Every now and then a piece of software really grabs me. JoikuSpot is one such application. This software turns mobile phones running Symbian S60, like my Nokia N95, into portable WiFi hotspots.

JoikuSpot is a free download, which gives a 90 day trial version. It can be either sent directly to your mobile via SMS from the download site or you can download it and then copy it to your phone manaully. I downloaded it and used Bluetooth to send it to the phone. Installation took only a few minutes and a few seconds later I had a WiFi hotspot running from my phone.

The main reason I was looking for an app like this was for my iPod touch. I connected the touch to the Internet through my N95's data connection over WiFi and it just worked. The downside is that there no real security as I couldn't set WEP, WPA or even a basic username/password for log in. The Read Me suggest you can but i couldn't find the appropriate option. However, there is a log so you can see how many clients are connected to your phone.

Only HTTP and HTTPS are supported. FTP and IMAP support will come soon. Given that JoikuSpot is still in beta I'm not surprised that the feature set is still incomplete.

Why use this rather than sharing a connection over Bluetooth? The answer is easy. Firstly WiFi is capable of faster data transfers than Bluetooth so you'll have a better web browsing experience. Secondly, and in my view more importantly, this is much easier than pairing a Bluetooth device and configuring a modem connection on your laptop.

Windows Mobile users aren't left out. There is also a JoikuSpot, called WMWifiRouter, downloadable from Joiku.com that does the same with Windows Mobile smartphones.

Thus far, JoikuSpot has passed my "just works" test.

 Internet Connection Sharing • JoikuSoft • N95 • WiFi HotSpot