Personal HotSpot (PHS)

The PHS300 Personal HotSpot is a just-under 5 x 3 x 1 inch device that is targeted primarily to mobile individuals. It connects to the user's cellular phone (or USB modem) and servers as a WiFi (802.11b/g) enabled access point to the cellular data network through the phone itself. In other words, the device acts as somewhat of a personal wireless data router, deployed between the user's cellular phone and their laptops: Once plugged into the phone or cellular modem the device automatically associates itself with the cellular network; and from that point on the user's WiFi devices (i.e., a laptop with a wireless NIC, for example) can associate to the PHS and perform Internet activities as if it were connected through any other public hotspot.

Of course, to access data through the cellular network in any fashion requires that some type of data plan be in place on the user's cellular account. The vendor states that the device initially supports USB modems from Sierra Wireless, Novatel Wireless, and Franklin Wireless (with data plans from Sprint or Verizon); as well as select cellular phones, PDAs, and BlackBerry devices with "Tethered Data" or "Phone-as-Modem" data plans.

The device itself boasts power and USB ports (it can also be powered by an included Li Ion battery) and will charge the user's cell phone or power the USB modem while it's plugged into the device. Expected battery time for the PHS is about 3 hours with a handset and 1.5 hours with a USB Modem.

Security features include NAT, an SPI firewall, SSID Enable/Disable, access controls (Services, URL, MAC), and encryption support including 64/128 bit WEP, WPA/WPA2, and WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK. Multiple and concurrent IPSec, L2TP, and PPTP VPN pass-through sessions are also supported, and management of the device is through the Web browser.

The PHS is available now and is priced at $179 (including an AC Adapter and Li Ion battery). Contact CradlePoint for further information.