Home Office Surfing in a Personal Hotspot

By Jeff Zbar;
www.homeofficehighway.com

Years ago, surfing in public meant first paying $15 an hour for a user ID and password hand-written on a scrap of paper so you could log on to some cyber cafe's network.

Now, it's as easy as hitting the MiFi, powering up the netbook — and in less than a minute, you're up.

This year's home office highway is shaping up as an exercise in simplified surfing. Last year, setting up a network meant powering up and wiring in a router the size of a cigar box. This year's "access point" is a business card-sized device that enables five Internet devices — netbooks, laptops, MP3 players, an iTouch — to log on simultaneously.

Here's part of Engadget iMobile’s review: "Put simply, our hats go off to Novatel and Verizon on this one. The MiFi is drop-dead awesome in basically every meaningful way, and we'd be shocked if every top-tier carrier in the world wasn't actively looking into adding it — or a device very similar to it — into their lineup. Unless you have a very specific, compelling reason that you require an ExpressCard or a USB stick style modem, the MiFi's simplicity, flexibility, tethering capability, and no-compromise performance make it the way to go for your mobile data needs."

From the ZRV, the experiment has been a success so far. We found our first destination — the Holiday Travel Resort in Leesburg, FL — while driving along Florida's Turnpike. The rest of the itinerary for our first day on the road will be discovered along the way with no-new-wires simplicity.

Well, time to talk Stella. Maybe we'll take the MSI netbook and personal hotspot for a stroll, too…

Jeff Zbar is on the road with his family in one teched-out, Internet-connected RV-turned-home-office – exploring the American South, visiting small towns and popular tourist destinations – and revealing just how productive a traveling family can be. Driven by Jeff Zbar, the Chief Home Officer, Home Office Highway shines headlights on a whole new "remote" office. Learn more at www.homeofficehighway.com.