A lot of people work independent these days – calling themselves by terms like “freelance” or “self-employed”. They might be a photographer like me, or maybe a graphic designer, marketing consultants, or any other type of professional creative. It’s not only creatives though, that work in a more mobile way – there’s lots of professions getting more creative in where they work.
Many independents work out of a home office, and others may have a membership at some sort of coworking-space. Even if someone works for a multiple-employee business, at a set work-space, one thing they all have in common is the need for regular Internet access.
When I work at home, I have a reliable, fast connection. When I work outside the office, though, I’m at the mercy of whoever’s signal I’m using – and then there might be login issues, an inconsistent signal, or maybe too many people using the same signal, slowing it down. There too, will be situations where there’s not a wifi signal available for use.
Verizon recently let me use one of their Jetpack devices for a week, and this solved all the problems of wifi connection when I wasn’t at home. And, as it worked out, I was out of town for the week, traveling to New York City and Boston. The Jetpack was really easy to use. After the first time I paired my laptop and phone with the Jetpack, it was easy to connect whenever I needed a wi-fi signal. Whether I was in a Stone Creek Coffee in Milwaukee, JFK Airport in New York, or walking through a park in Boston, the network was there – the Verizon 4G LTE signal really came through for me!
I remember, while walking around Boston, I was trying to download a couple MB pdf to my phone, and it was taking forever. I turned on the Jetpack, linked in, and the pdf was downloaded in a flash. I didn’t think it would make that big of a difference, but it really did! I was very impressed.
What was pretty neat about the device, too, is that I could hook up multiple devices to its signal. Though I never used more than two, the device >can< support up to TEN! Too, the device is nice and small – I carried it easily in my cargo-pants’ pocket. 🙂
If you do a lot of work “out there” – away from a standard, in-office, internet connection, I can really suggest you look into this. Verizon offers a variety of sized data-plans for you to consider – check it. You can find more info about the Verizon Jetpack HERE.
Here’s a couple photos of the Jetpack, and one of the Statue of Liberty, or at least as close as I got on this trip!
