MiFi Puts a Hotspot In Your Pocket

Novatel Wireless MiFi Puts a Hotspot In Your Pocket

Yardena Arar, PC World

Dec 9, 2008 6:00 am

A Wi-Fi hotspot can be a godsend for a traveler in need of Internet access, but finding one can sometimes be a challenge. Mobile broadband networks run by major carriers are more ubiquitous, but they can be a hassle to install and use, and adapters aren't available for many devices that support Wi-Fi.

So Novatel Wireless has come up with MiFi, a line of gadgets that will let you create a Wi-Fi hotspot using a mobile broadband network. Novatel describes MiFi devices as "intelligent mobile hotspots," but they are basically smart routers, the size of a couple of stacked credit cards, that connect to the Internet via a high-speed mobile phone network (such as the EVDO networks operated by Sprint and Verizon Wireless, or the UMTS/HSDPA networks operated by AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile).