iPad + Internet + Enterprise Mobility = Thanks Mifi!
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor
Currently iPad devices available are only Wi-Fi enabled. I’ve been using one since Saturday and enjoying every minute. It’s been great around the house, in the office and in all the locations where I can connect to the iPass network. The device recognizes and connects seamlessly to my home and office network, and with iPassConnect, I can connect in thousands of business locations.
But what about the times in between?
With no 3G option available yet, what can I do? Enter iPass Enterprise MiFi. MiFi is a tiny portable Wi-Fi hot spot. About the size of a deck of cards, but half the thickness, you can easily carry this in your pocket, purse or backpack. When it’s switched on, it connects to the 3G network and converts the 3G to Wi-Fi for devices in the vicinity. Up to five devices can connect via Wi-Fi to the Mi-Fi access point with full security (WPA or WPA2). This is perfect for the iPad, as there’s not even an option to use an external 3G device.
So here are my tools of choice: iPad and MiFi. Yes, there are limitations, such as lack of support for USB storage, some of my apps aren’t available at all and editing MS Office documents is limited. The lack of multi-tasking means that I can’t jump to my email during a WebEx conference; which could be a good thing (it helps keep my ADD behavior in check). But the iPad has a long battery life and access to most of my needs – web-based email and corporate systems, along with all of the SaaS applications that I use – which are probably the more crucial ones for me. I’m a huge Internet user, always looking for information, getting to my accounts and using Internet-based tools. And realistically, if I’m traveling, I have easy access to my personal email and accounts, can use maps to find my destination, read books, listen to music and more.
The iPass client is already loaded only multiple iPads in our customer base making the equation more of: iPad + Internet + Enterprise Mobility = Productivity. Let me know if you have any comments or are one of those users.
And for those of you that missed our previous post on MiFi…
Tags: 3G network, Apple, iPad, MiFi, wi-fi access
