Specialty Routers

Tiny Novatel MiFi router provides a personal, portable Wi-Fi hotspot

In May 2009, a new type of router hit the market: a credit-card sized gizmo, the Novatel MiFi 2200, that, at the press of a button, connects to a 3G cellular network and unfolds around you a personal Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five people.

"It's always exciting when someone invents a new product category, and this one is a jaw-dropper," writes David Pogue at The New York Times. "All your gadgets can be online at once, wherever you go, without having to plug anything in -- no coffee shop required."

You can get the Novatel MiFi 2200 through wireless carriers. If you commit to a two-year data contract, Verizon and Sprint will give you the gadget free; AT&T sells a version compatible with its network (the MiFi 2372) for $50 with a two-year contract. If you don't want a long-term contract, reviews say Virgin Mobile (which is owned by Sprint and uses its network) offers the best month-to-month deal: a MiFi 2200 for $150 plus $10 for 100 MB of data that expires in 10 days, or $40 per month unlimited access.

"The MiFi 2200 is about as easy to use as any tech product I've seen: You press the power button on the top and the green light goes on," Macworld's Jason Snell says. "Once it's on, it's connected to the cellular network… and broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal."

But this little gadget is a real router, both reviews say -- "as configurable as any Wi-Fi base station you might encounter," Snell says. You can call up a screen on your web browser to change your password and tell the MiFi which computers to allow on the network. You can also turn off the automatic sleep feature, which kicks in after 30 minutes of inactivity -- but Pogue says that feature allows the MiFi to work for "a full day of on-and-off Internet noodling" on a single charge.

If you don't need to share your Wi-Fi signal with anyone, Snell says you'll probably save money by sticking with a regular 3G cellular modem or smartphone that can be tethered to your laptop. (Read our mobile broadband report for our top picks.) "But there are many scenarios that will be much more appropriate for the MiFi," he says, "including small workgroups who need to get online in places without Wi-Fi and even families who could put their various tech gadgets to use if only there was Wi-Fi in the car."

If you live in a rural area without cable or DSL service -- or you just don't want to pay a home-Internet bill on top of a mobile Internet bill -- Pogue says you can use the MiFi as your main home Internet connection. Just keep in mind the data transfer limits and the possibly slower speed of 3G. "I tried the MiFi in five cities. I averaged around 1.5 megabits per second (compared with 5 or more if you have a cable modem)," Pogue says.

Laptop Magazine testers streamed a movie from Hulu onto their laptop just fine through the MiFi, with only occasional pauses while the buffer caught up -- but only up to 10 feet away from the MiFi. When they added streaming music through an iPhone and two iPods to the network, the music was fine but the video started pausing every few seconds. Note that where 3G isn't available, the MiFi drops down to slower networks that "are slow indeed," Pogue cautions. "Check the coverage maps online!"

The MiFi gets mixed reviews at Amazon.com. Although some users report good speeds, others say the MiFi's throughput is way too slow or it drops its connection. Because of the unreliability reported by owners, we did not name the MiFi as a Best Reviewed product, though it is recommended by several experts. Pogue notes that another pocket-sized router, the Cradlepoint PHS300 (*Est. $165), creates a personal Wi-Fi hotspot without restricting you to a specific carrier -- but it's bulkier than the MiFi and doesn't establish its own Internet connection. You have to plug in your own smartphone or USB modem.