Mifi

Spending more time than I planned in my mom's technology-deficient house (though I just put in some new cordless phones--welcome to the 90s, Mom), I needed a way to log into work. And I figured I'll be visiting my mom more so I made the leap/investment into a mobile hotspot, aka, a Verizon Wireless MiFi:

I was trying to decide between an aircard and a mobile hotspot. I was attracted to the mobile hotspot for its versatility--in theory, I could hook up to 5 devices to it and it wasn't limited to just a laptop, so something like my iPad could be mobile now. But the reviews online of this MiFi were across the spectrum with the worst issue for me being connectivity inconsistency. And since I plan on using this for work, that's a huge issue and I went to VZW leaning towards an aircard (which would plug into a single laptop via USB), which seem to have consistent connectivity.

But the salesperson there suggested the MiFi. She said connectivity issues are more likely to come up for those using data streaming (e.g., videos, music, etc.) and those out of the 4G range (connectivity will bounce between 3G and 4G). Looking at the map, it seems the main areas I plan on using this had 4G coverage and streaming videos and music are not priority.

So I'm giving it a go--I've got 14 days to try it out and return it if it doesn't work. So far, after a night of voraciously checking out the craft blogs that I haven't read in nearly 2 weeks, it's been dynamite. Keeping my fingers crossed that this little guy is a keeper.