Ain't Technology Grand?!? - Thursday, 26 January

A tip for those of you who might be planning international travel and need to have access to the Internet for work (or other!) purposes.   WiFi service can be spotty overseas, or expensive, or weak, or hard to figure out, or limited (or all of the above).

My friend Dale told me about a company called XCom Global in San Diego that rents small light personal WiFi "hotspot" equipment that they call a "MiFi" configured to work in whatever country you're traveling to.  You pay about $15 a day, the service is unlimited, the equipment comes with rechargeable batteries plus all the necessary cables and outlet converters to recharge said batteries.   You can have up to five devices communicating with the MiFi at the same time, so you and your family and/or colleagues can all use the same device, as long as you stay within about 10 feet of each other!  There were times when I had my smartphone, iPad and netbook all online at the same time, no problems.  And the signal was almost always in the "excellent" range.  I

I just tossed the small MiFi (it's about the size of a smartphone and less than half the weight) in my pocket and turned it on when I wanted to use one of my devices - in cafes, in parks, on the bus, on the Métro, etc.  One day I should have brought along an extra battery (I forgot to turn off the MiFi and ran down the battery that was in it), but no problems at all with the equipment and the service!

They FedEx the equipment to you to arrive the day before you leave home so that you have time to test it out.  And they give you a postage-paid envelope in which to return it.  Easy peasy.

Here's a link to the service: www.xcomglobal.com  Don't leave home without it!