[telecom] Hot Spots That Don't Stay Home

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Hot Spots That Don't Stay Home

By DAVID POGUE March 21, 2012

Ah, the Internet! The source of so much goodness. The font of e-mail, news, chat, TV, blogs, books and Facebook. What would we do without it?

If you're like most people, you know perfectly well. Once you're out of the house and on the road, you're out of Wi-Fi range. You're either offline completely, or you peek at the Internet through the tiny screen of a smartphone.

There is another way. You could get a broadband cellular hot spot, like the MiFi, a tiny, self-powered base station that creates a Wi-Fi bubble from your pocket or purse. Nearby laptops, iPads and iPod Touches can get online, wherever you happen to be.

These cellular hot spots are fantastic companions on long car rides, offsite meetings, movie shoots on location, trade show booths, hotel rooms, beaches, airplanes stuck on runways and anywhere else where Wi-Fi is costly or nonexistent.

Unfortunately, the hot spots from Verizon or AT&T cost at least $50 a month.

As of this week, there's a new option from NetZero. It may not change the game, but it does change some of the rules.

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