Anne, (and those that might be interested)
I got up early this morning and jump headfirst into the dilemma I mentioned in my previous post.
Using one of the new iPads as a WiFi hotspot (Verizon to be specific) is super easy and Verizon does not charge extra for the privilege, but you have to be VERY careful as once you connect something like a Mac to it, ANY and EVERY application that might need to connect to the internet will see the connection and use it (software updates come to mind as something that can chew thru data inadvertently). Verizon has a 3GB cap (actually 2GB + 1GB additional for a limited time offer) in place and going over that cap is going to cost money ($10 per 1Gb of overage). The kicker is that even if you only go a SINGLE byte over the cap or exceed another GB bucket), you incur the charge.
Using the hotspot capability of the new iPad running on Verizon will allow 5 devices to connect to the internet via the hotspot and it acts as a virtual router for those devices. Using the iPad as a general purpose router (again limited to 5 devices), will work including Airplay, but you have to have the hotspot activated and connected to Verizon for the iPad to function as a router. Verizon & Apple state that you can't extend the WiFi network to a physical router (technically true), but more on that later.
Now the downside to using a hotspot. If you want to have a secured (firewalled) local area network for things such as non-eprint printer sharing, network attached storage, Airplay speakers, WiFi syncing of iDevices, the hotspot is simply a super bad way to achieve this. First off, you have to have the iPad hotspot active in order to have the ipad function as router. Second, you are limited to a total of 5 devices regardless of whether all of them actually ever connect to the outside world or not. Third, while the bigger battery in the new iPad can sustain the hotspot for a bit over 24 hours (according to AnandTech), you still will need to charge the iPad battery at least daily.
The fact that you can't fire up the iPad as a local area network router without also connecting it as a hotspot with Verizon, gives me concern from several perspectives. First is the potential for exceeding the data cap on your Verizon LTE data plan. Second, there are times when you really DON'T want to be connected to the outside world, BUT you need to have connectivity between your various devices (computer, ipad, printer, Airplay speakers, locally attached network storage, etc). Hotspot technology was really created for impromptu connections to the internet for a few devices with the primary intention of NOT doing interdevice communication but rather just connecting to the internet.
One solution to the dilemma, would be to manually switch the applicable device (ie computer, phone, etc) between the iPad hotspot when needing internet connectivity and a local network provided by a physical router such, as an Apple Airport Express, for interdevice communications. This is not difficult, but something of a pain as you have to remember to switch depending on how you want to use the device. Also, the iPad hotspot is designed so that if no other device is sharing the hotspot, the hotspot terminates and must be restarted manually. Really a kludge in my mind.
There is another solution however. Cradlepoint, among with a few others, has sidestepped the artificial limit that Verizon imposed of not allowing the iPad hotspot to be extended to a physical router. Cradlepoint has been in the mobile WiFi router business for almost a decade that I know of and I have used their products with complete success and total satisfaction. The CradlePoint CBR400 ($160 online) is first and foremost a REAL, WiFI b/g/n router. It supports 16 devices with full hardware firewall, WPA AES encryption,port forwarding, website blacklisting, parental controls and is geared to the consumer market (Apple even sells it). It has a really cool feature called WiFi as Wan. What this means, is that the CBR400 CAN connect to the iPad hotspot by not appearing to be another router to the iPad hotspot. It simply looks like any other WiFi device. This effectively eliminates the limitation artificially imposed by Verizon. The CBR400 can also be powered by 12VDC(ie exactly what we have in the Airstream), so it is perfect way to create an isolated (firewalled) local area network in our rigs.
So how would this work in practice. First off, the CBR400 would be setup to be the PRIMARY network for all your devices. As it would NOT normally have any outside internet connection (ie WAN), it would simply be functioning as a local area attachment point (ie router). This would allow all the devices to be secured behind the router (hardware firewall and encryption) allowing them to communicate among themselves (Airplay, printing, file sharing, etc). When you needed connectivity to the internet, if you were where there was free or for fee WiFI available, you would instruct the CBR400 to connect to that WiFI. The WiFi as WAN feature would then use the outside WiFI connection to the internet just as it would a WAN connection and would make the internet available all your devices located in the local area network (ie behind the CBR400 firewall). None of your devices would be exposed to the outside WiFI. NO switching between two different networks. Everything STAYS behind the CBR400 and is hardware firewall protected from the internet connection (this is just like it would be if the WAN connection was via DLS or cable modem).
Now for those time when you need internet connectivity BUT did not have or wish to use a free or for fee WiFI connection, you would just fire up the iPad hotspot and then instruct the CBR to connect to the iPad hotspot exactly as you would any WiFI connection and again, the CBR would share the iPad hotspot with all the other devices still residing behind the CBR400 firewall. Note that putting the iPad in hotspot mode effectively removes it from the local area network as you are implicitly connecting it to the Verizon LTE/EVDO network.
If at some point, you were planing on being located at one spot for an extended period and chose to have DSL or cable modem service, there is a ethernet WAN port on the back for just such a situation. As an added capability, you can also plug in a USB LTE/EVDO/HSPA modem into the CBR400 and use that as your internet connectivity. This of course requires that you have service for that USB modem with one of the cellular carriers and pay the applicable fees. This is just another way of getting connected and it future proofs how you connect. For instance, you find that AT&T or Sprint in the future offers a much more attractive offer than Verizon you might think that you are locked to Verizon as you have been dependent on using the iPad hotspot for internet connectivity. With the CBR400, you could just buy the appropriate USB modem for the other network, plug it into the CBR400 and you would be online.
The CBR400 is small, full featured, 12VDC powered and really is the best solution where the need is to have a firewall protected local area network AND to connect your devices to the internet via the iPad hotspot feature. I really like this solution as it not only allows you to use the iPad hotspot as your internet connection for all your devices, it allows you to use a free (or for fee) WifI connection while still maintaining a hardware firewall and without having to connect each device separately (ie they remain connected to the CBR400).
I know that this has slipped into the arcane world of hardware but i have hopefully presented it in a way that makes sense. Feel free to ask question.
David T.
This site is not sponsored by or affiliated in any way with Airstream Inc, Thor Inc, or the WBCCI.
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