Three intros second-gen MiFi Three will release its second-generation MiFi modem-meets-hotspot gadget next month. Like the original MiFi, the new model is a rebadged device - this time the E585 - from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The new version sports a better, OLED display and one-touch operation, Three said. Three Huawei E585 The new screen …
This is what the original MiFi (Huawei E5830) should have been. I'm definitely upgrading mine.
To the person asking about an unlock, have a look here: http://tinyurl.com/32r39vp. I've not got around to unlocking mine yet, but I couldn't find any reports of it breaking things. That's for the original one, no idea whether it will work for this new one - I suspect not.
I have the original device. It has 4 flaws, of which this update seems to fix 2 or 3:
1. Incomprehensible display - five LEDs, most of them bi-colour, all with different flash-patterns. I have to carry around the appropriate page from the instructions to know what it is telling me. Fixed.
2. No web interface, so you need a Windows box to change e.g. the WiFi settings. Fixed.
3. Can't tell if it's on of off. In both cases, no LEDs are on. Easy to discover that the battery is flat because it was left on. Have they fixed this?
4. This is the one that it won't have fixed - poor coverage. Whatever percentage of the population they claim to cover, it has really never worked in any of the places where I've wanted to use it. ("YMMV", as they say.) I've found WiFi hotspots are easier to find. Because of this, it really hasn't been a good use of £50.
Re unlocking it to use with other SIMs - you can do this legitimately for about £10 if you ask 3.
I have been using the original model on a Linux box and it is good that this new version will use a web based set up.
The new one would be better if the internal memory card was accessible over blue-tooth or wifi, via an encrypted path would be good as well. Otherwise the MiFi's memory card is little more than useless.
I agree those 5 LED's drives one crazy.
As with mobiles, I would like to be able to use the MiFi without the battery being installed, either via use or an electrical plug, but then again that may hit the battery sales....
3's monthly tariff is a bit of a rip off though, as the MiFi is deigned to enable 5 simultaneous users one would expect the need sign up to a high Gigabyte allowance, but the contracts are less than cheap.
The highest 15 Gigabyte cheapest monthly contract with a MiFi is £22:00 and only for 18 months, but with a free dongle for a 24 month 15 Gig contract it is £15:00 and one just pops down to the shops and gets a MiFi for £50:00, rather than having to pay the equivalent of about £126:00 with the 18 month contract.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
