My very own hotspot

During the school holidays I went down to the Morning Peninsula and spent time entertaining the children. I managed to get a kite up in the air for around 20 minutes, so I felt completely validated as a parent.

While I was away I still managed to get a bit done courtesy of a small device I purchased, which I must say I thought was fabulous. It’s a Netcomm 3G Wireless Router. About the size of a small stack of business cards card it’s a wireless access point and 3G router in a portable device. What it meant to me was that I had my own wireless hotspot that I could use at home or at a cafe. I could also access the internet using my notebook and my iPad at the same time.

I purchased a plan from Optus giving me 2Gb of data for $20 a month. So far I haven’t blown this, despite the fact I have spent a spare bit of time web surfing and pulling down emails with attachments. The speed was of course slower than what I was used to, but seemed to depend on where I placed the device in the house. I also liked the fact that I could put these charges on my Optus mobile phone bill, and not generate extra paper. However, in hindsight if I keep going to the country, I should probably switch over to a Telstra account as they appear to have better coverage in regional areas I like such as Warrnambool and Lakes Entrance.

It also came in a bit handy when I spent a night in Sydney. It galls me to pay $26 for 24 hours internet access in my hotel room, when all I want is to quickly check my email.

Setting up was really easy, other than having to know the name of the network I was trying to attach myself to. Unfortunately, Optus had more than one option and because it was slow to change itself, I became quickly confused when everything I tried, and I’ll admit a little impatiently, didn’t work.

At $299 it was a little pricey, but I would expect that to come down a bit as soon as it has competitors in the market place.

The kids loved it to as a lot of the games they play on the iPad require internet connections and stand alone games just don’t seem to cut it for them. All in all I’d give it an eight out of 10 as a handy gadget.

To read more Brendan Lewis blogs, click here.

Brendan Lewis is a serial technology entrepreneur having founded: Ideas Lighting, Carradale Media, Edion, Verve IT, The Churchill Club, Flinders Pacific and L2i Technology Advisory. He has set up businesses for others in Romania, Indonesia and Vietnam. Qualified in IT and Accounting, he has also spent time running an Advertising agency and as a Cavalry Officer with the Australian Army Reserve.