3 Mobile have announced the details about it’s new mobile Wi-Fi service that is has named MiFi. It is designed to help make connecting to 3 Mobile broadband easier.
The MiFi is a wireless modem that is battery operated and is able to create a Wi-Fi connection when the modem is able to connect to the 3 Mobile network. All it needs is a 3 Mobile sim card to be inserted and then the modem to be turned on, it will then automatically create your own Wi-Fi connection that can connect multiple devices at the same time and you will be able to connect to with a range of devices such as a laptop, mobile or iPod.
The Three MiFi is available to buy online from Thursday 17th September at www.three.co.uk or in 3 Stores across the country from Friday 18th September and is available to customers in 2 options:
1 month contracts at £15 per month with 5Gb data transfer, the MiFi modem will cost a one off fee of £69.99.
There is another alternative for customers, they can buy the Ready to Go kit that comes with the MiFi modem and 3GB data that is available to be used over a 3 month period, this costs £99.99. After the 3 months is up the MiFi can be used on a pay as you go basis.
To sign up for Three MiFi visit www.three.co.uk and click on the Mobile Broadband link and then the MiFi tab.
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Broadband in the home has been transformed by Wi-Fi.
Wireless technology has become more popular in the last few years as prices have dropped and speeds have increased according to John Dunn, the editor of Techworld.
He said:
It’s a winner because it’s mature, cheap, and is used by PCs the world over. It has transformed the home networking market,
He did say the major drawback to Wi-Fi is the range that it is able to transmit as it’s limiting factor but it has still opened up the use of Internet around the home to not just to one specific location. Wimax is likely to be the next generation of wireless systems that will be able to transmit over much greater distances.
Laptops & netbooks are now increasingly coming with wireless technology installed into them which has helped drive the ever increasing need and demand for Wi-Fi.
Mobile networks have been using 3G technology as their answer to wireless Internet and we now have mobile broadband which has become hugely popular too.
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The number of Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK that BT operates is set to double to 1 million in the next 6 months despite it taking 7 years for BT to reach 500,000 hotspots.
With the demand for Internet available wherever we are due to more and more laptops and primarily smart phones such as the iPhone and Blackberrys. BT is looking to tap into this demand as social networking has meant that people are Facebooking and Twittering all day long to communicate with friends.
Dave Hughes who is BT’s Retail director told the Times newspaper
The real revolution is the handheld device. People are perfectly happy to get these devices out of their pockets in the street to update their social networking sites or check their emails, which isn’t the case with laptop
BT will look to add the extra Wi-Fi hotspots via it’s BT Openzone network, they already have Wi-Fi hotspots installed into Starbucks and Caffe Nero along with hotels such as the Hilton, Ramada Jarvis and Thistle hotels.
BT Broadband customers can access the hotspots for free and those who are not are still able to access the network at a cost of 0.5p per minute.
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O2 Mobile broadband customers are now able to use BT Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots due to a deal done between O2 and BT Openzone.
Currently O2 mobile broadband customers have access to around 7,500 wi-fi hotspots and this deal will mean customers have around 3,000 more available to them which includes all Starbucks after BT Openzone beat T-Mobile to be their new Wi-Fi supplier.
For customers to receive these extra Wi-Fi hotspot locations will require them to upgrade their Connection Manager software which at the moment is only available to Microsoft Windows users.
The new Connection Manager will also have other features such as a data counter that will log how much data transfer users use so they can keep on track of where they are up to with their monthly data allowance and be sent reminders when they have used up 75%, 90% and 100% of their allocated data.
Existing O2 mobile broadband customers can make use of this now and new customers will receive access from the end of July.
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Wireless hotspots are to be enabled into Cashbox ATM machine locations it has been announced today.
Cashbox and BT have agreed a 5 year deal that will see the sites of the Cahbox ATM machines become Wi-Fi hotspots that will allow BT Openzone users be able to connect to the Internet.
Initially 10 of the Cashbox locations will be enabled and with 2500 Cashbox locations around the UK there is plenty of extra room for more to be enabled and utilised.
The initial 10 locations are Tiger Tiger sites in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff, and Digress, The Wall, Agenda, Abacus, Livery and Alibi bar restaurants in the City of London.
BT Broadband customers who receive free Wi-Fi minutes each month and also O2 iPhone users have access to over 3000 BT Openzone hotspots included in their contracts and so these extra locations will also become available to them to use.
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