Questions

1. What potential challenges exist for using the Mi-Fi for business?

2. What other creative business uses can you think of for the Mi-Fi?

3. What do you think could be the next evolution in wireless networks?

The Emergency of Mi-Fi

The interconnected world as most students know it - with easy and often free access to the Internet from home, school, the coffee shop, the airport, and even on the train- is actually fairly recent. We used to need cables (wires) to connect to other systems and the Internet.

But now that we have tasted the freedom of the wireless world, people want more and more. However, there are places in this country that lack the access many in a university environment may take for granted. That's where Mi-Fi comes in. Some people utilize a device the size of a credit card (but thicker) to provide an Internet connection anywhere. Other people utilize their smartphones as a mobile hot spot to take advantage of the data that they are already paying for on their wireless phone plan.

A Mi-Fi network can support typically up to five users or devices (like an iPhone, a laptop, an iPad, a gaming device, or a Web camera) within 30 feet of the router. The routers are fairly inexpensive (free to $100 per router, plus the data plan) and run on batteries that can be recharged. (Some examples of these products can be found at

http://www.verizonwireless.com/internet-devices/ and https://www.freedompop.com.)

Two experiences of the authors of this text exemplify how Mi-Fi has been utilized to enable business and education to occur in previously impractical locations. The first involves a friend of one of the authors who runs a side business from his farm property creating webpages. Prior to Mi-Fi, his best option was to utilize dial-up or satellite Internet technology.

At his office job, he connected via a high-speed Internet connection, and his clients expected that he could do the same as part of his business services. As it became obvious that dial-up and satellite Internet were not going to cut it for him to continue his side business, he decided to try a Mi-Fi connection. This proved to be the perfect solution. Although it was much more expensive than a cable or DSL connection, it ultimately allowed him to keep his business running.

A second example concerns education. Distance learning is a growing trend in higher education that capitalizes on the broadband connections to the Internet that most people have access to. However, one author's experience is that students in rural areas such as Indian reservations and farm country were having a hard time participating in the requirements of distance education.

To address these concerns, the author recommended that the students try utilizing Mi-Fi connections. Sure enough, students who adopted these solutions were able to participate in classes and get the level of education they expected from a public university.

These two examples show how utilizing Mi-Fi opens doors in ways that were before impractical, if not impossible. Think about all the other avenues this opens up.