Walt Mossberg reviews Autonet: spotty, but still distracting enough to be dangerous

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/13/walt-mossberg-reviews-autonet-spotty-but-still-distracting-eno/

Filed under: Transportation, Wireless

Chrysler's in-car WiFi, Autonet Mobile, has been around for a little while now, and Walt Mossberg has helpfully reviewed it for us. He found the service (which is basically an in-car 3G WiFi router) to be great for email and basic web surfing, but it was too slow to handle anything much more demanding, like streaming videos. Speed test results ranged from 100 kbps to 500 kbps, with an average of 400-450 kbps... pretty average for 3G speeds, and Walt says the connection never dropped. On the plus side, it appears that Chrysler is willing to mount the ruggedized router in the trunk of any car -- not just their models -- which is great news if, like most people, you have no intention of driving a Chrysler around. The Autonet box runs $499 ($399 for the holidays) with a one-year contract and monthly fees of about $29. That may seem expensive, but can you put a price on your kids checking Facebook rather than asking "Are we there yet" every twelve seconds? Hit the read link for the full review.

Walt Mossberg reviews Autonet: spotty, but still distracting enough to be dangerous originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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