There’s no question that the demand for Wi-Fi will continue to increase over the next few years, especially when iPods, gaming devices and digital cameras will increasingly become equipped with Wi-Fi chips. Unfortunately, you can’t get a Wi-Fi signal everywhere. However, there is a mobile phone connection in most places today so why not use your mobile phone as a Wi-Fi access point? On one end, the phone is connected to a cellular network (3G or 4G) and on the other end, it is connected to your Wi-Fi devices. All data traffic goes through the cellular network.
I spoke recently to two companies that created software which allows people to do just that: Joikusoft, a Finnish company, released Joikuspot, a piece of software that you download to your mobile phone to turn it into an instant Wi-Fi access point; and Taproot, a company based in North Carolina, whose software does the same thing but with more features.
Unlike Joikuspot, you cannot download Taproot’s Walking Hotspot to your phone because they sell it only to mobile carriers. Both applications require you to have a mobile phone that supports 3G (and up) and Wi-Fi.
Joikuspot
I spoke to Lasse Maki, CEO of Helsinki-based Joikusoft, whose Joikuspot software was recently made available for download to users. Joikuspot turns a Nokia smartphone into a Wi-Fi access point. If you are in an area without Wi-Fi connectivity, Joikuspot provides the Wi-Fi connection to your laptop, iPod Touch, gaming devices using the 3G connection as backhaul. You can also allow others to use your connection. The Joikuspot software is available for free to download although the company is coming out with a (paid) commercial version soon. Moreover, the most recent version allows you to control who can connect to your phone; earlier versions did not. The company is not coming out with an iPhone version yet; it is focusing on Symbian phones because of their greater market share.
Joikusoft is talking to mobile operators and is considering licensing deals. According to Lasse, the operators are most interested in upgrading their customers to more expensive data packages. The cellular data market is growing fast. Unfortunately, cameras and gaming devices do not come with cellular chips (yet). So this is a good interim solution for both the carrier and its customer who wants connectivity for all of her devices.
When I asked about the high price of data subscriptions as a barrier, Lasse told me that in Finland and Sweden, the mobile operators are now offering flat-rate 10 EUR to 30 EUR per month data subscriptions. As a result, accessing the Internet, email, and online applications via a mobile phone has skyrocketed in these countries. Lasse sees this trend taking place in other countries as well.
Walking Hotspot
Taproot’s Walking Hotspot takes a 3G smartphone and connects various devices to it via Wi-Fi. These devices can be portable gaming consoles, laptops or cameras. According to Taproot, Walking Hotspot works on 75% of smartphones in the market today. Its key feature is security: you can choose who can connect to your phone and even the Wi-Fi part of the connection is secure. The downside: you cannot simply download the software directly to your phone from their website because they work through mobile carriers.
When I asked them why a mobile operator would ever want someone to share her 3G connection with others who have laptops and portable devices instead of encouraging each person to get a 3G subscription, Taproot says that the carriers know that their customers want both (3G and Wi-Fi) and that being able to offer Walking Hotspot to customers allows a carrier to upsell these customers to a full featured smartphone. The carriers can also sell more expensive data subscriptions.
When I asked how they differ from Joikuspot, Taproot says that carriers are not crazy about Joikuspot because they have no control over it. Furthermore, a carrier can decide how many users can connect to the phone. I don’t want my my mobile operator to have control over what I do with my phone so this is a negative feature for me.
However, people who are concerned about security might opt for Taproot’s software ove Joikuspot. Taproot says that Walking Hotspot works well in a moving vehicle, so this is a good solution to the lack of Wi-Fi in public transport.
Walking Hotspot is available only for Windows Mobile and Symbian smartphones (alas, no iPhone support) because these types of phones have the largest market share.
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