Mobile devices overtake computers on Wi-Fi networks

Mobile devices, led by the iPad and Android phones and tablets, have overtaken computers on Wi-Fi networks, according to a new report from cloud networking provider Meraki.

It’s another sign that mobile is increasingly the way people access the Internet, bypassing traditional computers in their hunt for information. Meraki said that in 2010, Windows and Mac OS X accounted for 64 percent of devices that accessed Wi-Fi networks, while iOS (the iPhone and the iPod touch at the time) accounted for 32 percent while Android was just 1 percent. A year later, iOS, bolstered by the iPad and Android now represent 58 percent of Wi-Fi devices while Windows and Mac OS X account for 36 percent. The numbers have gone up since March, when Om got some Wi-Fi usage statistics from Meraki, which found that the iPhone accounted for 23.5 percent of connections, while Android had 5.2 percent and the iPad took 3.4 percent.