Officing on the Go: Traveling With the T-Mobile Sonic Hotspot

During the past few weeks, I have done my fair share of travel. And because of the nature of my business, it’s important for me to stay plugged in so I can work whenever and wherever I am. Using free and unsecured WIFI is not an option for me; you may have read about an unfortunate event in 2011 when I was hacked after attending a conference that used free WIFI for its attendees. So having my own WIFI hotspot is essential. But even more importantly, the connection must be fast, stable, secure, and reliable—wherever I travel.

Two weeks ago, I signed up to try T-mobile’s Sonic 4G Hotspot. I currently also have a Verizon MIFI, but it’s kind of shady—I can’t always connect when I need to and sometimes, the connection gets stale which forces me to reboot the device. This could be because I have an outdated device, but whatever the case, it’s bad for business. So I thought I would give T-mobile a try.

Out the box, I loved the way T-mobile’s device looked. It’s small with rounded edges and clear digital front casing, I loved the look. It can be easily placed in my backpack or purse while I am on the iPad, MacBook, or iPhone.

Start-up is easy, It takes a minute or two to connect, and once complete, you have 4G service that is pretty fast (it’s not 4G LTE, but upon use, I couldn’t tell. It’s actually faster than my Verizon MIFI that is also 4G). You can connect up to 5 devices to the Sonic Hotspot. I’ve had up to 4 connected at the same time, and it was able to give each device quality service and speed. I was impressed.

I also liked the battery life of the T-mobile Sonic Hotspot. I went about 6 hours using it without charging it up. The Verizon MIFI has about 4 hours of battery life.

One of the drawbacks of the device is because it’s powered by the T-mobile network, which can be spotty in certain areas and cities. For instance, there’s a restaurant that I love to eat at while reading, and I cannot use the Sonic Hotspot there; there’s simply no signal. The Verizon MIFI, however, works there like a charm.

Here are some other items you should know about T-mobile’s Sonic Hotspot:

• It has a memory card slot for storing and sharing files over WIFI
• Supports up to 32 GB microSD memory cards
• Optional SMS capability
• No long term contract required
• Retails for $150.00
• Different data plans starting at $29 per month
• Quick, easy set up
• Comes with a handy carrying pouch

I can say that all-in-all, I am falling in love with the T-mobile Sonic Hotspot. It’s a great way to stay connected securely while traveling and on the go. I highly recommend it!