own personal Wi-Fi hot spot, a cloud of Internet connectivity to keep with you wherever you go. Not only can a personal hot spot provide a single point of access for all of your devices, it can be shared with friends.

The options are growing. You can buy a simple, slim unit that fits in a pocket or ones that can shift from 3G to speedier 4G networks. You can convert some cellphones into hot spots, while a few new phones now come with hot spots included. I tried several such options while traveling and in my daily routine to see what they offered.

The Novatel MiFi 2200, available from Verizon Wireless ($29.99 with a two-year contract) or Sprint (free after $50 rebate and with a two-year contract), is a Wi-Fi hot spot small enough to slip into a shirt pocket. It is a mysterious-looking object with no screen and a single button.

It wirelessly connects to a 3G cellular network just like a phone, but it also broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal to the surrounding area. Devices within a 30-foot range can connect. I used the MiFi while traveling by car from Boston to New York. Having the coverage brought peace of mind when using Google Maps on my iPod Touch and my laptop to guide me around Brooklyn.

Still, 3G speeds can be slower than what is available at land-based hot spots. Back at home, downloading my daughter’s favorite videos was faster on our home wireless network.

Verizon’s monthly data plans for the MiFi are $39.99 for 250 megabytes of data, or $59.99 for 5 gigabytes, with extra charges for exceeding those limits. Sprint charges $59.99 for 5 gigabytes and extra for exceeding limits. Another pocket-size option, the Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot, from Sprint ($49.99 with a two-year contract), is slightly thicker than the MiFi but comes with more features. The first is speed. It can connect not only to Sprint’s 3G network, but also its new and speedier 4G network. The 4G network is not yet available nationally, but if you are in one of the 33 cities covered, including Seattle, Atlanta and Houston, speeds are fast. (Sorry, New York is not included.)

Another feature that was useful: a bright screen that displays information like remaining battery life, signal strength, the hot spot’s name and password and number of connected devices. The monthly data plan is $59.99, with unlimited 4G usage and a 5 gigabyte cap on 3G and extra charges for exceeding it.

The Clear Spot, from Clearwire, is another 4G option. In fact, it uses the same 4G network as Sprint (Sprint is the majority owner of Clearwire.) The Clear Spot is bigger than the Overdrive and probably not ideal to keep in your pocket during use; it requires a U.S.B. modem, with pricing from $69.99 to $224.99 depending on features. But if your goal is 4G speeds, the Clear Spot delivers.

Not all areas of each city are covered by the network so reviewing the company’s coverage map beforehand is helpful. The Clear Spot costs $49.99 and supports up to eight devices within a range up to 150 feet. Service plans with unlimited access start at $40 a month and a U.S.B. modem can also be leased for $3.99 a month. A plan offering 3G speeds in areas outside the 4G network is also available.

The CradlePoint PHS300 ($99.99 at Amazon), works with dozens of phones and also U.S.B. modems. Depending on your carrier, it may work with your phone’s existing data plan or require one that allows tethering. I used one with a BlackBerry Storm; after powering on the PHS300 and connecting it to the BlackBerry, I was viewing Web pages on my laptop in just under a minute and the battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes. The PHS300, from CradlePoint Technology, based in Boise, Idaho, is the same size as the Clear Spot.

The latest way to create a mobile hot spot is with cellphones. This can eliminate the clutter of carrying and charging an extra device. Through Verizon, the Palm Pre Plus ($49.99 with two-year contract) and Pixi Plus (free with a two-year contract) include this option.

Using a Pre Plus with an iPad, I was online and viewing Web pages in about 15 to 30 seconds after waking the iPad from power-save mode. Also useful, the phone chimed when the iPad connected, letting me know I was ready to surf.

Using the phone as a hot spot quickly drained the phone’s battery, even with light surfing. Verizon is now waiving its $40 monthly fee for the hot spot feature. Monthly data plans for unlimited access start at $29.99, which could be an alternative for iPad owners. Starting Monday, Apple will no longer offer its unlimited data plan for the iPad 3G.

More phones with personal hot spots are on the way. Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G, which can run on Sprint’s 4G network, is expected Friday ($199.99 with a contract and rebate; plans for both calling and data begin at $69.99 plus a $10 premium data fee and $29.99 a month for the hot spot feature).

Google’s recently updated Android operating system, version 2.2, includes a hot spot feature and is expected to be made available soon. But not all Android phones will support that function.

Software can turn many new and older phones into hot spots, too. WMWifiRouter, from Morose Media, based in the Netherlands, works on a variety of phones. I used it on an HTC Touch Pro2, which runs the Windows Mobile operating system. The software ($19.99 at wmwifirouter.com) can be downloaded directly to the phone.

JoikuSpot (joikushop.com) supports the Symbian operating system, including many phones from Nokia and Samsung. Depending on your tolerance for risk, some phones like the iPhone and some Android phones, can be hacked to work as hot spots. Steps for hacking are posted across the Internet, but you risk voiding a phone’s warranty.

There was no one solution that was best for all users in all situations. It depends on the cellphone service you have, the devices you own and where you live or travel. With a laptop, an iPod Touch and maybe an iPad in the future, I like the idea of not carrying around yet another device.

After all, without having to depend on coffee shops for Internet access, I may also be carrying around my coffee.

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With WiMax, Walking on the Wireless Side in Baltimore

By PETER WAYNER

Baltimore, the home of the hapless Orioles and a favorite backdrop for so-called realistic TV crime dramas, just happens to be one of the most wired cities in the country. It ascended to the throne after Clearwire introduced WiMax service last winter, giving the city a preview of what the company is slowly building throughout the country.

Calling the city “wired” is not quite accurate because, HBO series aside, WiMax has little to do with copper; it delivers the Internet through radio signals broadcast from cellphone towers. The service is much faster, though, than what many cellphone networks currently provide with their 3G networks. Indeed, WiMax delivers speeds much faster than many DSL circuits, rivaling many cable modems. I often clock downloads at 6 megabits per second (equivalent to basic cable service in many areas) and uploads at faster than 1 megabit per second.

Sprint, one of the owners of Clearwire, calls WiMax a “4G network” to distinguish it from the 3G networks that connect smartphones and offer speeds from 0.4 to 1 megabit per second. To make matters a bit more confusing, Clearwire sells “pre-WiMax” service in 47 cities at speeds that top out at 2 megabits per second. In an effort to clarify the matter, Clearwire is using the brand name “Clear” to apply to full WiMax service.

For the last six months, I’ve used a full WiMax/4G equipped netbook to test the service around Baltimore. The Acer Aspire One with a Sprint U300 WiMax card I used is an ideal companion for sending and receiving e-mail messages. It’s small enough to take almost everywhere but it’s large enough to act like a PC — a PC that’s always connected to a very big Wi-Fi hotspot.

Adding WiMax to a laptop may make it easier to read e-mail messages often, but the real value of the bandwidth becomes apparent when the PC does something more than just send text. VoIP software like Skype turns it into a video phone, a browser pointed at Hulu acts like a television that can fetch shows on command and there’s also GPS service for finding directions. It’s a smartphone with a normal keyboard and a very open software marketplace. All of the PC software built for the desktop also works with the small package.

The U300 attaches to any laptop, but Netbook manufacturers are offering more and more machines with built-in cards. Lenovo, for instance, will add the WiMax/Wi-Fi Link 5150 card to some of their laptops for an additional $30. Prices vary depending on the model.

WiMax is also one of the first wireless services that’s being actively marketed to people sitting on their couches at home. Xohm, the brand name originally given to Baltimore’s WiMax service (it’s now being merged into Clearwire and the Xohm brand will disappear), sells a home base station meant to compete directly with DSL or cable for $35 a month, and sometimes there is a short-term discount. A base station and a laptop card together cost $50 a month. The service options are getting complicated and the prices vary in different communities. Comcast, another investor in Clearwire, is starting a wireless service in Portland, Ore., under its own brand name. It will charge $50 a month for service within Portland that is promised to deliver downloads at a rate of 4 megabits per second.

Sprint also sells a card that offers both 4G service where WiMax is available and 3G service where Sprint’s cellphone network is all that’s there. It’s a better choice for anyone who travels outside of the cities where WiMax is appearing. Sprint charges $80 for the modem and $80 a month for the service.

The WiMax coverage in Baltimore is good but far from comprehensive. The signal blankets downtown and many of the neighborhoods, but it stops just a few blocks from my house. The cellphone tower is on one side of the hill and my house is on the other. Clearwire says that it is slowly expanding coverage but I’ve seen little change in the map over the last few months.

WiMax can also suffer from the same problems that affect all wireless services. Rain and snow absorb the signal, reducing the quality of the service during storms, an effect the industry calls “rain fade.” Trees and other plants are filled with water and can cause the same problems even when the sun is shining. Thick walls are also a challenge. Being closer to the tower is always better for service. All of these effects work together, so it’s no surprise that the maps of WiMax service show that early deployment is concentrated in the densest part of the city where trees are rare. That’s where the most people will find the best reception.

But wireless also comes with advantages. I’ve averaged about one visit from the phone or cable company every year or so because the copper wires coming to my house need their care. Both services require internal wiring that must either be fished through the walls or the baseboard. Wireless service to the home avoids these problems.

The Xohm/Clearwire base station can sit anywhere in the house and it can even be moved, but putting it on a higher floor near a window improves service. If the house isn’t near the tower, it may even help to put it on the closest side of the house where there’s no dense foliage in the path. Using the WiMax laptop card alone also works under the same conditions.

The more I used the laptop while traveling around the city, the more aware I became of the time it took Windows to start. While the Internet service may be available everywhere, it took several painful minutes for Windows to boot up. To make matters worse, the U300 card needs its own minute or so to look for a signal.

Some netbook manufacturers are experimenting with adding a simpler operating system that can start much faster than Microsoft Windows. These machines can boot up in less than 10 seconds but only by loading a lightweight operating system that offers a few basic services like a Web browser or Skype. The full version of Windows is still available if you need it. Needless to say, offering such a start-up time will change the utility of these microlaptops considerably.

Speeding the start-up time will be crucial if the netbooks want to compete with smartphones for casual use by people on the go. The bandwidth is ready to supply full-size applications that augment reality with an endless heavy stream of data. Scott Richardson, chief strategy officer of Clearwire, told me: “I did a demonstration in Portland with some computer industry guys. I was driving down a road going 60 miles per hour and I got a 14 megabits-per-second download.”

Portland came online in January of this year and Clearwire just announced that it was selling service in Atlanta and Las Vegas a few weeks ago. This isn’t the end. Clearwire says it’s on to Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Seattle and Charlotte, N.C. They’re all fine cities, even if they don’t all have the same level of baseball and the same fertile source of inspiration for narrative crime dramas.