Until very recently, those residing in Cayman had no real reason to invest in the 3G version of the tablet computer of their choice. Without 3G networks around, you were only ever going to use Wi-Fi hotspots for browsing, so it made sense to save some money by just investing in the cheaper Wi-Fi only version of the tablet. Here we are, a couple of months later, and local providers are rolling out 4G mobile networks. It might be a little bit too soon to retire that ‘old’ tablet, and your spouse probably won’t find it funny if you try to re-gift your birthday present, so what to do?

 Well, short of putting an ad in the classifieds, you could invest in a MiFi device.

 These devices are smaller than a mobile phone, so can be stuffed in a pocket or hung around your neck on a lanyard. Yet what they do is much bigger – they allow up to five Wi-Fi devices to connect to the mobile data network and in so doing give you total mobility when it comes to using your Wi-Fi only tablet, or any other Wi-Fi device for that matter, including laptops.

 Now although you could leave your Wi-Fi hotspot open and have kids following you down the street with their mobile devices like rats after the Pied Piper, you can (and really should) password it in order to make it more secure.

 The range of the device is limited, so it is only intended for you and those in your immediate vicinity, and you should expect to see performance drop off significantly as you add more devices to it, as the total bandwidth available to the MiFi device is shared between the devices connected to it.

 Both LIME and Digicel now offer MiFi devices, with LIME’s device running on its 4G HSPA+ network while the Digicel device runs off their 4G WiMax network. At present the coverage for the LIME network is higher, as is the data rate. However, as LIME’s device runs on a mobile data plan, it has capped access, which means that your downloads cannot be unlimited and you will have to pay additional data charges should you exceed the data included on your rate plan. However, unless you use the device as your one and only access to the internet, you are not likely to hit the data cap, short of streaming movies the whole time. The Digicel MiFi devices simply replaces your home modem and runs on the same plan, which means you do not have to deal with a cap.

 However, neither provider foresees these devices supplanting your regular home internet. In the case of the LIME device, the uncapped access on their home broadband offering, as well as the more consistent speed, makes it better suited to downloading movies and streaming shows. Even though Digicel offers the device on their home internet plan, it is not really intended for indoor use, as the dedicated home modems will provide a stronger and more stable signal indoors.

 Of course, the more tech savvy might feel inclined to point out that they can pair their smartphones with their tablets, thereby using the phone as a modem for the tablet. However, that does require a little bit more tinkering than most are happy to engage in, and with the plug and play (or no plug and all play) convenience of the MiFi device it is infinitely less complicated. The devices can also recharge from a USB port, which means that if you intend to use one with a laptop it is dead easy to charge. WH