Spotty WiFi can make your wonderful mobile devices useless. Jacki wants to know what she can do about the problem: “Do you guys have a portable, wireless router that you don’t have to software through a computer? (is there anything like that?) Where I work, sometimes the WiFi goes down & I can’t use my devices. If I could get a (take along) wireless router (or something like that) to use where I work so I can always have WiFi.”
A router probably wouldn’t do you much good in this situation. A router can only broadcast an Internet signal from a modem it’s connected to. So you would need to hook it up to the network at work. You’d have to get your IT department’s permission. If the work issue is a faulty router it might help, but if the problem is with your company’s Internet service going in and out, a new router won’t help because there’s no signal coming in for it to broadcast.
What would help you in this situation is a mobile hot spot. The good news is that you may already have one. Many smartphones can be turned into a mobile Hotspot. You can check with your wireless company to see if that feature is available.
On my Verizon phone, I look under Settings and then choose more networks.
From there I can turn the Mobile Hotspot feature on.
The mobile hotspot feature uses data from your mobile data plan and some wireless companies may charge an additional fee for the service. But it will create a network that you can connect your mobile devices to.
You can also purchase a mobile hotspot as a separate device. It’s an easily portable device.
It can be part of the data plan with your wireless company or you can purchase pre-paid models like the one shown below from Virgin Mobile.
The cost for this service is going to vary depending on the provider.
~ Cynthia
I have a “mifi” device and I’m very happy with it. I keep it mainly at the home of a relative for whom I care, because it’s too complicated to get cable there. (I would have to upgrade her service, install modem and router, or work around an endless ethernet cable.) It covers the house and yard quite nicely, so I can use it with my laptop, tablet or e-reader. It’s small enough to carry around with me if I’m not sure I will be somewhere that provides free wi-fi, so I can take the Internet with me. I also take it to my main residence when the cable is out (an older neighborhood with old and incompletely reliable infrastructure). It’s cheaper than cable would be, although I do have to watch the data usage a bit. Of course, I could buy a plan with more GB if I’m chronically short. (I have a dumbphone.)