Dave Pinwell

Dave Pinwell

Dave Pinwell is a prolific blogger and IT enthusiast and has kindly allowed us to reproduce his popular weekly IT Talk column first published in the Solihull News. Dave is also CEO of Colebridge Trust and SUSTAiN which play a key role in providing strategic support to Solihull’s Voluntary & Community sector. Dave has extensive experience in the IT sector, with roles including IT Director with Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd.
Tech News 30th November 2015 1871

Care Needed With In-Car Wi-Fi

There are signs that ‘in-car wi-fi products will have a big push in the Christmas marketplace.

They are now much more prominent among the gear that the networks and phone shops are pushing.

The idea is to create a mobile wi-fi hotspot inside a car which allows all passengers to connect their devices.

In my case, it will be about keeping the kids quiet on a long journey.

However, before taking the plunge and shelling out on a Huawei 4G or a Buzzard 2, it’s worth thinking through the issues with these devices.

The first consideration is that a stand-alone hotspot product is not the only way of getting in-car wi-fi.

Built-in versions are increasingly being introduced by car manufacturers into their new models.

Because these also have bigger, better, built-in aerials, they have much superior performance.

For anyone considering a new car purchase, that may a better route.

Another alternative is to use an existing smartphone, many of which have a ‘tethering’ option, enabling the device to provide a ‘mobile hotspot’ function by itself.

That provides a much less expensive approach as it avoids the necessity of having a second and separate device ‘on contract.’

Be wary, though, because tethering for long periods seriously drains batteries, so an in-car charger might be a necessity.

Secondly, serval devices running online activities through a single mobile connection will only perform adequately through 4G.

So, on the right network in big cities or on the main motorways, in-car wi-fi should be fine.

But, as yet, even on many bust roads, out in the sticks, responses can lag and expectations of performance should be reduced accordingly.

Dave Pinwell

Dave Pinwell is a prolific blogger and IT enthusiast and has kindly allowed us to reproduce his popular weekly IT Talk column first published in the Solihull News. Dave is also CEO of Colebridge Trust and SUSTAiN which play a key role in providing strategic support to Solihull’s Voluntary & Community sector. Dave has extensive experience in the IT sector, with roles including IT Director with Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd.

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