Hurrah – the holiday season is well and truly upon us!
And @richardmackney has been updating us on his Three MiFi experience whilst on a caravanning trip in North Devon (the cool kids are calling these staycations!).
#ThreeMiFi Staycation
Hurrah – the holiday season is well and truly upon us!
And @richardmackney has been updating us on his Three MiFi experience whilst on a caravanning trip in North Devon (the cool kids are calling these staycations!).
#ThreeMiFi Staycation
Yet again this week we’ve had MiFis in the hands of avid internet users who don’t want to entertain the idea of being offline and they’ve all been using the MiFis for different things.
@adonisdemon has been using his to test Three’s network at the seaside, @liamgh was relying on it at a conference where he used it to follow up on links and store his notes in Dropbox, @richardmackney has taken it on holiday with him to use in his caravan at the beach and @marbelle has explained how he uses it to help him to run his blog Director’s Notes.
So how did MiFi help @Marbelle with his blog?
“I blogged on the bus, on the train and didn’t have to hunt down a Starbucks every time I came to a rest[…]It’s a forgone conclusion that I’ll be adding a MiFi to my on the go set up.”
Of using the MiFi at his conference Liam said:
“The MiFi 2 coped with this task without any issues. I switched on the device and left it in my pocket and connected up to it. The five hour battery life is enough to get you through a typical conference day”
Abul took the MiFi on his trip to The Isle of Sheppy, Maidstone and Southend and reported that:
“I can’t really say I noticed much of any dropped signal nor any poorer speeds around those areas. Even at the beaches and in town. This is down to Three’s recent upgrades across their network nationwide. It’s done a good job”
And Richard has been using his whilst caravanning to keep in touch with people by Skype and FaceTime when he couldn’t get signal on his iPhone and to watch the Grand Prix and upload videos to YouTube
What have you used the #ThreeMiFi for…?
Over the weekend some MiFis hit the road.
Three’s In car Wi-Fi makes it easy for you to use the MiFi in your car by providing you with a cigarette charger and window attachment to use whilst you’re on the road.
So what do families think of using the MiFi during a car journey?
@clareybabble from The Babbling Mummy used the Nintendo DSi on her car journey with her family to keep the kids entertained:
@cafebebe and @mummymatters have been using the MiFi on car journeys also and found it the most useful to help them keep connected with their online communities whilst they were travelling, so they used it to tweet, check email and blog their way along the motorway.
@MummyMatters: “This is a first for me, I’m blogging on the move as we wind our way home from a lovely weekend away[…]I’m blogging now because I want to escape into a world where all is peaceful”
@cafebebe: “I maintained a strong signal the entire way from Peterborough into London allowing me to be on Twitter, check emails, read blog posts and check on my own blog[…]It’s ideal for trips and would be a welcome companion on summer holidays.”
What do you think is the best use of MiFi?
More MiFis have been sent out into the wild this week and people are excited about giving their views on the new version.
Hayley from ceriselle.org thinks the new version is:
“It’s a lot nicer looking – white plastic only looks good on Apple products – and gives much more information on the screen.”
…and @philcampbell has just received his and I think we can say he was impressed:
“Wow. First impressions are everything.”
Phil’s going to be using the MiFi to upload vimeo videos so keep an eye out for those.
Cate from BitchBuzz is also trying one out and it seems to be becoming a part of her daily routine : )
In other news, the voting closes tomorrow for the T3 Work Gadget of the Year awards…what will you vote for?
What do you use MiFi for most? Checking emails, twitter, train times, the news? What about controlling your computer remotely?
And what do you use it with? iPad, laptop, iPod Touch? How about an Android Tablet computer?
Well @ew4n of Mobile Industry Review and @liamgh from greenhughes.com have been doing just that.
Take a look at how they’ve been using the MiFi. Do you use it for / with anything that’s a bit diferent? Let us know!
Over the past week or so we’ve had people trialling both the original and now the new Three MiFi.
Starting with the original, @hayles and @zoecorkhill have posted their opinions and although they have enjoyed using it, they are looking forward to the second version of MiFi.
@hayles from ceriselle.org liked the ease of having Wi-Fi wherever she wanted:
“Its been so handy to have it in my bag and to just turn on when I wanted to get online”
…but found the fact that the lights turned off after a while and the three button start up annoying.
@zoecorkhill summarized her feelings on the MiFi in four points:
1. Great to be able to connect whenever she needed
2. It’s a handy size to fit in her pocket
3. She had a few niggles with it, but they have been fixed in MiFi 2
4. Three’s network worked well for her
Have a look at her blog for some of the things she used MiFi for, her iPad was one of them, of which she said:
“I still stand by my conviction that the MiFi unit is a better choice for me than the 3G iPad as we were able to connect several devices to it at a time and this turned out to be really useful”
So @ew4n from MobileIndustryReview has been using the new MiFi for just under a week now and has certainly done his best to tell everyone what he thinks about it! Make sure you check out his various posts about using the MiFi (the most comprehensive post is here) as well as the videos he’s made demonstrating his use of it.
Of all the changes, which has Ewan found most useful?
“My absolute favourite is the WiFi indicator — do you see the number 1 next to it? That indicates you have one device connected. Connect another device and it increments to 2. This is really, really REALLY useful for me.”
He also made another interesting observation:
“A lot of people I speak to still have a built-in negative perspective on 3. That viewpoint is really out of date now. The company has some of the best and fastest data connectivity in the UK.”
Tried the MiFi 2 yet? Let us know what you think of it!
We’ve had lots of people trialling the MiFi and most have expressed an opinion on the number of buttons and lights on the device, which has been taken into account by Three in the new version which you can read more about here.
However, two of our recent triallists have shown how a problem for one person can be a mere trifle for another.
@aral has been using the MiFi and as someone very focused on user experience had a very strong view on the design and usability of the device, feeling that it was over complicated to set up and that the display was unclear. You can see his full review here.
Matthew from @gadgetvenue however, did not feel that this was an issue when using the device, describing the MiFi as simple to set up and saying that:
“Previously I had said I wanted more details to be displayed on the screen although when actually using the device I rarely looked at [it].”
Both Aral and Matthew enjoyed using the MiFi on Three and both had a good experience of the network:
Matthew: “It simply worked every time I needed to get online and didn’t complain or have no signal which was nice to see. “
Aral: “I was able to get a good signal in most places I went to in London and Brighton.”
Both also mentioned the new 2nd generation MiFi and look forward to seeing the changes and developments in this new device.
Aral has said however, that he feels there is still room for improvement in the design and is planning on designing his own – we look forward to seeing what it looks like! : )
Have you got your hands on the new MiFi? Let us know what you think!
Zoe Corkill has been trying out the Three MiFi v1 unit with her iPad.
Needless to say Zoe (@zoecorkhill) has been putting the MiFi through its paces and is finding it most agreeable:
“Since using the MiFi I’ve been feeling a bit spoiled, however. The ability to just be able to connect up to the net (almost) anywhere I go is great, and I think I’m going to end up buying the v2 model when it comes out in a few weeks time.”
When purchasing the iPad there was of course the 3G option, however Zoe details why initially she didn’t go for this and why now, despite enjoying being able to ‘get online out and about’ with her iPad and the MiFi, she’s still pleased with her choice:
“The MiFi unit & iPad setup has a couple of advantages over the 3G model iPad on its lonesome. To me, a couple of these advantages are high priority […]”
These are that she feels the MiFi is faster, you can connect up to 5 devices to the MiFi, it is available on PAYG and the up front price is more competitive. She details why these features are important to her and fully intends to update again on the iPad and MiFi combo after a little more road testing.
Have you been using your iPad with the MiFi? Let us know your thoughts.
The lovely Liz over at Violet Posy tried and tested the In car Wi-Fi with her family on a long car journey and has very kindly given us a guest post about her experiences and thoughts on it:
“Three MobileBuzz asked me if I’d like to try their mobile In car Wi-Fi and a day trip on them to Alton Towers – now who am I to say no? Especially as they even sent us some travel sweets.
I’ve worked in IT for years and the thought of the passengers being able to use a shared Wi-Fi hub was great. It keeps the little ones in the back entertained with their Nintendos or iPods and it meant I could check the travel news on the motorway while my husband drove.
The journey from here to Alton is about 3 hours and I have to say the Wi-Fi when we were in a 3G cell was amazingly good. We had the iPhones, iPod touch working, surfing the web and looking at App Store at the same time no problem and it was really fast. We didn’t use it as much on the way back as our daughter was exhausted and fell asleep all the way home – something that never happens!
So all in all I was very impressed with it. I can see other applications, say using it in the park or garden would be great if you want to work or blog outside and your home Wi-Fi doesn’t stretch as far as you’d like. Or if you commute or travel a lot, popping it into your bag and then working from your laptop would make it ideal piece of kit. I loved it’
Thanks Liz! Has anyone else got any tips about what to use the MiFi for? We’d love to hear them.
Did you know:
- 82 per cent of parents battle with children when travelling in the car because they are bored or restless when left without entertainment.
- 10 percent of British parents would rather have root canal therapy than endure car travel with the kids!
Can anyone relate to that??
Well @notSupermum and @vwallop tried out Three’s In car Wi-Fi this weekend with their families. So what did they think?
@notSupermum described it as a “must-have gadget”:
“MiFi is genius. We had the iPod Touch playing music from Spotify and The Teenager used it for checking emails and looking at the internet – all in the backseat of our car.”
They drove along B roads as well as the M6 and M56 and only encountered a bit of a problem with signal for a while on the M6.
@vwallop and her family had a great day out and appreciated the idea of the MiFi:
“I can see how the MiFi would be super useful if you had an iPad, or used your laptop when out and about on a regular basis.”
…but with car sickness and three arguing children to contend with, the MiFi had to take a bit of a back seat:
“…car journeys in our family are complicated enough without adding another factor into the mix.”
@vwallop was able to make more use of the MiFi later on though, when she took it to the park for a bit of quality blogging time.
Pop over to their blogs: notSupermum and It’s a small World After All for more opinion on the In car Wi-Fi as well as a great read! : )
Have you tried out the In car Wi-Fi? What did you think of it? We’d love to hear from you.
And to end: what a cute picture of @vwallop’s tribe of tired soldiers!
We always like to see you all helping each other out and that’s exactly what’s been happening on Twitter over the past couple of hours.
@MaxTB wanted some advice as to whether or not to buy a Three MiFi to go with his iPad
And very soon he got some:
Have you tried out the combo? Go and let @MaxTB know what you thought!
Has anyone been camping and wished they had Wi-Fi to keep in touch with the outside world?
@laurenmcgregor (more recently known as @techtelgirl) was aiming to go #geekcamping and use her gadgets and gizmos to find “helpful camping tips, restaurant/pub finder apps, online maps”. Unfortunately, in the end she wasn’t able to get signal on any of her devices (including the MiFi she took with her) in the campsite she was staying at, so instead she reflects in her post on the difference between those of us who like to upload and share experiences on the spot through Twitter / foursquare etc. (which MiFi enables us to do) and those who prefer to stay focused in the here and now and wait till later to upload photos etc to facebook / flickr…
So, are most of us now share-it-in-the-momenters or are there still some of us that would prefer to focus only on what we’re doing / who we’re with at the time and wait until we get home to share with our followers / readers? Which camp do you fall into?
@nechbi has posted his thoughts on the MiFi and was using it for something that could come in pretty useful if you’re camping:
“I have streamed video to my iPad and iPhone from TVCatchup simultaneously using the same MiFi connection, and got fault-less picture quality.”
@laurenmcgregor has been testing Three’s MiFi for the past couple of weeks with her iPad and other Wi-Fi devices and has described the MiFi as “the future for mobile broadband”. Keep an eye on her blog for her thoughts and she’s also promised us a guest post here, which we’re very excited about!
If you’re thinking of getting on the MiFi bandwagon, but have heard about the new MiFi and want a bit more info, @mahadewa, @stevekennedyuk and @improbulus have shared their thoughts on this next version and you can find more opinion here.
@vegemitevix, @violetposy and families have both tested out Three’s In car Wi-Fi on car journeys to Thorpe Park and Alton Towers respectively, causing @vegemitevix to quickly become “The best blogger in the world” in the eyes of her kids!
@vegemitevix’s family mainly used the In car Wi-Fi for listening to Spotify, connecting Nintendos so the kids could play with people from across the globe, tweeting, emailing and finding directions.
@vegemitevix gives a great account of their day and how the MiFi helped while away the hours in the car – go and check out her blog for a good read! : )
@violetposy’s clan made the most of their iPhones and iPods connected to the In car Wi-Fi on the journey. The only problem they encountered was passing through East Anglia and the East Midlands, where 3G signal was lacking apart from around Cambridge, Kettering, East Midlands Airport and Peterborough.
Have you tried Three’s In car Wi-Fi? What do you use it for? Let us know…
Last night saw our first glimpse of Three’s 2nd generation MiFi, and what a night it was! :)
Guests arrived in pairs after being picked up in rickshaws “powered by #ThreeMiFi” so that they could use the MiFi on the way to the event and test out “the current Three MiFi’s capabilities through some of London’s busiest streets”
@liamgh assuring everyone that: “It is possible to use a netbook connected to a MiFi in a rickshaw in case you were wondering”
Once everyone had gathered, Matt, Three’s MiFi product manager, gave a run through of the New MiFi: how it differs to the original and what feedback Three took from our triallists in making these changes.
The news that triallists’ feedback had been taken on board in the 2nd generation MiFi was very well received. @liamgh said later:
“It is great to see that 3 have taken the feedback from the user feedback sessions and reviews from bloggers about the MiFi and made many improvements to their product. It is also really satisfying for those of us who took part in this process to see these improvements happen.”
So, what raised the biggest cheer (besides the cupcakes!)?
…the new MiFi has a dashboard that now supports all the major operating systems including Windows, Mac and Linux, and this was received very well from the group.
Also, the screen of the new MiFi can double up as a mirror – very handy for those of us that need to apply lipstick on the move : ) (@TheWomensRoom I’m looking at you!)
Check out posts from @nechbi, @bensmithuk, @liamgh, @adonisdemon, @ianbetteridge and @UKGadgeteer for more info and opinion on the new MiFi, but overall the big win was the ease of use of the new model, @ianbetteridge:
“Most of the improvements that have been made to the MiFi are around usability, which gets a big “hurrah” from me.”
Amanda and Jane from TheWomensRoom put it simply:
We’ve had our triallists do a lot with their MiFis: @TheWomensRoom took it to an antiques fair, @violetposy took a day trip to Alton Towers and used the In car Wi-Fi on the car journey there, @Nero liked to use his with his laptop by the river and in the garden, but as far as we know no-one’s taken it camping yet, until last weekend that is.
There is a lot of talk about dongles and MiFi devices on camping and caravanning forums – no-one wants to be left without connection to the real world after all – so how does the Three MiFi fair when camping and what does it add to the experience?
@laurenmcgregor took it away with her this past weekend to Cheddar and Glastonbury.
She’s agreed to do a guest post for us on her time with the MiFi so watch this space for some interesting ideas on how to make the most of your MiFi when camping…did I mention, she also has an iPad and is keen to share her tips on what best to use the iPad for when in the middle of nowhere!
Have you done anything / been anywhere interesting with the help of a MiFi? Do you have any tips on great iPad apps to use? Are you using the iPad 3G with a Three Micro-SIM – what do you think? Let us know : )
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