This article isn't going to be so much about project management as it is about working on the go...which is something I think just about every project manager does from time to time anyway. I happen to do it a lot, so anything that deals with working remotely, or the ability to do project work in a virtual team environment, interests me. And that includes the tools that allow us to do just that.
Today I'm going to address something I've been using for about a year and something that just came across my laptop screen yesterday. What I'm talking about is mobile internet access anywhere using your iPhone. Similar ability exists for Android and Blackberry, etc. users ( I was one of those Android users more than a year ago), but I will address this from an iPhone user perspective because that is what I'm most familiar with right now.
Mobile hotspot
I use a mobile hotspot on my iPhone for $20 per month for the luxury of having internet access available anytime, almost anywhere for my Macbook. Is it worth the investment? I don't know, but it sure is convenient. Depending on the time of year and what activities are going on and where I happen to be located at the moment, I use it anywhere from once per week to 10-15 times per week. So, yes, it's probably worth it. It's easy through my service provider - Verizon. Just call or go online and add it once and then turn it on through your iPhone any time you need it. Then it shows up as an available network connection on your laptop. You can connect up to 5 devices with it - although I think the more devices you connect, the slower your data transfer rate will be. I wouldn't want it to be my only internet connection, but it is certainly fast enough when I need it. For $20 per month I get 2Gb of data transfer - and I never even come close to using all of it. For example, right now I'm on day 27 of 31 days in this billing cycle and I've used 0.91Gb of the 2.00Gb allotment.
Tethered connection
Now, I'm always interested in not spending $240 per year for a little used, but vital internet connection if I don't have to. So, when I saw Gizmodo's Facebook post about an app called DiscoRecorder being offered in the Apple app store that had a hidden tethering feature, it got my attention. What this meant was, that for $2 - and nothing more - I might be able to have an internet connection available to my Macbook through my iPhone - saving me the $240 per year cost. Interested? Yes. Skeptical? A little...but it only cost me $2 to give it a try.
I watched the video on how to set it up - the tethering function is actually nicely hidden inside an audio recording app. After about 5 minutes, I was up and running. Two issues. One - it seems to be fast and then slow...and sometimes PAINFULLY, GUT WRENCHINGLY SLOW. I think it was fast running cached pages and slow when I went to do Google searches, etc. But it worked. And since a lot of my work is writing documents, articles, web content, etc....the actual research and internet usage isn't always that high. But email is important - specifically my POP3 email on my laptop - and that is impossible (as far as a I can tell) through the tethering option. I've been searching since last night for a way to resolve the issue, but haven't found a solution yet. So far, the only way I can get email when tethered is on my iPhone which isn't acceptable for me when I'm using my Macbook. On the go, it's great, but when I need it on my Macbook, then I...well....need it on my Macbook.