Fifth Annual Small Business Summit 2010 - 16 March

January 2, 2007

Paying to Turn Your Car into a WiFi Hot Spot. Smart or Dumb Idea?

Autonet Mobile is going to work with Avis to turn your rented car into a WiFi hotspot so you can connect your WiFi devices to the Internet while in transit or stationary. I assume the connection to the Internet (on the other side) is via broadband wireless from Verizon, Sprint, Cingular or another company.

Why would anyone pay $11 for this service? I don't know. When you rent a car you get in and drive - you don't surf the Internet. If you are really a mobile warrior then most likely you have wireless broadband already or just wait until you get to your hotel or client's location to get online.

The NYT writes For the moment, the service is intended for business travelers. But Autonet sees its service appealing to families traveling with their children, although its unit is expected to cost $399, about twice as much as current cellular card technology, plus $49 a month for service.

You can also have Autonet install this service for you in your personal car - check out their web site.

Going back to the rental issue.

If you are always on the road, pay $49 - $99 per month to get high-speed Internet access via a PC card in your notebook computer. I use the service from Verizon Wireless.

However, if for some reason you just have to turn your car into a WiFi hotspot, maybe you have multiple devices that you want to connect to the Internet, if you are on the road all day and have no place to go (I guess Starbucks missed one mile of the USA) then I guess a service such as AutoNet Mobile could be an option.

Am I missing something? Here's the NYT article.

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