Having read the PR a couple times, I guess I see what you’re saying. Instead of plugging an Express Card into the adapter like the Cradlepoint, the 3G part is an integral solution. Have I got it?

That said, given that it would be tied to a particular provider (if I’m reading it right), I’m not sure it’s a “better” option than one of the devices already out there. Although I suspect that given a two-year contract, you’d probably be replacing the device anyway when you got ready to switch.

Ewan, the Cradlepoint product is only a router and doesn’t provide a 3G signal by itself. It requires that you plug in a 3G adapter so it can route and share the signal over WiFi. The MiFi product includes a 3G radio as well as a WiFi radio, so it stands alone as a shareable 3G solution.

Thanks David, but that just proves that I´m not missing something. Like I said, there are at least two different S60 applications that do the same thing. They turn your phone into a Wifi router. Any device can use it, and you can even add encryption. I know of http://www.joikuspot.com/ and http://www.walkinghotspot.com/ There may be more.

Huh. Doesn’t this look kind of like an iPhone? I wonder if you could just clip this onto your existing phone? Then if it had Wifi it could use this device to access the net instead of its internal 3G. And your other devices could too… so its kind of a 3G modem that when detached from the phone becomes a 3G router with a WLAN interface for all your devices… Is there something here that you can turn into a future product?

Or should cell providers just get their shit together and sell us a single dataplan for two devices or let us use our phones for internet access via tethering, or …

Huh. Doesn’t this look kind of like an iPhone? I wonder if you could just clip this onto your existing phone? Then if it had Wifi it could use this device to access the net instead of its internal 3G. And your other devices could too… so its kind of a 3G modem that when detached from the phone becomes a 3G router with a WLAN interface for all your devices… Is there something here that you can turn into a future product?

Or should cell providers just get their shit together and sell us a single dataplan for two devices or let us use our phones for internet access via tethering, or …

Micke, the benefit of a device like this is that the connection can be shared with other people and devices, since it serves as a WiFi router. Some folks on other sites have asked why not connect your phone to your laptop, and use the laptop as the router. The plus to the device is that you don’t need to carry a laptop, won’t use up a laptop battery, and the device can act as a wifi router to things like PDA’s, iPod Touches, and other small devices that you may take with you – without a laptop in tow.

D.

I still don´t see why you would use this instead of a phone? You´re gonna have a separate contract just for this device?
Unless I´m missing something big here, there are at least two different S60 applications that accomplishes the same thing that this device does.
And even if you don´t have a 3G phone, wouldn´t it be smarter to buy a cheap one, rather than this?

Kevin, what I got from that tidbit was that you insert a SIM card into the router… there’s no external PC Card, Express Card or USB modem to plug in like most existing 3G routers.

Oliver, that’s how I read the third sentence of the release:

“Unlike existing router solutions that require an external broadband modem and serve only to provide connectivity, Novatel’s unprecedented MiFi line creates a personal cloud of high-speed Internet connectivity that can be easily shared between multiple users and Wi-Fi devices such as laptops, cameras, gaming devices and multimedia players”

If it doesn’t require an external broadband modem, I presume the unit itself is providing the 3G and the WiFi, which makes it different than other products on the market.

Apologies — I must have my dense day today. It really *provides* the 3G signal… out of thin air?? Are you saying you can get a 3G signal at places where there isn’t one, and if yes, I assume it then takes a broadband connection and “turns” it into 3G?

If so, I didn’t read that in the blog post or press release. It just says “the MiFi product line enables users to access high-speed Internet from anywhere there is a cellular connection.”

cr0ft, we’ve shared the excellent wmwifirouter app in the past, not to mention a similar offering from Joiku. While they’re both great solutions if you have a 3G phone, the MiFi product is completely different in that it *provides* the 3G signal as well as the WiFi signal to share the 3G. This makes it a compelling product for folks that don’t have a 3G phone or 3G adapter card.

Why dream, just get a good Windows Mobile phone and install WMWifiRouter and you’re good to go with a wifi-to-3g router that you always carry with you anyway.

Of course that requires a phone that isn’t completely gelded by the provider, ie it has to have internet sharing in it.

http://www.wmwifirouter.com/

Works like a charm.