[jyl]

Quick thoughts on an interesting product, the MiFi. This is a portable 3G modem + WLAN access point, about the size of a credit card but 1/3” thick, with a 4 hour battery life. The idea is, you turn it on and toss it in your briefcase or pocket, the MiFi creates your own personal WLAN hotspot that your laptop, cellphone, etc can connect to – up to 5 devices. The battery lasts 4 hours. Or, you can connect it to your laptop via USB cable and it runs off the laptop’s battery while acting like a 3G modem. Verizon and Sprint offer them, cost about $50 plus a monthly EVDO data plan.

Basically, I like it. If you simply want to get Internet access on your laptop, it is more convenient to plug a USB, PC Card, or ExpressCard 3G modem into the laptop. But the MiFi lets multiple devices connect to the Internet (your spouse’s laptop, your phone, etc), it works with any laptop (don’t need a card slot), and doesn’t have a protruding dongle like a USB modem. When I go camping in the vanagon, I’ll bring this along.