PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD
PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD | Table of Contents: |
Most WiFi in use today is indoors (at a home or office), but there is growing use of WiFi in an outdoor setting. Remember when there were a number of municipalities that tried to create WiFi networks that would support an entire city? Most of these failed because the majority of devices were being used indoors where other (often free) options prevailed.
More recently, operators such as AT&T are installing outdoor WiFi networks in major cities for two reasons: First, operators are trying to offload the high demand created by the explosion of smartphone devices such as the iPhone and tablets such as the iPad; and second, these more mobile devices are used more outdoors than just inside locations such as airports and retail outlets. The simple fact is that WiFi provides access to tremendous bandwidth, and it is in AT&T's best interest to have users download movies, TV shows and music with their WiFi network than with their cellular network.
There's growing interest in mobile WiFi routers where a small device such as the MiFi from Novatel, the Overdrive from Sprint or the Personal Hotspot on the iPhone enables WiFi for up to (typically) five mobile devices. These mobile hotspots then connect to the cellular network on the back end. These mobile routers do provide easy access in remote locations where standard WiFi is not typically available but cellular is. The newer 4G models provide back-end access via LTE, which operates close to basic cable or DSL.
Hardware-based mobile routers have to typically be set up with a power adapter as their batteries don't last more than 2 to 3 hours (in my tests). And that results in yet another device to carry around. I believe that more people will opt to utilize the mobile hotspot in their smartphone than bother carrying around another device and paying for an additional data plan.
Connectify (a MobileTrax client) offers a software mobile hotspot for Windows laptops and Android devices that requires no additional hardware. With one click, users can start a Connectify mobile hotspot on their laptop that allows up to nine WiFi-enabled devices to connect and share Internet access. The speed of the back end is whatever is available to the Windows laptop or Android device.
Connectify offers a software mobile hotspot for Windows laptops and Android devices that requires no additional hardware.
Connectify has realized over 4.5 million downloads and now offers a Pro version ($29.99) that includes easy-to-use firewall control over connected clients and can maintain connectivity by intelligently choosing the best available Internet connection at any given time. And the company has received a recent investment from In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA, to add robust security and develop an enterprise version (think government agencies and large private companies).
There is growing interest in connecting via WiFi directly between devices. This has particular appeal when running games between multiple local users (think students running a game locally in the dorm) or when people need to exchange large files (think sending a 50GB file using the 50M-bps link locally rather than going through the Internet that would slow down the transmission). Wi-Fi Direct is the standard being created for these direct connections. Software like Connectify enables Wi-Fi Direct so that information is kept locally when the need is only to transfer information between one or more local devices.
There are a number of new venues that are implementing mobile hotspots, including automobiles (providing WiFi access to the passengers), airplanes (e.g., GoGo service on many U.S. flights), trains (AMTRAK provides this on many routes) and machine-to-machine (such as a network of vending machines that use one cellular connection).
Good morning from Los Angeles! #ibmcloudThat's it from me! Over to North America.The data processing of Roland Garros 2012 (#RG12) rests on IBM Private Cloud http://t.co/JUaY1ItM [French Press release]IBM Accelerates Business from Supply to Demand with New #Cloud Offerings For Smarter Commerce http://t.co/OFxknOb0 [Press Release]How IBM #SmartCloud Foundation technology powers cloud adoption?
IBM VP @SLHebner explains here http://t.co/sSzfa0O5 [VIDEO]IBM's Fiona Cullen will present ‘The Power of #Cloud: Driving Business Model’ On May 24 @ Utrecht, Netherlands #cloudforum2012 #ibmcloudBlog Post: Why service providers should not ignore cloud http://t.co/ZfQyue4r via @eMarcusNet #thoughtsoncloudHave any #cloudmoment? Share your story with us via Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and tag it. See other stories http://t.co/J4ntsaQ5Sign up now for IBM #SmartCloud Enterprise! No charge for select VMs (only till May 28). More Details >> http://t.co/2LEzOUZC #ibmcloudRT @HansMoen: See this video from @IBMCloud to learn how to cut costs in building innovation in your business http://t.co/XOyJoFn6 #clou ...
Like us on Facebook 
Follow us on Twitter 
Get the Smarter Tech Newsletter 
Register to view the archived "Data Center Optimization Techniques: Stop Wasting Time & Money" eSeminar
Register Now > 
