CradlePoint PHS300 Personal Hotspot - Wireless access point - 802.11b/g (Version 2.0/2.5.3) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've done quite a bit of research before I purchased this item. I was well aware of its strength and shortcoming so when I managed to put it to work, nothing surprised me.
The unit is built in hard plastic, pretty sturdy, but I would be careful of not dropping it as a breathable pouch may not be a bad idea. The battery is made in Japan, whereas the unit itself is made in Taiwan. The initial setup is easy. If you're technically challenged, you can go with the default setup which should get you up and running in a few minutes. If you acclaim yourself as a techie, play around the setup menu and you can tap into a lot more features. By default, go to: http://192.168.0.1 from your browser after connecting to the device, it opens up a wealth of menus that you can customize to your own liking
During the setup, I would suggestion doing the followings:
1. Firmware upgrade, the process is easy, but you need to have a working wifi USB to grab the firmware.
2. WPA2 personal is a good security protocol to use, but it does slow down the connection a little bit, but not significant
3. I probably should have put this as item 1 but no big deal. Change the setup password for your protection.
If you screw up the configuration, no worries, just like most of the home routers, you can use a needle to poke a reset button, which is inside the unit, next to the battery compartment, and everything will be reset.
That's about it for the setup part, now let's talk about the design.
Good: relatively compact, light weight, and not too hot after hours of usage. It won't burn your hand or breast if you put it in your shirt pocket. The LED status lights give you good idea of the unit's operation state. Believe it or not, it's pretty useful. The charger is pretty small, takes about 3 hours to charge it full from empty, which is not too bad. Cradle Point claims it should last about three hours, and I found it to be reasonably true, if I only connect one device to it. If you connect more, it will shorten the battery life. The cost of the replacement (or spare) battery is less than $50, which is a bit pricey to me. But I will talk about usage tips later. Wireless broadcast range is quite good, but of course you can't compare it with your home wireless router. Yet, I have never had any trouble connecting with maximum signal with a size of my office, which is about 300 square feet. After all, this is mainly for travel companionship, and you shouldn't be too far away from the unit anyway.
Bad: The thing I hate the most, is the way that you have to plug in your USB device, which is on the side of the unit, right next to the charge port. When plugged in, it sticks out from the unit and it's easy to break in my opinion. If you put it in your jacket or shirt pocket, and if you're not carefully enough, you might bend the USB and destroy the USB port. If CradlePoint is reading this, maybe they should re-design the housing, to have some room side, fitting a wireless USB drive in there. This would protect the drive from accidental damage.
User experience: My goodness, I love this thing. I bought my iPad the first day it came out, and I received this unit the night before I got my iPad. Let me tell you, it makes the iPad so much more fun to use. I can use it anywhere I like. Since it fits any brand of wireless USB, I'm not at the mercy of AT&T's crappy data service. I'm using it with my Verizon 760 wireless modem, and it works like a champ! Since this unit can take on 16 continuous connection, I can use it along with my netbook, or my wife can use it with her iPod touch concurrently. No problem at all!
Tips: If you intend to use the unit for an extended period of time, and you can plug it to a wall jack for powering it up, I would take out the battery, so you won't have to charge the battery continuously. CradlePoint claims that the battery won't have any memory effect, which I seriously doubt, but taking out the battery from the unit takes less than 5 seconds, so why not?
Hope you like my review, and if you do, please rate. Thank you for reading.

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Magellan RoadMate 2000 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)This GPS system is fairly cheap and does most of the things you would want a GPS unit to do - get you from point A to point B. Basically, that's all I really wanted when I bought this unit and I am happy to say that it has been pretty successful in doing that. I had a little trouble at the start because it wouldn't lock-in my route and always had "Proceed to Route" on the screen even though I was already on the road and moving to my destination.
Having said that, this machine has a few annoying issues. First, it sometimes just restarts automatically and could leave you hanging if you have to turn or something. Second, it gets lost when you are surrounded by tall buildings. Hence, you have to be sure that you know the turn-by-turn directions prior to entering business districts, etc. Finally, it's "shortest time" route may not be the optimal route every time. I went on a trip to Milwaukee to Chicago and the GPS took me through rural Northwestern Illinois, which increased the travel time home from 2 hours to 3 hours. I don't know what happened there, but be sure to check the route before you embark on a long trip (I learned this lesosn the hard way).
For city driving, I think this unit is fine. It has gotten me to most places without any real issues. It's also cheap, which is good for reluctant first-time buyers. After you get a GPS unit though, you will surely ask yourself why you didn't get one any sooner.

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Small, powerful and affordable, with a SIRF StarIII chipset for quick GPS signal acquisition, the Magellan RoadMate 2000 makes it easier than ever to get where you need to go. Simple touch-screen menus and 40 built-in, interactive maps of the contiguous United States let you select virtually any destination and enjoy voice and visual turn-by-turn directions as you drive. This advanced vehicle navigation system features a 3.5-inch color touch screen display that you can use to enter an address or select a point of interest. You'll instantly receive the best route using the shortest time, shortest distance, most freeways or least freeways-- it's all up to you. And nearly 1.3 million pre-programmed points of interest enable you to quickly find gas stations, airports, hotels, restaurants and much more.Convenient and easy to use, the RoadMate 2000 gives you one-touch access to detailed information about a destination, including phone numbers when available. Simply touch the icon on the screen, and you're ready to go. You can also save your own personal points of interest to quickly navigate to frequent destinations. When time is of the essence, take advantage of some of the RoadMate's advanced features, including helpful technology that routes you around sudden slow freeway traffic, a multi-destination routing option, QuickSpell software to quickly enter your destination, and a 3D "bird's-eye" view to clearly see your surroundings. You can even select up to 20 destinations in advance to plan out where you need to go.Great picture quality is a guarantee, thanks to the integrated ambient light sensor, which adjusts color and contrast for easy night viewing. In case of an emergency, you'll never have to worry about being stranded; just one touch displays your exact location so you can quickly advise roadside assistance or emergency services.The RoadMate 2000 also comes with a high-impact plastic case that protects against marks and scratches while the built-in battery delivers continuous use for up to three hours. Easy to transfer between several different vehicles, with 4 GB capacity and optional SD card expansion, this system is ideal for business and personal travel.

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Aluratek 3G Portable Wireless USB Cellular Router Review

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(More customer reviews)Being an "IT" guy I see gadgets and new stuff all the time. Frankly a lot of it is junk or simply an infatuation with the latest thing. This however turns out to be a useful tool if you need portable, high speed connectivity and happen to have a USB 3G card. I needed something for mobile connectivity in to work. Within 15 minutes of getting the Aluratek I had exactly that, and it worked perfectly with my client based VPN. Even when in a moving vehicle!
There aren't a lot of frills, its pretty much a simple firewall with the ability to utilize 3G cards for Internet access. One really nice feature with this cellular router versus another brand I also considered is the addition of a battery, as it opens a lot of possibilities and flexibility.
The price is right and since its a simple device that didn't require hours of tinkering or fussing.
2010-10-05 Follow up: Turns out that after figuring out how to update the device firmware, it also tethers very nicely with my Blackberry Curve 8530 simply by plugging it into the USB slot with the Blackberry cable. In fact the access was consistent faster via my Sprint USB stick (both are via Sprint). The firmware was not hard to find if you Google the Zalip CDM530AM.
There are times when the unit may not be quite as strong on signal strength as I would like, it must default to 25% wifi signal when running off of battery and resetting it higher requires a router reboot. In spite of that I kept the rating at five stars due to ease of use and overall reliability. The unit fits into a small pocket of a computer bag and is easy to carry with you. The battery lasts at least several hours and that's sufficient for most purposes, and not much worse than my Blackberry 8530 when using it via bluetooth tethering.

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Netgear WGR101 Cable/DSL Wireless Travel Router Review

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(More customer reviews)I applaud Netgear for being first to market with this device (the only other I know of is the Apple Airport Express), designed for geeky business travellers. There've been many times when I've been in a hotel with wired Internet access but wanted to use my laptop across the room in bed, or in a conference room with one wired network drop and a handful of people who wanted to use it. Travelling with a 30-foot cable and/or a multi-port switch is no fun. This device is light and tiny, has a modest-sized power adapter, and even comes with a short cable for connecting to a wired port and a zippered carrying case for all of that plus your pc-card NIC.
If you're not concerned with security and have your wireless NIC set to do DHCP basically all you do is plug it in and you're all set. Configuring the device is kind of a pain though: you can only connect to it wirelessly, so if you forget the SSID after setting it not to broadcast, or forget the WEP key, you have to use the reset button and start over (make sure you hold it down a good 10 seconds, just pressing it once quickly doesn't work).
It doesn't act quite like a typical router despite some product literature I've read: on a hotel network it doesn't provide firewall or NAT security--keep in mind if the hotel assigns you a public IP you're bare naked on the Internet.
Although the physical switch on the unit that puts it in config or single-/multi-user mode is a neat idea for security, it gave me a lot of problems having to reassociate or power cycle the device after changing settings. Given that in its default state it's a pass-through device like a bridge and has no IP address, there may not be a significantly better way though.
I had little to no luck using this device with my home router or cable modem, but on a hotel wired access point it was seamless including VPN connectivity (unlike my Netgear MR814 at home). Range is very good even through walls and floors/ceilings. I got mine for about half price after rebates which, I think, just barely makes it worth it. If you like to have the latest gadget, and especially if you travel, this is less of a pain and certainly niftier than carrying around a 30-foot cable and/or hub.

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Have you ever felt like using a wired Ethernet connection in your hotel room was not much fun?Was the desk or chair uncomfortable, and sitting on the bed or soft chair preferable while accessing the Internet wirelessly?Have you ever wished to have convenient wireless access for a group of people in a conference room?NETGEAR has the perfect solution for your wireless Internet access needs away from home.The WGR101 54 Mbps Wireless Travel Router is as small as a deck of cards, yet provides 54 Mbps wireless Internet access as well as routing functionality and security.Use an external switch to select configuration, or to enable either single or multi-user access.A convenient carrying case is included in which to carry the traveler's router along with other essentials.

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TomTom ONE 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Box Version) Review

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(More customer reviews)PROS: I got mine for $50 so can't complain. I like it for it's portable size and GPS nav works as expected. It's definitely worth the money.
CONS: I have two annoyances:
1) When you are in the countryside, you have to zoom in to see the smaller roads - even if there are no other roads around. This filtering is useful in cities when you got a lot of roads and makes sense to focus on bigger ones, but in countryside when you have few roads this is counterproductive.
2) The unit turns itself ON by itself. I charge it, turn it off to store. A few days later the unit comes on by itself and drains the battery down. This is a design flaw and i've seen many user complaints about this.

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The TomTom ONE 130-S is easy-to-use personal navigation. TomTom's award-winning software means effortless navigation from point A to point B. Switch on and go right out of the box. Just enter the address on the touchscreen and start driving anywhere in the United States or Canada. TomTom guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions including street names. And 3D graphics help guide you to your destination, worry free.

The ONE 130-S is preloaded with millions of points of interest to enhance your traveling experience--easily find your favorite gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and more.
TomTom has the most accurate maps, and with TomTom Map Share technology, you instantly can modify street names, street direction, points of interest, and more on your own device.
And with the "Help Me!" menu, added safety features enable you to easily access local emergency providers, such as police, fire stations, and hospitals. The "Where am I?" feature pinpoints your exact location to give to emergency providers.
The Fold & Go EasyPort mount folds flat against the device, making it easy to take it with you from car to car.
No activation, no monthly fees.
Go confidently.
ONE 130-S Features
Maps of United States and Canada with TomTom Map Share
Spoken Street Names
Fold & Go EasyPort Mount

All TomToms Feature
Plug & Go--Works right out of the box.
Preloaded Points of Interest--Easily find millions of gas stations, restaurants, hotels, and more on your route.
30-Day Latest Map Guarantee--Up to date, off the shelf.
TomTom Map Share--Modify your own map and benefit from others' verified changes with TomTom Map Share.
Help Me! Emergency Menu--Easily access local emergency providers, such as police, fire stations, and hospitals.
TomTom HOME--Always up to date.
Traffic Ready--Optional RDS-TMC traffic receiver accessory keeps you up-to-date on traffic events to minimize potential delays.
Fuel Price Service (optional)--Know more, pay less.
Why TomTom? TomTom believes that personal navigation should be as easy and safe as possible. TomTom develops smart technology that gives you straightforward solutions, innovations to make life easy.
Easy to Use
Award-winning navigation software
Plug & go

Best Maps
30-Day Latest Map Guarantee
Modify your own map and benefit from others' verified changes with TomTom Map Share

Best Routing
QuickGPSfix
Traffic ready

Leader in Safety
Help Me! emergency resources menu
Safety preferences menu

About TomTom Founded in Amsterdam in 1991, TomTom has established itself as a global leader in navigation by being an innovative company with a strong brand, clear customer focus, and high-quality products and services.
TomTom is a leading navigation solutions provider with navigation products sold in 30 countries and in over 20 languages. To further its commitment to car navigation, TomTom acquired Tele Atlas maps in 2008 so that the company can continually provide the most up-to-date maps and intelligent routing.
TomTom has its own mapping company!
Did you know that every year, roads change by up to 40% in high-growth areas? Tele Atlas manages this by using the world's most comprehensive systems to identify and incorporate these changes into our maps with unprecedented levels of speed and accuracy. All TomTom devices benefit from the Tele Atlas advantage--more coverage, more points of interest, and more freshness and accuracy.
What's in the Box ONE 130-S device, Easyport mount, USB Car Charger and USB cable, documentation

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