In the previous newsletter we sketched out some of the fundamentals of the new personal Wi-Fi service, called Mi-Fi, that's being offered by Verizon and Sprint. Today we want to look at some of the implications of this service in the corporate network.

In the past, we've discussed rather extensively the possibility and even advisability of using a cellular modem as a backup for cable modems and/or DSL service for the small office/home office environment (SOHO). Of course, this has been limited to the use of a singular cellular modem per computer, which could prove to be costly.

Even though most operating systems provide "connection sharing" for multiple computers, it has been our experience that this is a rather complicated process. Further, it had the disadvantage that there must be a "host" computer that provides the primary connection.

The ability of the Mi-Fi product to support up to five devices – especially without its being a "slave" to any particular device – seems to make this a nearly perfect device in at least two situations.

First, it can be a great emergency backup for a SOHO or even small ROBO (Remote Office – Branch Office) environment. Consequently, in the event of a loss of network connections and even a loss of power, up to five wireless-enabled devices could continue to operate at least in "limp along" mode. In fact, this could even include Wi-Fi-enabled phones.

Secondly, this could be a great boon for off-site and/or ad hoc meetings. Rather than having to arrange for multiple public broadband connections and/or guest access at a customer site, the team could converge and have full access to their network capabilities.

You'll be hearing more from us on this, and we still have a number of questions that we'll be discussing here.

But for the time being, this is a product that even though we're not through the first half of the year could be a strong contender for our "gadget of the year" award.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Jim Metzler is vice president of Ashton, Metzler & Associates.