Wi-Fi Fails to Connect with Mobile Users

Computerworld covers the recent Gartner survey that found only 25 percent of the U.S. respondents and 17 percent of those from the UK said they're taking advantage of Wi-Fi hot spots. According to Ken Dulaney at Gartner, the effort business travelers undertake to find a Wi-fi hotspot is like "the great adult Easter egg hunt."

Dulaney said, "Wi-Fi is by no means dead," but he warned that Wi-Fi vendors needed to develop better long-term subscription models and assessibility to make it easiers for users on the go. "Because billing systems for Wi-Fi are so fragmented and the coverage [is] so unpredictable, most users pay as you go," he added.

Zeus Kerravala at Yankee Group commented that "users who travels almost constantly might be able to string together reliable Wi-Fi services if he has subscriptions with several vendors." Howwever it made less sense to pay a $10 daily rate, at an airport for example, to use for only a hour.

I have a Wi-fi plan bundled with my SBC DSL service that only costs an extra $1.99 a month. Well worth it especially when I know I will be near a hotspot. Coverage seems to be expanding, but could be much, much better. Seemless coverage via Wi-fi and high-speed data networks is my holy grail. I'm still waiting...