Find out more about Joikuspot, which turns your Nseries device into a wireless hotspot that can be accessed by multiple devices.
I’ve written a couple of Workshop articles about how to link your Nseries device to your laptop. Both approaches required connecting your mobile and your computer via Bluetooth before attempting to establish a web connection, synchronizing both sides manually before being able to connect and pairing only one laptop to the handset.
Now, a company named Joiku has come up with a different solution. JoikuSpot turns your handset into a true Wi-Fi hotspot. The software is installed directly onto your device; once launched, it establishes a wireless access point using the device’s web connection. And because it’s an access point, multiple devices can now connect and share the same internet connection.
JoikuSpot currently works on the following Nseries devices: N95 8GB, N95, N93i, N93, N91, N82 and N80. You have to have the latest firmware in order to get the software to work properly. You can update to the latest version using Nokia Software Updater. Installation of JoikuSpot itself is rather painless.
How to install
1. Get the beta software from the product page. You can either download it to your computer or have Joiku send a link to your device via SMS. If you download the software to your desktop, send it to your phone via Bluetooth.
2. Launch the application on your Nseries device. It will ask you for permission to share your internet connection - reply “yes” to the prompt. Then it will ask you which data connection you want to use. Select your carrier plan. For instance, if you are on AT&T, select MediaNET. After initialization, it will establish an open access point called JoikuSpot.
3. You can now connect to this access point from your other devices.
Testing it out
I tried my newly created N95 JoikuSpot with my laptop and my iPhone (which was getting speeds of 400kbps). I also tried browsing from my N95 using its own JoikuSpot, but this loopback approach didn’t work.
You might want to be careful using this JoikuSpot in public as it’s an open access point. This means that if you use it in a coffee shop or at a conference, others will be able to use your handset’s 3G connection for free.
Currently, JoikuSpot only supports the HTTP and HTTPS protocols. This means that you will not be able to use IMAP to get to your email. Joiku is promising that support for other protocols (using NAT) and support for WEP encryption will come in a future update.
All in all, I think is a great approach to getting internet access on the go. It’s much faster to set up than the Bluetooth tethering method, and I think I’ll use this quite a bit in the next couple of weeks to see how it performs.
Language: English