I have been reading about this device for over a year, it is a mobil hotspot (up to five devices) which provides a 802.22b/g wireless connectivity on a 3G network. I took the plunge last week, and retired my longtime user-friendly broadband Express Port card and made the upgrade to MiFi. The reason was based on purchasing a non-wireless IPad2 and if I decided to upgrade to the new screamingly fast MacBook Pro’s, it no longer has the Express port so I will need another mobile solution.
I installed the supplied lithium battery and set this small device on for its initial three hours charge. Setting up, activation and connectivity was very easy. It was very, very easy. The device has a SSID and password on the unit base. You open an internet browser, type in a provided http IP address, and an activation wizard opens. It prompts you for a phone number and a few other security questions, and you are done with activation. No cd’s, no driver download, no software, no codes, just seamless. The MIFI grabs its off-battery charge (4-5 hrs life) with a supplied power adaptor or a supplied USB cable.
My MacBookPro laptop ‘saw’ the MIFI network and I immediately was able to go online. This entire process took five minutes.
As far as performance, it is early in my field testing mode. However, the device has quicker download speeds than my express card, I can carry the MIFI easily in my shirt pocket and travel about with my laptop, compared to the express card which stuck out a few inches and which always caused a worry in the back of my mind, about snagging on something.
The MiFi has a green->amber side led which indicates battery status, and an on/off switch which doubles as a connection indicator, which I tend to use, until I have a handle on my data usage. However, my good news is that my previous broadband card had an unlimited data plan and the upgrade to MIFI carried that plan over.
The take away here is that if you are hesitant or not aware of this technology or device. You should take a look into it. MIFI is a mature mainstream device,and which will be available via an upgrade path to Verizon 4 g network (shortly?). I was able to get nto a 2 year plan and the MIFI 2200 was $0, with a free upgrade path to the 4G MIFI when available.
I think you’ll be surprised by its capabilities and comprable costs, and it will improve your mobilitiy as you travel…….ps…I picked up my IPAD2 at a Verizon store on IPDA launch day. The APPLE store had 500+ queued, I went to the Verizon store and was #3 in line. Each person who purchased an IPAD2 also purchased a MIFI plan…..hmmm……
