Using iPass - Pretty Much Wherever You Might Be

Last week we pulled our camper to Columbia, SC. The drive itself was uneventful, with the weather crisping up as Autumn began to slide down the East Coast. We parked at the Mount Pleasant KOA, in the same spot we used last year, and met my parents who were making their annual pilgrimage from Ohio to Central Florida in their 42' Travel Supreme. And we also got to visit with our Niece, who lives in Charleston, so it's a great spot for a reunion.

Like most/all KOAs, Mount Pleasant offers free wifi service. Last year the service was marginal, but usable. This year, it had more problems than last, and while my wife's laptop could connect about 1/2 the time, I couldn't connect at all. That's when I fired up my own wifi router/wireless broadband, and my new iPass card. I let my wife connect to our router, and decided to try out the iPass on my laptop. Here's what I found...

iPass is a mix and match combination of service and hardware. The intent of iPass is to make it possible to get an internet connection wherever you might be, via either a wifi or wireless broadband connection. The heart of the service is the software that you install on your laptop that manages the subscription(s) you've signed up for.

I launched the iPassConnect software, and it immediately scanned my available connectivity options. It found the two wifi networks in the area: my personal wifi router, and the KOA's wifi service. It also identified the iPass PCMCIA card connected to the laptop. Each of the two wifi networks displayed connectivity strength, with (as expected) the campground network showing only 1 bar, while my own router showed 4 bars.

I selected the mobile data connection rather than either of the wifi networks, and the system dutifully initialized the card, and made the connection. I was able to get online in just a few seconds, and the internet speed test showed a download speed of just over 1 mb/sec, which was about twice what my wife was able to achieve when connected to the campground wifi. It was, however, equivalent to the speed delivered through our own router, which was what I expected, since both my router's broadband connection, and the iPass service were using Sprint.

The point of this experience is that I was able to pick and choose the connection I wanted based on what was available at the time and place. iPass also supports wired Ethernet, tethered cell phone connections, and even dialup, when absolutely necessary. The service is available internationally, which makes it great for business travelers.

The Windows (only) laptop plan I'm using includes both wifi and 3G wireless for $59.95/month. The company is offering a free 3G card with signup (at least at the time of this writing).

One added convenience, is the Handheld Hotspot Finder, which is a web site that lets you find the closest wifi hotspot. I was able to use it on my Windows 6 based Blackjack II, but you should be able to use any cell phone that has a browser and internet plan. In my area, it located 2 McDonald's, and displayed a map of the locations. The wifi subscription includes T-Mobile Hotspots, Borders, Starbucks, Hilton Hotels, FedEx Kinkos, and others. The iPass web site claims "100,000 premium locations around the world."

The iPass is now part of my permanent collection for travel I'm not certain I'll give up my router and USB connection, because it lets me connect my wife's computer, my Chumby, and my Archos MP3 device via wifi. But when I'm just carrying my laptop, the iPass is my first choice.