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Is it time to drop your iPhone plan and buy a MiFi?

by Erica Sadun Jun 9th 2009 at 1:00PM

Here at TUAW central, we fell into a debate last night about the merits and tradeoffs of MiFi and the iPhone. If you haven't heard of MiFi, it's a portable EV-DO router from Verizon. For $149 for the equipment (there's a $50 rebate), and for $60/month, you get up to 5GB of WiFi based data that you can tether and share.

The MiFi has a fairly limited WiFi range (about 20-40 feet max) and supports only 802.11b and g. Battery life seems limited to about 4 hours of active use. So why the attraction, and why the debate? After yesterday's slightly disappointing iPhone updates, namely the hefty hardware prices for in-contract customers and lack of AT&T announcements on tethering, I felt that the MiFi might provide a cost effective tethering solution for iPhone, iPods, and laptops.

The reasoning works like this. If you can bear to stick another gadget in your pocket or backpack, both iPods and iPhones can use MiFi's data plan. You can Skype to your heart's content (or, realistically, up to the 5GB monthly limit). This helps especially if your EDGE or 3G coverage is already awful when compared to Verizon's EV-DO network. MiFi gives you the opportunity to dump your entire iPhone plan and replace it with possibly better data. And with no US tethering yet announced for the iPhone, MiFi offers laptop as well as iPhone data; its WiFi connection appears to be platform agnostic.

So are you ready to dump your iPhone data plan? If so, you'll want to consider a phone number for your iPhone. If you've already got an AT&T plan on another phone, just pop in the SIM. If not, consider Pay As You Go. For $100, you can buy a one year credit that charges at either $0.25 a minute or $0.10 a minute with a $1/day minimum. This gives you a phone number for incoming calls, allows you to use Skype for outgoing calls, and should you have problems with MiFi or just aren't carrying it along, you can use those minutes to place normal calls. Obviously normal AT&T plans have better per-minute and SMS rates.

There are drawbacks. Along with convenience (now carrying two gadgets around? Plus your laptop?), you give up Visual Voicemail. It's one of the iPhone's nicer features. Pay As You Go, for example, gives you regular voicemail but it's not quite the same. Plus, the $60/month price? It's okay for what they give you but it's no huge bargain. Here's a quick summary of some of the the pros and cons of this approach.

Pros

  • Tethering. Above-board and sharable with a couple of nearby friends.
  • Works with iPod touch.
  • For that matter, works with iPhone in a laptop-free way that an Express Card does not
  • Skype becomes a reasonable communication option

Cons

  • Two gadgets to charge, two gadgets to carry
  • No Visual Voicemail
  • Skype is what it is, lagged audio and all
  • For a data-only plan with tethering, pricing is not great but it's pretty much in-line with other plans out there
  • Bulkier than express card
Thank you to the TUAW reader who sent us the MiFi tip!

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Here at TUAW central, we fell into a debate last night about the merits and tradeoffs of MiFi and the iPhone. If you haven't heard of MiFi,...
 

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69 Comments

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liberatorb2

interesting reading all the comments...i'd say MiFi is best to have in your car for laptop use but that's jusy my opinion...

September 04 2009 at 3:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
davidmphone

How long before At&t & Apple decide to turn the iPhone itselft into a MiFi device. That will leave Verizon, Sprint, and any other MiFi pushing carriers way behind. Lucky for Verizon and the rest I'm not running At&t. I'd be pushing out iPhones with All you can eat plans for $150 per line with tethering included. Hopefully some exec over there reads this and runs with the idea. Just look at the MiFi devices and the iPhone. Don't you think like all the other new smartphones the iPhone inspired their devices? You can't help but realize they too were inspired by this device.

August 15 2009 at 4:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kyle E

Imagine if Skype had access to a reliable 3g network, or wireless internet of some kind. They could start cranking out their own smartphones and charge for data plans only. There'd be no need to even bother with a voice or sms plan, you'd just use voip. That would certainly give the big cell carriers a run for their money.

The technology's already here... I wish it could be implemented in a single, low cost-per-month package.

August 12 2009 at 12:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sin

Just buy a Nokia or any S60 and use this little app: http://www.joikuspot.com/aboutJoikuSpot.php

Got yourself a WiFi (and a phone) on the go!

Just remember your USB to usb-micro to charge
your Nokia from your MacBook!

June 14 2009 at 6:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mike k.

Hmm If you're in a 3G area for T-mobile, you could get the same price on a G1 data plan.. root your phone and use Wifi router for Root users, to do just about the same thing... (ok not exactly, but its a similar result, just you'd get edge only in most non-metropolitan areas.)

I'm happy with my G1 though, and plan to get an ipod touch to tether to the g1's data plan...

June 10 2009 at 11:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Ahn

I am amused at all these people calling Erica "stupid" simply for having a different, well-thought out opinion than theirs. What have you guys accomplished? Stop pestering here and go post on your own blog... Oh yeah, no one reads blogs by nobodies with no credentials and no original thoughts.

David Ahn, MD

June 09 2009 at 9:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to David Ahn's comment
Luna Lovegood

"[N]o one reads blogs by nobodies with no credentials and no original thoughts."

To be fair, TUAW is staffed by a *lot* of nobodies and yet here we are.

June 10 2009 at 12:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Skoalbandit

I can understand having a portable wifi router if you have a couple of devices and or a bunch of people who need mobile access. Makes perfect sense. But to get one just to use with an iphone is bonkers.


ATT sucks. You know what other cell phone companies suck? All of them. They all have areas with bad coverage and sometimes your phone won't work. They screw you with pricing. They all do this and trying to make Verizon sound like a great company is funny. Have had both and they both have problems with coverage.

June 09 2009 at 7:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Slappy

Can someone explain to me the surprise over the "high in contract upgrade costs"?

This is what cellular carriers do, if they have you in a contract, they hold you in it FOREVER.

Thanks in advance!

June 09 2009 at 7:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John

Luckily I live in Portland, where we have Clear available. For just $40/month I can get unlimited mobile browsing using their Clear Spot portable wifi device. And for $55/month I can throw in 6Mbps home internet service as well. Still cheaper than Mifi. Nuff said.

June 09 2009 at 7:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
GorfGorf

Visual voicemail won't be that much of an advantage once Google Voice opens up... Visual voicemail + free transcription + free SMS, all from a browser. I was grandfathered in as a GrandCentral user and have all my iPhone voicemail forwarded to google automatically - transcriptions are great for screening voicemail even if they're not 100% accurate, so I prefer it to the iPhone's native visual voicemail.

June 09 2009 at 6:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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