While Novatel Wireless has copyrighted to name MiFi, it has gone on to mean so much more. Mi-Fi literally stands for my-wifi. In other words, it is a personal credit card shaped piece of hardware that acts as a personal WiFi hot spot for you and a few other computers that you allow onto the network. Once connected to the Mi-Fi, a user can have access to high speed Internet that they would typically find from a traditional WiFi setting.
How Does Mi-Fi Work?
Mi-Fi works by having this compact wireless router backconnect to a cellular data network such as Verizon Wireless'. Once it is connected to its 3G network, it can convert the 3G that would go for a mobile into WiFi that can reach up to 10 meters in radius. Once the 3G has been connected to the Mi-Fi, it can immediately begin providing a bubble where anyone within the bubble can gain access to the high-speed Internet that is typical for a WiFi set up.
The downfall to the Mi-Fi is that, while it does allow for high speed Internet, it is still coming from a mobile phone provider. Therefore, the plans that are put out by these companies are not very usable. For example, around the release of Verizon's MiFi, they were providing 250 MB plan for $40 a month. In other words, they were charging a lot for not a lot of data; however, it is the technology itself that is going to most definitely expand in the coming years.
In the end, the single most beneficial use of Mi-Fi is the ability to connect to high speed Internet no matter where you are. If there is cell phone service and the 3G service of a company such as Verizon Wireless can reach that area, there's a good chance that you'll be able to use the Internet from that area. However, it is important to pay attention to your data use because if you go over, it can become a very expensive web browsing.
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