# Possible use of Mifi as the data connectivity for mobile workers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Users\ **Created:** [May 1, 2015, 5:09am UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/possible-use-of-mifi-as-the-data-connectivity-for-mobile-workers/2183 "2015-05-01T05:09:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eric\_Stephan2](https://dimagi.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Eric\_Stephan2](https://forum.dimagi.com/u/Eric_Stephan2)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:09am UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/possible-use-of-mifi-as-the-data-connectivity-for-mobile-workers/2183/1 "2015-05-01T05:09:57Z")
Hi all... We are looking for the wisest method of providing data connections for our mobile workers. In the country in question, purchasing post-paid mobile data for the workers is pretty expensive, and the process of buying a stack of pre-paid top-up cards seems somewhat cumbersome (but might be our final plan.) We were considering one more method involving a small portable "Mifi" wifi unit... and I'd like to know if this would raise any worries for you. -- Our program actually involves outreach workers that return the phones to the same central location every evening. the phones all go into a cabinet and will be plugged in to charge their batteries. -- Therefore, we were considering purchasing one of those small "Mifi" units to place inside that cabinet. The Mifi generates a wifi router that can handle 10 devices. (happily, that is the exact number of phones that will be stored there.) The Mifi unit has its own SIM chip and its own postpaid data plan. So it shares its data connection to all the phones. ... therefore, as the mobile worker collects data during the day, it simply stores up its forms... who knows, maybe 10-20 forms in a day at the most. The phone won't even be equippped with a SIM card... so it will not have a data signal and will simply store up its forms. Then, when the phone comes back to its cabinet at night, it will see the wifi signal, connect, and sync all the forms up to the database. I can only think of two warning flags that I will have to consider: (1) I'll have to configure google play to not do auto update of the dozens of apps even when connected to Wifi... otherwise it will eat all my data (2) Also, of course, a given client's info will not reach the database until that night. So not fully real-time. What other worries am I forgetting? Huge thanks, and happy weekend to all -- Eric ---
**Author:** ![Jeremy\_W](https://dimagi.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@Jeremy\_W](https://forum.dimagi.com/u/Jeremy_W)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/possible-use-of-mifi-as-the-data-connectivity-for-mobile-workers/2183/2 "2015-05-01T12:11:49Z")
Hi, Eric, That all sounds right to me. There are many CommCare projects that use a workflow similar to this, so provided you are okay with the delay in data (plus the inability of the users to use the phone as a phone) this should be a good approach to submitting data when you don't have SIM cards in the phones. You also have to make sure that users log in the first time when they are connected to the MiFi unit - but that is just a one-time issue. I would also recommend that you disable other phone settings that will cause updates, like making sure the phone is not syncing email, calendar, etc. to a google account all the time. One other issue with this approach would be if you are using case sharing - not sure if you are but that would require that users be diligent about syncing data at the start and end of the day. Jeremy > **···** > > On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 1:09 AM, Eric Stephan wrote: > > > Hi all... > > > > We are looking for the wisest method of providing data connections for our > > mobile workers. In the country in question, purchasing post-paid mobile > > data for the workers is pretty expensive, and the process of buying a stack > > of pre-paid top-up cards seems somewhat cumbersome (but might be our final > > plan.) > > > > We were considering one more method involving a small portable "Mifi" wifi > > unit... and I'd like to know if this would raise any worries for you. > > > > -- Our program actually involves outreach workers that return the phones > > to the same central location every evening. the phones all go into a > > cabinet and will be plugged in to charge their batteries. > > > > -- Therefore, we were considering purchasing one of those small "Mifi" > > units to place inside that cabinet. The Mifi generates a wifi router that > > can handle 10 devices. (happily, that is the exact number of phones that > > will be stored there.) The Mifi unit has its own SIM chip and its own > > postpaid data plan. So it shares its data connection to all the phones. > > ... therefore, as the mobile worker collects data during the day, it > > simply stores up its forms... who knows, maybe 10-20 forms in a day at the > > most. The phone won't even be equippped with a SIM card... so it will not > > have a data signal and will simply store up its forms. Then, when the > > phone comes back to its cabinet at night, it will see the wifi signal, > > connect, and sync all the forms up to the database. > > > > I can only think of two warning flags that I will have to consider: > > (1) I'll have to configure google play to not do auto update of the dozens > > of apps even when connected to Wifi... otherwise it will eat all my data > > (2) Also, of course, a given client's info will not reach the database > > until that night. So not fully real-time. > > > > What other worries am I forgetting? > > > > Huge thanks, and happy weekend to all -- > > > > Eric > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "commcare-users" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > > email to [commcare-users+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:commcare-users+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). > > -- > Jeremy Wacksman > Dimagi [http://www.dimagi.com](http://www.dimagi.com), Inc. ---
**Author:** ![Clayton\_Sims](https://dimagi.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.dimagi.com/clayton_sims/32/496_2.png) [@Clayton\_Sims](https://forum.dimagi.com/u/Clayton_Sims)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/possible-use-of-mifi-as-the-data-connectivity-for-mobile-workers/2183/3 "2015-05-04T14:45:31Z")
Eric, You can also configure most Android Devices to treat certain "Wifi" connections as if they were mobile data in order to correct this problem. How you configure it depends on your device, but it's generally either in the mobile data usage screen or on the wifi AP config. -Clayton > **···** > > On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 8:11 AM, Jeremy W. wrote: > > > Hi, Eric, > > > > That all sounds right to me. There are many CommCare projects that use a > > workflow similar to this, so provided you are okay with the delay in data > > (plus the inability of the users to use the phone as a phone) this should > > be a good approach to submitting data when you don't have SIM cards in the > > phones. You also have to make sure that users log in the first time when > > they are connected to the MiFi unit - but that is just a one-time issue. > > > > I would also recommend that you disable other phone settings that will > > cause updates, like making sure the phone is not syncing email, calendar, > > etc. to a google account all the time. > > > > One other issue with this approach would be if you are using case sharing > > > > - not sure if you are but that would require that users be diligent about > > syncing data at the start and end of the day. > > > > Jeremy > > > > On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 1:09 AM, Eric Stephan [estephan@fhi360.org](mailto:estephan@fhi360.org) wrote: > > > > > Hi all... > > > > > > We are looking for the wisest method of providing data connections for > > > our mobile workers. In the country in question, purchasing post-paid mobile > > > data for the workers is pretty expensive, and the process of buying a stack > > > of pre-paid top-up cards seems somewhat cumbersome (but might be our final > > > plan.) > > > > > > We were considering one more method involving a small portable "Mifi" > > > wifi unit... and I'd like to know if this would raise any worries for you. > > > > > > -- Our program actually involves outreach workers that return the phones > > > to the same central location every evening. the phones all go into a > > > cabinet and will be plugged in to charge their batteries. > > > > > > -- Therefore, we were considering purchasing one of those small "Mifi" > > > units to place inside that cabinet. The Mifi generates a wifi router that > > > can handle 10 devices. (happily, that is the exact number of phones that > > > will be stored there.) The Mifi unit has its own SIM chip and its own > > > postpaid data plan. So it shares its data connection to all the phones. > > > ... therefore, as the mobile worker collects data during the day, it > > > simply stores up its forms... who knows, maybe 10-20 forms in a day at the > > > most. The phone won't even be equippped with a SIM card... so it will not > > > have a data signal and will simply store up its forms. Then, when the > > > phone comes back to its cabinet at night, it will see the wifi signal, > > > connect, and sync all the forms up to the database. > > > > > > I can only think of two warning flags that I will have to consider: > > > (1) I'll have to configure google play to not do auto update of the > > > dozens of apps even when connected to Wifi... otherwise it will eat all my > > > data > > > (2) Also, of course, a given client's info will not reach the database > > > until that night. So not fully real-time. > > > > > > What other worries am I forgetting? > > > > > > Huge thanks, and happy weekend to all -- > > > > > > Eric > > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "commcare-users" group. > > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > > > email to [commcare-users+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:commcare-users+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). > > > > -- > > Jeremy Wacksman > > Dimagi [http://www.dimagi.com](http://www.dimagi.com), Inc. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "commcare-users" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > > email to [commcare-users+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:commcare-users+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**Author:** ![Eric\_Stephan2](https://dimagi.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Eric\_Stephan2](https://forum.dimagi.com/u/Eric_Stephan2)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/possible-use-of-mifi-as-the-data-connectivity-for-mobile-workers/2183/4 "2015-05-05T00:59:13Z")
I appreciate these tips much! I'll check out the "treat this wifi connection as if it were mobile data" function. And, in fact, our situation DOES use case sharing, to track referrals to a clinic -- I have to ask our team if it is rare that the client goes in the very same day, or if they can assume that the person will always take the trip to the clinic on a subsequent day. thanks again -- eric