3 'MiFi' (Huawei E5830) hands on
A few days ago, we got our hands on 3 Ireland’s new “MiFi” device. This is essentially a rebadged Huawei E5830. So far, we are quite impressed: unlike a regular mobile broadband dongle, it creates a wireless WiFi network anywhere, so you don’t need to install any drivers.
To set up the device, we popped our SIM card inside and turned it on. Once we had done that, a new wireless network appeared on our laptop, which we could connect to and get online without fuss. Going by the manual that came with the device, which is about the size of a very fat credit card, you can connect up to 5 computers or devices this way simultaneously. The manual specifically mentions it working with Apple’s iPod touch, but it should work with any WiFi-capable device. We can confirm that during our testing it worked fine with various laptops and an iPhone.
We ran some speed tests, and typically got about 2.5 Mbps downstream and 0.3 Mbps upstream, which isn’t bad at all for mobile broadband. If we had any gripes, it’s that the buttons on the side of the device are quite fiddly. This is an area where we feel Huawei could improve upon.
We paid €69 on a bill pay contract with 3 Ireland, plus their standard €19.99 monthly charge, which covers 15 GB of data usage. Please add your comments by clicking the “Comments” link below. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them as best I can.
- Urban
To set up the device, we popped our SIM card inside and turned it on. Once we had done that, a new wireless network appeared on our laptop, which we could connect to and get online without fuss. Going by the manual that came with the device, which is about the size of a very fat credit card, you can connect up to 5 computers or devices this way simultaneously. The manual specifically mentions it working with Apple’s iPod touch, but it should work with any WiFi-capable device. We can confirm that during our testing it worked fine with various laptops and an iPhone.
We ran some speed tests, and typically got about 2.5 Mbps downstream and 0.3 Mbps upstream, which isn’t bad at all for mobile broadband. If we had any gripes, it’s that the buttons on the side of the device are quite fiddly. This is an area where we feel Huawei could improve upon.
We paid €69 on a bill pay contract with 3 Ireland, plus their standard €19.99 monthly charge, which covers 15 GB of data usage. Please add your comments by clicking the “Comments” link below. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them as best I can.
- Urban