"Mifi" portable wireless router / cellular modem

[lulzfish]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/techn ... .html?_r=1

It's $270 for the device and $40 a month for the 250MB data plan. [dunno how much upload you get]
So, it's pretty expensive for now, but you get a portable wireless network that works with anything like an iPod Touch, a Pandora, a laptop, a Nintendo DS, etc...

And it's "about the size of 3 credit cards stacked together", so it's pretty small.

Maybe once the price comes down I'll get one. Or once I can afford $480 a year for mobile Internet.

 

[atomicthumbs]

You can also buy it without a contract and pay $15 for 24 hours. That'd be useful if you don't leave 802.11space too often.

 

[fischju]

"4 hours per charge" sounds pretty iffy. Tiny device, tiny battery, it has to have very high power requirements for what it does.

 

[OrR]

Sounds like a very very expensive plan?! In Germany I can get a prepaid gigabyte a month for 10 €... Do you usually pay that much in the US?

 

[JayFoxRox]

OoR: which provider?

 

[Chip]

Do you usually pay that much in the US?

Yes, cell data is very expensive here, but it's even worse in Canada. I Probably have the cheapest possible data plan in the US, and I still pay $55 a month for 400 minutes and 3GB of data.

If you have a G1 or one of the better Nokia phones, there are applications that will let you use your phone as a 3G wifi router. It sucks my G1's battery dry in about 2 hours, but it does work.

 

[gruso]

I thought we had the worst mobile plans in Australia. Maybe not. I've got a Three prepaid account, $29 for 2GB. It's pretty good as a secondary connection.

Of course, then we have things like Telstra's entry level "occasional use" plan. $5 for 5MB - yes, megabytes - with an excess use charge of $1 per MB. It shouldn't be legal to offer plans like that to unsuspecting "mum and dad" customers.

 

[arrrgh]

Of course, then we have things like Telstra's entry level "occasional use" plan. $5 for 5MB - yes, megabytes - with an excess use charge of $1 per MB.

A dollar a megabyte? :wacko: How would that be of any use to anyone? How "occasional" would your use have to be?

 

[gruso]

I know, it boggles the mind. They use tactics like this to fleece people for hundreds, sometimes thousands. The other day someone was talking about an American friend who is here on a work visa. The company gave him a phone, but didn't warn him about the cost. One month later: $15,000 bill (about $10k USD) Silly guy was obviously caning the torrents.

I shall speak no more about the "great Australian telco" that is Telstra, because I tend to get all fired up.

Oh, one last thing. They also count uploads. No shit.

 

[lulzfish]

Reading your e-mail: $5.
Looking at funny GIFS: $8
Pirating music: $30
Watching YouTube: $100

Using the Internet tomorrow...
Too expensive.

There are some things that are WAY overpriced.
Don't even use those things AT ALL.

lol, cell phones. That's why I hate them. I should probably start metering my current bandwidth in anticipation of switching to a cellular network some day...

 

[fischju]

Engadget did an article: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/nova ... to-sprint/ - It's coming to sprint, $60 a month for 5GB
And one on Verizon: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/veri ... 00-review/

 

[Aethix]

Doesn't the iPhone have an app that does the exact same thing?