Review: Kingston Mobilite Wireless Card Reader
With two notable security concerns, the Kingston Mobilite wireless device does a pretty good job of bridging the gap from tablet or phone to pictures and files stored on USB and SD drives.
The instructions are easy to follow and will have you up and running within a few minutes. Then you can access files on most standard formatted USB drives and SD cards, copy the files to your device, view pictures and even stream movies.
On a first generation Galaxy tab, I was able to watch TV-quality movies stored on the USB drive without any issues, but it struggled at DVD-quality level.
The unit has a number of nice features, including its ability to connect to your wireless network so you can use it and the internet at the same time, and a built-in battery so you can use it on the road and even charge your phone with it in a pinch.
However, there is an oversight in the instructions which leads to two security issues. Firstly, when you set up the device the first time, it allows you to connect via an open hotspot and encourages you to set your device to remember this connection so it will connect automatically next time.
If you’d like more information on why this is an issue, I’d recommend reading (http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/convenience-or-security-you-cant-have-both-when-it-comes-to-wi-fi/#), but suffice to say it’s very bad practice.
The second issue arises when you are encouraged to connect the Mobilite to the internet via your home wireless network. If you’ve done this as instructed, you would be providing open access to your home internet connection and anything connected to your network (computers, smart TVs etc).
Putting a password on the device neatly avoids both of these issues, and there’s even a video showing how to do this on the manufacturer’s website. However, this somehow got overlooked in the paper instructions.
Final thoughts, a good unit that works as advertised, simple to setup and easy use… but please remember to put a password it.
