{"id":4926,"date":"2012-10-23T11:30:36","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T00:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/?p=4926"},"modified":"2012-10-22T22:09:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-22T11:09:30","slug":"cellular-data-options-for-microsoft-surface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/cellular-data-options-for-microsoft-surface\/","title":{"rendered":"Cellular Data Options for Microsoft Surface"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With a pre-order for the Microsoft Surface locked in I have been considering how to get cellular data working in a convenient and efficient manner. So far, I have come up with the following options:<\/p>\n<p><strong>3G USB\u00a0modem<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros:\n<ul>\n<li>removes the need for an independent modem and power supply,<\/li>\n<li>no need for new hardware (already have a 3G USB modem)<\/li>\n<li>perhaps more difficult to forget about or misplace the modem compared to an independent modem,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cons:\n<ul>\n<li>USB modem detracts from the appearance of the tablet,<\/li>\n<li>internet connection limited to the device into which the USB modem is plugged,<\/li>\n<li>power draw from the tablet may be increased in order to energise the modem,<\/li>\n<li>drivers may not be available for the 3G USB modem I own.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Smartphone Tethering:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros:\n<ul>\n<li>removes the need for an independent modem and power supply,<\/li>\n<li>no need for new hardware (already have a smartphone),<\/li>\n<li>most people would make a quick realisation if they had lost or misplaced their smartphone,<\/li>\n<li>make some use of those incredibly large data quotas available on more expensive plans,<\/li>\n<li>save on the cost of having a separate mobile broadband plan,<\/li>\n<li>most smartphones can support up to five devices over Wi-Fi,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cons:\n<ul>\n<li>may chew up the battery on your phone far more quickly,<\/li>\n<li>ties up the Wi-Fi connection on your smartphone to provide connectivity to the internet,<\/li>\n<li>could potentially exhaust the data quota before the end of the billing cycle leaving my smartphone in a self-imposed &#8220;data ghetto&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Dedicated Wi-Fi Hotspot:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros:\n<ul>\n<li>3G and 4G hotspots available for a reasonable monthly cost,<\/li>\n<li>hardware may be subsidised on contract,<\/li>\n<li>hotspot hardware can be upgraded independently from tablets,<\/li>\n<li>most hotspots can support up to five devices over Wi-Fi,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cons:\n<ul>\n<li>another device to keep charged and switch off when not required (unless it has a standby feature),<\/li>\n<li>might be easy to lose if you&#8217;re the careless or forgetful type,<\/li>\n<li>locked into a contract for twelve months (if you don&#8217;t like contracts),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see, there are benefits and drawbacks to each option although I still wished that the Microsoft Surface had 3G built into it. However, it is what it is and I will mull things over and, if I find that using the USB modem or tethering doesn&#8217;t\u00a0fulfill\u00a0my requirements, then I may look at getting a hotspot device.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a pre-order for the Microsoft Surface locked in I have been considering how to get cellular data working in a convenient and efficient manner. So far, I have come up with the following options: 3G USB\u00a0modem Pros: removes the need for an independent modem and power supply, no need for new hardware (already have &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/cellular-data-options-for-microsoft-surface\/\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,152,133,151,18,134,1978,79],"tags":[126,628,1023,2246,2371,562],"class_list":["post-4926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connectivity","category-microsoft-operating-systems-technology","category-mobile","category-operating-systems","category-technology","category-wifi","category-windows-rt","category-wireless","tag-3g","tag-4g","tag-cellular","tag-microsoft","tag-surface","tag-wi-fi","item-wrap"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mingersoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}