Learn the secret a few lucky school bus drivers have discovered: everyone in the vehicle can be busier and happier when you have an onboard router and smooth-streaming Internet service! Autonet Mobile, the company that pioneered in-car web access in 2007, continues to deliver their patent-pending technology for wireless data streaming to enhance Americans' driving and traveling experience. With no interruption between towers, for example, Internet radio is more enjoyable, and passengers who web surf or watch web videos in their mobile hotspot have no logout delays or sporadic video or audio streams as they roll along the interstate. As the photo illustrates, there are even more possibilities for a vehicle-based WiFi hotspot when you're parked!
Just recently, the company introduced CarFi, a new router that features docking stations to enable a subscriber to easily move the router from one vehicle to another. It also has a memory system that makes movies, games, or music accessible to anyone in the vehicle wirelessly.
Autonet Mobile – the only company offering certified in-vehicle Internet service in the U.S. – has seen subscriber numbers rise sharply since 2009, from about 3,000 to nearly 10,000 by mid-2010, and revenues have also tripled. The company launched its service a couple years ago with a deal with Avis Rent-A-Car, and not long afterward, it struck a distribution agreement with Chrysler (using the name Uconnect Web) for all of the automaker's vehicles beginning with the 2009 model year. This agreement means that installation location(s) and wiring in the various vehicle models have been tested and certified by the manufacturer to support the Autonet Mobile WiFi equipment. The company has also partnered with General Motors and Volkswagen, as well as with Delco, the U.S.-based automotive electronics manufacturer. In July, Subaru announced that its 2011 Outback would have Autonet Mobile as an available option.
Autonet Mobile's OEM agreements also mean that new car buyers get a few months of service at no charge when they sign up for the first year's service contract. The $29 per month fee is based on one gigabyte of data per month, a level which is plenty for the majority of users, according to company spokesperson Christine Williams. Business professionals who may require more access (such as busy real estate agents) can sign up for the level of service they require.
One reason Autonet Mobile is able to deliver a smooth, uninterrupted data stream is that the company has contracts with multiple wireless telecom providers so it's almost impossible to experience a "between-tower" signal fade or data hiccup. Autonet Mobile's chief technology officer and co-founder Doug Moeller invented the three proprietary technologies that make the delivery of continuous service possible. Essentially, Autonet Mobile manages your data connection for you, so there is no need to reconnect your wireless device as you would if you were using a single provider's wireless card and experienced a signal fade. Indeed, these patent-pending technologies established the world's first network designed for moving vehicles.
Although the Autonet Mobile equipment can be installed by a dealer, vehicle owners may choose to retrofit the family car themselves. To create onboard WiFi, vehicle owner do-it-yourselfers would install the mounting bracket for Autonet Mobile's CarFi wireless router to the appropriate location within the vehicle. In the new Outback, for example, the installer is directed to a specific location on the driver's side rear panel of the vehicle's interior. The router comes with mounting hardware, instructions, and a paper template that is taped to the interior panel surface. The installer drills four holes where indicated and proceeds to attach the mounting bracket and follow instruction for wiring to the vehicle's 12V system. The router snaps securely into place on the bracket.
In the long run, outfitting existing cars with Autonet Mobile's wireless routers seems to be a stopgap measure to the near future when onboard WiFi is fully integrated as a feature of new vehicles, according to Ms. Williams. As soon as 2012 or 2013, those in the industry expect mobile web access to support in-dash screens for viewing location-based weather and traffic condition reports. In the future, in-vehicle WiFi Internet access is expected to be offered widely as standard equipment and would integrate with GPS functionality for optimization of communications and navigation technology.
