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Go MiFi - and ditch your iPhone?

Is that an 'Intelligent Mobile Hotspot' - or are you just pleased to see me?

Pricing

So how do they economics stack up?

Here's where it gets interesting, because as you'd expect from a first-to-market product, the Me-Fi carries a slight premium.

Unsubsidised, and purchased through 3's website, a standalone MiFi is £15 for 5Gb of monthly data on pay as you go, which is highly competitive. But the MiFi costs you £69.99. Ouch. Voda gets you going for £34 which includes £15 of data - the top-ups don't expire - including the dongle. But even on Voda's postpay, you don't get as much data as 3 offer you: the 5GB monthly costs £25 for an 18 month contract.

So the appeal of the MiFi is data plan consolidation, and support for more than one device. Consolidation won't appeal to anyone with more than one mobile data plan, and it won't appeal to people who'd like their smartphone to have instant connectivity. But if you're paying for several data plans, or have several devices, and use less than 5GB, it's worth considering.

The downside is putting your eggs in one basket - and the extra inconvenience of an extra gadget to carry and keep charged. In practice, I didn't find the power issue too much of a nuisance - it charges from a laptop's USB port. I'm still cursing the three-stage power up procedure. The potential is what's quite interesting.

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