One of the worst experiences for many of us is arriving at a place where we expect to have wifi access and it fails to exist. After lugging my 17” laptop into my hotel room, I was excited to upload my travel photos and share them with my family via email and my friends through social media. Unfortunately for me, I assumed that hotels all have free wifi in 2015. The hotel we picked was located in a beautiful little town outside of the Sequoia National Forest and my excitement quickly turned to frustration and hopelessness when I discovered that this hotel not only had no free wifi, but also no hotel wifi access at all.
Although this may sound a bit dramatic, especially the hopeless part, having internet access has become second nature to many of us. It is easy to become frustrated when something we expect is not available. This would be similar to driving through a town and not seeing any gas stations. Each time I drive through a city or town, I expect to find a gas station, and if I'm unable to, I become very anxious.
Free wifi is becoming a clear part of the future in technology and wireless communications, but what happens when free wifi locations fail?
Depending on WiFi
Many of us have become relatively dependent on the wifi that provides us with unlimited internet access and an internet connection at mostly any place and any time. I saw an Instagram post earlier this week that said “There is girl sitting in the coffee shop. She is not on her phone or computer. She is just sitting and drinking coffee like a psychopath”. This is hilarious because it is true. We expect people to visit a coffee shop to use their free wifi to connect to the internet or on occasion just simply meet up with friends. The idea of someone simply sitting alone and sipping coffee sounds strange.
(a little weird, right? Should we get her a book, tablet, phone?)
Wifi has become second nature and internet access has become essential. As a country, we look to wifi as a way to stay connected to news, our community, friends, family, and so much more. The Wireless Association estimates that wifi will carry up to 60% of mobile data traffic by 2019, which is roughly 38% more than today.*
I can easily list most of the places we expect to have wifi: coffee shops, hotels, public libraries, homes and some fast food restaurants, gyms, and airports. In a time when we increasingly rely on internet access, it can actually sometimes be risky to rely on free wifi locations for internet access.
When WiFi fails
The anxiety that accompanies a loss of internet connection can be overwhelming and frustrating. Imagine the moment when you have to turn in your final term paper, a presentation to your boss, or submit important time-sensitive documents but you cannot find a wifi connection. These free wifi locations often fail us due to a lack of availability, system failure, or a slow connection because everyone nearby is logged into the same network. Public coffee shops, libraries, and hotels often have free wifi connections based on an inexpensive network, and this means that every person who logs on slows the network. Good luck streaming videos, uploading photos, or sending emails with large attachments.
To ensure that you will be able to take advantage of the free wifi connection, it is important to call ahead and see if the hotel, coffee shop, etc. offers free wifi. The savvy user will also remember to ask where the free wifi is, how strong the connection is, and how fast the connection is, but instead of making every adventure a complicated trip, simply carry your own mobile hotspot.
The Mobile Hotspot
No joke, I was not familiar with mobile hotspots until this past year. I always understood wifi and the concept of having reliable internet on the go, but I had always assumed that people referred to their data plans on their phone, which did not work for me when I needed to connect my laptop.
What is a mobile hotspot? According to PC Magazine, “A portable device that creates a Wi-Fi hotspot.” Mobile wifi was now something I could take advantage of and I loved it immediately. Most hotspots are pocket-sized and easy to take anywhere, and for me, that meant the car, beach, camping, road trips, and even at my apartment when my unreliable home internet refused to work. The portable wifi hotspot quickly became one of my favorite road trip and vacation buddies. Having the hotspot made traveling infinitely easier, which left me with a much more organized road trip planner.
The freedom of mobile internet means not having to make hotel reservations based on free wifi access or worry about running out of data on my phone when using it for the gps system or useful mobile apps. It means never having to fight fellow patrons for the coffee shop wifi and being able to work on the beach or stream movies while camping.
(brb gotta get some work done)
Seriously Useful
Now that I have scared you by listing all of the scenarios in which you may not have a much needed wifi connection, it is time to figure out whether or not a mobile hotspot would be beneficial for you.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Do I travel often?
- Do I require wireless internet for laptops?
- Is my home wifi unreliable?
- Do I want to risk finding myself without a reliable wifi connection?
If you answered yes to half or the majority of these questions, I would recommend investing in one of the many hotspot devices available. There is no reason to stress about a wifi connection when you can have no contract internet on a prepaid mobile hotspot with mobile data plans designed to fit your lifestyle.