Portable Travel Routers & File Transfer - Discussion & Options?

[giradman]

Hi All - just a new 'discussion' thread for those who may be interested in travel routers & wireless storage devices - for a while, I've had the Zuni Connect (below left) - this allows (several options) setting up a 'wireless' network while 'on the road', e.g. in a hotel room - I've used this device where a fee (typically $10/day) was charged to use the internet or where only an ethernet cable was available (rarity these days); of course, a room charge permits just one user! A bummer if one has a couple of iPads and other devices - so 'sharing' that one charge is possible. BUT, the Zuni ONLY does internet sharing.

Today, I was reading the new issue of Macworld and saw an ad for the device below (right) - an Apotop Wi-Reader Pro WD17 which not only accomplishes the wireless router feature, but adds slots for SD cards & USB drives, plus wireless transfer of files - now there have been other composite travel devices similar to this one, but combining all of these features into one unit and at a decent price (e.g. the Apotop product is $90 @ Newegg) is becoming more common.

NOW, I don't know if 'file' transfer works seamlessly w/ iDevices, but comments form users or other recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks in advance - Dave

 

[KevinJS]

Great idea for a thread, Dave. Funny thing. I was having a chat to the Bell rep yesterday, and was just retrieving a brochure from my car, with the intention of posting something similar.

So, for Canadian users, here are Bell's offerings. I was particularly interested in the Turbo Hotspot, so that is the one I have prices for. It will cost you $200 to buy it outright. Month-to-month plans are $5 for 10MB, $15 for 250MB and $35 for 5GB. Data use over 5GB is charged at 1.5c per MB.

3 year plans start at $10 for 100MB, up to $105 for 15GB. Up to 10 devices can be connected.

 

[superfish]

My motorcycle setup

I hope we get some interesting ideas in this thread. Here's what I do:

I generally travel on my motorcycle, so being light and compact is essential. I also stay in "Mom & Pop" motels that usually only have wired internet.

Equipment--

• iPad 2
• Acer netbook with SSD -- Needed to load GPS
• Cloud FTP (renamed to something else now - Lots of threads on this)
• A no name mini router
• External battery backup. To charge devices.
• Enough cords and chargers to charge from the bike or 110v.
• A portable USB hard drive with all my data. My home setup has all my files on this one hard drive (backups of course). So if I have that drive I have everything.

At the motel the router provides a Wi-Fi hot spot and all the devices connect wirelessly. This is pretty much the same as my home setup minus a few desktops and TV stuff. This works well for staying at friends and relatives. I can just plug into a spare router port and be on my own network.

I look forward to any comments.

 

[col.bris]

Thanks for the thread. I am also will be setting up another forum which is iPad for travellers. This most likely will be in another area however we can link stickies back to this section we have created a forum for wifi drives and wifi USB devices so this is a great addition as a thread in iPad connect. I suggest we should cover using smart phones as a hot spot for Internet access as this is also a great alternative when your carrier supports the feature.

In Australia we have several mobile wifi hotspot products available from Telstra, Vodaphone and Optus. I will add to this with prices ASAP..

For members whom just found this sub forum this is the other sub forum that covers portable wifi drives http://www.ipadforums.net/portable-wifi-drives/.