Quickbooks 2018 Multi User Mode using Mifi

Hello heath440.  Your computers need to see each other on the same network - LAN- to make multi-user work.  The Mifi device is a mobile hotspot best I can tell.  It gives access to the internet for multiple devices but is not the same as a router that establishes a LAN.  If the Mifi device has a wired ethernet out port to connect to a router you might be in luck.  

Short answer as others have said is yes, you can make it work.  But I'd suggest not doing it through your MiFi settings.

You might find a network person in your area to set you up with a simple network that also utilizes your MiFi ONLY for the Internet.  Basically it would look like either of the following options:

Option 1:

MiFi  <=>  Router  <=>  Computers      This configuration would require your MiFi to be compatible with the Router.  So you (or your network guy) would need to find out what is compatible.  But it removes one more piece of equipment if your MiFi is compatible.

Option 2:

MiFi  <=>  WiFi/Ethernet Bridge  <=>  Router  <=>  Computers      This configuration does not require your MiFi to be compatible with a router, so you can pick a router that best suits your office needs.  The WiFi/Ethernet Bridge (e.g. TRENDnet N900 or any of the other out there) simply connects via WiFi in the MiFi and then you run a cable to your Router's WAN or Internet port.  This also means you can put the MiFi wherever it gets the best signal and then just run a cable to wherever it makes sense to put the router.

Other great advantage is that you can change out the MiFi at any time as long as you either change the MiFi SSID or add the new MiFi SSID to the Adapter.  If you have multiple MiFis you can also swap them out as needed in case employees need to take one with them if they leave the office (or have a second one as a backup).

In both configurations you connect all of  your computers, printers, server, etc. to the new router (and therefore to your new dedicated network).  

One very important note.  If you choose to use WiFi on your new office network, on the computers, printers, etc., you need to make sure you use a different SSID (WiFi Network Name) from you MiFi(s) AND you need to make sure you remove the MiFi network from all or most of your devices.  I could see leaving the MiFi in your phone or in your notebook if you travel with the MiFi.  You just need to make sure the notebook is connected to the OFFICE WiFi, not MiFi, to work with QBs, print, etc. while you're in the office.

Other great advantage of this system is you can also set up a daily backup to a server (or shared drives on the other computers) not just for QBs, but for all your computers.

(Did you get that networking is kind of my thing.)

You can actually use a MiFi to create a local network (most MiFis).  So you *could* run QBs in Multi-User mode.  But I agree that it would really not be a recommended way to go.

I have multiple times walked into a situation where someone's needed a temporary network NOW.  So I've set up the above network with a little Cisco router and my MiFi in a few minutes.  And although I'm a VERY strong believer in hard wiring devices whenever possible.  With the current (and soon to be common) WiFi equipment available, it's hard to tell a client they can't use WiFi if they're set on it.

We've had luck in the past using multi user mode with two users in two physically different locations. We used Logmein Hamachi (https://help.logmein.com/articles/en_US/Downloads/LogMeIn-Hamachi-Mac-sfdwn0129) to create a P2P VPN network between the two disparate Macs.  It worked for a long while, but has stopped working since we upgraded to QBooks 2019.  

Any insights would be welcomed.

@dansm15 

Explore this private cloud solution to run QB in multi-user mode. It costs $25/month/access and your mobile users can subscribe only one user to access the host in turns to minimize the cost.

https://partners.myquickcloud.com/?pc=fiatlux

The great thing about LogMeIn is that although you may be sitting anywhere in the world, you're really working with QBs on your LOCAL network.  It's just the Keyboard, Video & Mouse (KVM) data that is traveling to your remote location.  The QBs data is either only on the local machine or only traveling between the local machine and the local server on your LAN. 

The upgrade to QBs 2019 should not have affected LogMeIn.  So my guess is that some other upgrades (OS?) or change on one of the two Macs is the issue. 

Try reloading LogMeIn or try one of the other free Remote Desktop Apps to see if you still have the issue.  I'm on a PC, but I'm still accessing client's machines running QB2019 (and QB2018) with no issues.