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A Real-World Test of the Verizon MiFi
uninet writes "Over the course of a few days last week, I was able to spend a good deal of time with Verizon's amazing little MiFi 3G router. It admirably performed its task of providing speedy Wi-Fi Internet to other devices via an EvDO Rev. A connection. Ironically, the device even improved the experience of using the iPhone, making it usable for surfing where its native network (AT&T) doesn't even connect."
I know, it's all wow-ee-wow-oo-oo, but I'm still not impressed. If you're on the road a lot and can justify the extra cost of cellular access, yes, it's very cool. For everyone else, not so much. I just can't pay for a home plan and a wireless plan or multiple wireless plans for myself and my family. It's a luxury I can't justify.
We've got phones that are palmtop computing devices, internet access devices, phones, cameras, video cameras, and music/video players all in one. Device makers are embracing the mantra of integration. Is it that the wired arms of the telcos can't vertically integrate home and wireless access into affordable bundles due to anti-trust concerns or is it that they currently see that keeping them separate maximizes profit because the market just isn't demanding "internet anywhere" convenience at a workable price point?
Start a happiness pandemic
Ironically, the device even improved the experience of using the iPhone, making it usable for surfing where its native network (AT&T) doesn't even connect.
How exactly is that "ironic"?
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
I have a treo which does 3g on AT&T's (first cingular's) network. I would use the mobile test from dslreports.com on my treo to check my speed from various locations, just to play with my new toy. I got a pretty good feel for how fast it would go at my workplace, at my favorite lunch spots, etc and in different kinds of weather. The iphone came out and i saw a 25% drop in speed, the iphone 3g came out and i saw another 25% drop in speed. It seems like on most networks, if you want to get your advertised speeds, get away from where everybody is using it and attach to a cell tower without too many people attached. While these mifi tests may test the theoretical-realistic speeds (data transfer speeds in real world situations), if this catches on, users will experience realistic-realistic speeds (data transfer speeds in real world with real world congestion).
Standard disclaimer may apply, a single user's empirical tests do not cover even a fraction of a percent of the real world. Please feel free to post your anecdotes which prove or disprove my anecdote.
Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
I'll probably go out and buy one before long. Despite the expense, the 5GB monthly cap, and the onerous contract terms, the only broadband choices where I live are EVDO and an older wireless system using Alvarion gear. I got my Alvarion setup five years ago and have been gladly paying $44 a month for, at best, 320kbps, using a rooftop parabolic antenna pointed at the nearest tower. I have a laptop with an EVDO setup but still have the Alvarion gear for other household members. I would love to get rid of it.
Aside from people like me who can't get cable or DSL, devices like this work well for occasional users who are more concerned about convenience of installation than blazingly high speeds or the ability to download mountains of data. Clearwire has been selling similar services for quite some time.
Think of all the funny man-in-the-middle pranks you can play on desperate business travelers in airports with "free public wifi"!
It does exactly what it's supposed to, it's tiny, fast, and very simple to administer. It's a shame that 5GB/month costs what it costs, but if you can put out one serious server fire or interact with a customer in a way that saves a deal, it's worth every bit of what it costs.
I bought one on a Friday night, and it paid for itself and earned its monthly keep before lunchtime on Saturday.
Interestingly, it seems to be far more sensitive to Verizon's local RF signals than my phone is. Which is nice.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
It's pretty cool given the size of the device, but bridging cellular and WiFi networks is nothing new. I'm sure it's been done long before; personally I recall doing this in 2006 while working at Cal-IT2 (a research institution at UCSD). I was with a group of engineers stuck in barracks at Moffett Field with no WiFi or TV. We did have a Soekris board running Debian, a Verizon PCMCIA broadband card, and PCMCIA WiFi card which worked with hostap; and we ended up with a WiFi access point serving cellular broadband.
These days I can do the same thing using my Samsung Saga and ICScontrol to share connection over WiFi. Or I can tether to my phone to my laptop running Gentoo, place my laptop's WiFi card in ad-hoc mode.
Sadly, PS/2 was yet another victim of USB, which doesn't care what you plug into it, the electrical slut.
Your other option instead of waiting for a Mi-Fi, or if you want the portability of a USB cellular modem, is the Kyocera KR-2 Mobile Router. I use this with Verizon and it has the added benefit of being network-neutral, and also allowing for using another (faster) network and reverting to the cellular connection as a backup. The downside? Not as portable.
Let's talk when this can be used for using the internet. Until the price/GB drops, this is pretty much useless.
According to T-Mobile's site, You'll be able to use your phone in Japan, South Korea and Mexico just fine, T-Mobile has a presence in Europe, so it'll work fine there too. It'll cost you an arm and a leg++ to do anything, but it will work. Check http://www.t-mobile.com/International/RoamingOverview.aspx?tp=Inl_Tab_RoamWorldwide&WT.mc_n=ILDCoverage&WT.mc_t=onsite to see the prices of any country you want. As for the phone, T-Mobile happens to sell the G1, which has many excellent programs for email access, and a very find physical keyboard. You can even use it as a wifi router with http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/ if you choose to check email or type on a laptop.
Apparently pre-paid data SIMs in Europe don't really exist. They bill you up to $31/MB in equivalent charges, which empties your pre-paid pretty quick. Not to mention crossing borders and finding out your pre-paid is all of a sudden 'foreign' and charging you for incoming calls. Darn.
Damn, but it figures. Even the Europeans see data as a cash cow. And they are so right. Plan on using hotel WiFi and putting up with marginal service and no VOIP.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
As others point out, it isn't a revolution in communication. It is, however, a very elegant implementation of a useful service at a price that is (for my needs) reasonable.
I've been using it a week or two now, here's what my take:
Summary: It does what it says it does, in the way it promises, without the slightest hassle. For electronics, that's a hell of an endorsement.
The GOOD:
1. Size - it's damn easy to carry It really is as small as the ads make it look.
2. Replaceable Battery - I have a spare right with it (spare was just under $40)
3. Runs on USB charger, laptop USB, or Battery
4. Good - maybe not amazing - battery life (2-3 hours in reality)
5. Micro-usb connector is compatible with my phone charger so I carry fewer blocks
6. Performance -> It out performs the EVDO Rev A. Mini-PCI card that I had in my laptop.
7. Reception -> Better than my best cell phone ---- Also, in poor reception areas like some hotel rooms, I can put it over by the window where the signal is good, and use the network anywhere in the room!
8. Ubiquity -> I don't have to pick what device I bring with me based on my connectivity needs.
9. Multi-Device support -> Laptop, Hand-held game, netbook, kid's laptop in the car, etc.
10. No need to use the crappy Verizon connection software on the laptop (or worse, Dell's bastard stepchild version)
Less Good / Room to Improve
1. It needs a signal level indicator on the outside surface. To check signal, you have to hit the router's config page with a browser.
2. The data sheet on this says it has a connector for an external antenna. I have yet to see such a thing. Maybe it is hiding.
3. It seems to be powered up any time you plug it in to charge. No way to charge with the wifi part off (you can tell it not to connect to the cell network)
Overall, I'm really impressed with this thing.
Sure, I could run a linux vm on my laptop and share the internal card over the wireless; I could get a router that's compatible with another evdo card, or some other solution -- but this just works and works well.
As far as the cost: If you travel on business and end up paying for hotel wifi, this quickly pays for itself. Better yet, is the ability to pop open the laptop or handheld pretty much ANYWHERE and pretty much ANYTIME and get connected. Airport baggage claim, taxi cab, doctor's waiting room, and most important at the park waiting for one of my kids to finish soccer practice. You could just find an open wifi, but I like knowing what I'm connected to.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
Now it can do what my Nokia N95 (or nearly any S60 device) has been doing for ages through Walkinghotspot
I mean to say Oxford American English Dictionary. The grand OED itself says:
2. fig. A condition of affairs or events of a character opposite to what was, or might naturally be, expected; a contradictory outcome of events as if in mockery of the promise and fitness of things. (In F. ironie du sort.)
It goes on to note this usage has been around since at least the 17th century.
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"You would not get a high grade for such a design" -- Andy Tanenbaum on Linus' Linux design.
A similar service in Hong Kong: Vodafone's home broadband, which uses a router that connects to the HSPA 3G network, combining a 4 port ethernet router, Wifi, an IP phone line. It's specifically NOT mobile, locked to a particular cell, but on paper seems good deal. HK$148/month for unlimited usage (about US$19), supposedly 7 MB/s. Just been introduced so no idea how it actually performs.