Access to the Internet shouldn't come with a high price tag. If your organization is a nonprofit, school, charity, or library, there's another way to provide members in your community with free access to the Internet. TechSoup offers the Mobile Beacon donation program for nonprofits, allowing your group to receive up to 11 mobile hotspot devices within a fiscal year, July 1 through June 30.
Once you have the mobile hotspot device, Wi-Fi-enabled computers and smartphones can connect to the Internet anywhere you have 4G network coverage. Bring your community together with the use of mobile hotspots.
When you run a table at a fair or another event, you can set up a mobile hotspot for anyone to sit and take a break. This gives you the opportunity to attract visitors to your table, even if they just want to take a break and use your mobile hotspot.
Provide More Bandwidth with Mobile Beacon
When you provide a mobile hotspot for members of your community, you control the number of people who are connected to each device. This means that you can create a connection that offers enough bandwidth to watch a video or play games without the connection being choppy. This can be beneficial when you are trying to help members in your community be more comfortable and have access to the Internet without interruption.
Decrease Reliance on Personal Mobile Hotspots
Some people with a smartphone can use it for a mobile hotspot connection. (However, some providers disable this hotspot functionality.) Although using your smartphone as a hotspot works in a pinch, it isn't the best use of mobile data plans.
A smartphone's battery isn't going to last long when the phone is used as a hotspot. And a phone with a small data plan is going to use up the monthly data quickly.
Data plans for smartphones get expensive. To help ease the stress on your current data plan, setting up a 4G mobile hotspot for your guests is beneficial. Your guests will save their own data, yet be able to use the Internet securely for as long as they need to. And Mobile Beacon hotspots offered through TechSoup have unlimited data.
Create an Internet-Friendly Meeting Space Anywhere
Many charities, schools, and libraries offer meeting space for the community for free or for a minimal charge. When you offer free Wi-Fi for groups that use your meeting space, you open up your space to a wider audience. Now, any group that needs access to the Internet during a meeting or work session can use your space and bring your community closer together. Mobile hotspots can make the difference when you are looking for new ways to maximize the space you currently have.
Mobile hotspots are an affordable way to provide secure access to the Internet anywhere you have 4G access. This opens up a wide variety of uses for your mobile hotspots. If you are a charity, you can accept secure donations through the hotspot. As a venue for meetings, you can offer Wi-Fi access as part of the rental fee.
No matter how you choose to utilize Mobile Beacon hotspots, understand that individuals who are able to use your mobile hotspots appreciate it. Smartphone data doesn't have to be used, and the connection provided is secure to do personal business on.
Additional Resources: Mobile Internet Access for Nonprofits and Libraries
- Find out How and Why Oakland Public Library Is Loaning Out Hotspots.
- Learn how your employees can work remotely and even use public Wi-Fi safely using a virtual private network (VPN).
