scott.deagan January 2, 2010 01:06
This device is pure unadulterated awesomeness wrapped in a case not much bigger than your average chocolate bar (and certainly lighter than a chocolate bar).
To cut a long story short - I went on holiday, paid for 24 hours of BTOpenZone from my hotel room, but an hour into using the BT service the signal was completely lost and never re-appeared. The next day I made my way to the nearest 3-Store with the intention of purchasing a PAYG dongle, but when I saw this intriguing device I decided to purchase one instead. I paid £70 on PAYG, and this included 3GB of traffic (that expires in 3 months).
I don't know where to begin. When I returned to my hotel room, I inserted the SIM card and battery, and plugged it into the supplied USB charger. My laptop detected the WiFi, and I attached using the supplied key. Everything just worked!
After successfully connecting, my first course of action was testing the speed (http://www.speedtest.net/). The reported result was just over 1 MBit/sec downstream, and a 300 Kbit/sec upstream. Not bad considering I was out in the middle of nowhere (40 odd miles from the nearest city).
Life was good - really good! I could connect my mobile and laptop simultaneously, just as I could at home. The spec claims that no more than 4 devices can be attached. I have yet to test this. What I did take a quick look at, however, was the features exposed via the admin app. The 3 MiFi device has a firewall, configurable DHCP server, port forwarding (virtual server), and even DMZ options!
What I really love about this device is NO DEVICE SPECIFIC DRIVERS ARE REQUIRED!!! If your device has WiFi, it can use MiFi :). This is particularly good news for me as I'm a Linux enthusiast running Ubuntu Netbook Remix on a Toshiba NB200 netbook. I for one am sick and tired of drivers (or the lack thereof) determining the OS I "need" to use. I love Linux and want to use it as my primary (exclusive) operating system at home. The 3 MiFi brings me one step closer to realizing my dream.
Even though I've only had this device for 2 days, I would unreservedly give it 5 out of 5 stars. I'm going to carry this device with me wherever I go. Being a walking WiFi hotspot is quite a strange experience. The 3 MiFi is definitely the best (most useful) gadget I have purchased in a very long time.