Mobile LAN With Internet Access

Written by Adam Gosling

Friday, 31 March 2006

Users looking for a mobile Local Area Network solution have been pretty well looked after with travel routers in the past, but now, Cisco subsidiary Linksys, has teamed up with 3G wireless broadband provider Vodafone to set a new standard in mobile networking. Linksys has released an AC-powered wireless ADSL modem/router with a PC Card slot, Vodafone supplies the PC card and Internet connectivity and bingo! You have a mobile network with internet access anywhere you go. Vodafone General Manager for Business Markets, Mark Iles said the device will support up to 32 users, but the company is promoting it as a LAN solution for up to five users which will give a reasonable experience over the mobile carrier’s 384kbs wireless broadband service. The Linksys Wireless G device is priced at $378.95 RRP and the Vodafone data cards retail at $299 pricing the solution for the business market at the moment. However, Iles hints at future prospects in the residential space. For now though, the mobile LAN would be perfect for situations where you need a network you can take with you without having to sacrifice Internet access. Iles suggest audit teams as a perfect example. Audit teams often work on-site at customer premises and having their own network to take along with them is a great security bonus and saves them from relying on their customers’ network infrastructure. Another likely scenario, said Iles is a construction site office where it’s notoriously difficult to get access before the building is completed and phone lines installed. The Vodafone solution doesn’t sacrifice anything to security either, the data service supports VPN networking and if you like Vodafone can provide a private network by routing all your traffic directly back to the corporate network rather than straight out on the Internet. The Linksys device may even prove popular in fixed small business situations as the modem not only supports the Vodafone data card, but a fixed-line ADSL feed as well. In this case, the fixed-line ADSL can be used as the primary Internet Access path with the data card there only as a back-up. Related news items Chilli iBurst Increases Download Limits -16/09/2007 Consumer Advice For Premium Mobile Services -03/09/2007 Australian Idol Live On Next G -19/08/2007 Free iBurst Broadband In Sydney -16/08/2007 D-Link Boosts Draft N Range -30/07/2007 Newer news items 38 Per Cent Of Execs Feel Over Connected -05/09/2006 MobileActive Is In The House -09/08/2006 SMS Surveys Get You On The Run -13/07/2006 Office Integrated With Ericsson One Phone -06/06/2006 Mobile Payments Plan For US -06/04/2006 Older news items AdultShop.com Buys Loop Wireless -15/03/2006 Vodafone Delivers Microsoft Email To Australian Market -12/03/2006 MICROSOFT MOBILE EMAIL ANNOUNCED -12/02/2006 EMAIL ON ANY MOBILE PHONE -24/01/2006 POCKET PROJECTOR RUNS ON BATTERY -09/11/2005 Tag This Now: