Portable Wi-Fi Hotspots

Dekortage writes "David Pogue reviews several portable wi-fi access points in the New York Times. If you have cellular Internet access, you can plug the PC card into the wi-fi box and presto, you've got Wi-Fi from wherever you are." From the article: "The card provides the Internet connection, courtesy of those companies' 3G ("third generation") high-speed cellular data networks. The box just rebroadcasts that connection as a Wi-Fi signal so that all nearby computers -- not just one privileged laptop -- can go online. With those PC cards, you can go online anywhere there's a cellular signal: in a taxi, on a bus, in a waiting room or wherever. In major cities, the speed is delightful, like a D.S.L. or slowish cable modem (400 to 700 kilobits a second)."

Comments

So what?

[rts008]

Having done some work in both NYC and Wash. D.C., this is not new- I could connect through unsecured wifi nodes throughout both cities while in a cab with my laptop, wireless PCMIA card (not specialized hardware or software) seamlessly two years ago. (pardon the grammatical structure- no, I could not connect from D.C. and NYC at same time!-get real you nitpickers!)

What's really new here?