Monday, June 22, 2009
Novatel Wireless’ MiFi intelligent personal hotspot was one of our top 5 gadgets from ShowStoppers back in April, and had floored us a few months earlier in Barcelona. Having released their CDMA EVDO Rev.A MiFi 2200 on Verizon and Sprint to very positive reaction, the company is now launching its GSM 3G HSPA model, the MiFi 2352. As well as the ability to share a single mobile broadband connection among up to five WiFi users, the MiFi 2352 brings a few new tricks to the table; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
For the full rundown of what’s in the MiFi box, check out our video unboxing. Basically, in its SIM-free form as you see here, Novatel Wireless supply a global power-adapter with various plug inserts, a USB to microUSB cable, rechargeable 1,530mAh battery and a small printed Getting Started guide. The MiFi 2352 supports various connection speeds, from quadband (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GPRS/EDGE up to triband (900/1900/2100MHz) UMTS HSUPA/HSDPA. Network-depending, you can theoretically see up to 7.2Mbps downlink rates and up to 5.76Mbps uplink rates.
There’s no driver disc, because there needn’t be any drivers. As standard Novatel require no connection manager – the software Verizon supply with their CDMA MiFi is their own decision; Sprint’s version uses no such app – presuming you’re using the 2352’s WiFi connection. Setup is as speedy as dropping in your SIM, holding down the single button until the lights begin blinking, and then waiting for the MiFi to start spitting out a wireless connection. The default SSID is a sensible “MiFi_2352″ and by navigating to “http://www.mifi” you access the device’s locally-hosted homepage showing the number of connected clients (up to 5 are supported simultaneously), connection details and battery status.
Since sharing a capped HSPA data connection via an unsecured WiFi network seems a recipe for overage charges or disconnection, the first step for most users will be accessing the admin pages and setting up WEP, WPA or WPA2 encryption. Thankfully that’s straightforward with the MiFi’s basic but speedy UI; there are also options for MAC filtering and recording various logs of WiFi connections and modem events. The MiFi can be loaded with up to six “internet profiles”, each with corresponding settings to a different SIM; that way, if you regularly switch between carriers (say, if traveling) then it’s simple to flick between the presets.
As on a full-sized router, there’s also port filtering support, the ability to set custom permitted applications, port forwarding, a switchable DHCP server and VPN pass-through support. Unlike a normal router there’s also an optional power management setting which can shut the MiFi down after between 2 or 60 minutes of idle time. Once you’ve made all the tweaks you want, you can backup the settings to a connected computer.
For the full rundown of what’s in the MiFi box, check out our video unboxing. Basically, in its SIM-free form as you see here, Novatel Wireless supply a global power-adapter with various plug inserts, a USB to microUSB cable, rechargeable 1,530mAh battery and a small printed Getting Started guide. The MiFi 2352 supports various connection speeds, from quadband (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GPRS/EDGE up to triband (900/1900/2100MHz) UMTS HSUPA/HSDPA. Network-depending, you can theoretically see up to 7.2Mbps downlink rates and up to 5.76Mbps uplink rates.
There’s no driver disc, because there needn’t be any drivers. As standard Novatel require no connection manager – the software Verizon supply with their CDMA MiFi is their own decision; Sprint’s version uses no such app – presuming you’re using the 2352’s WiFi connection. Setup is as speedy as dropping in your SIM, holding down the single button until the lights begin blinking, and then waiting for the MiFi to start spitting out a wireless connection. The default SSID is a sensible “MiFi_2352″ and by navigating to “http://www.mifi” you access the device’s locally-hosted homepage showing the number of connected clients (up to 5 are supported simultaneously), connection details and battery status.
Since sharing a capped HSPA data connection via an unsecured WiFi network seems a recipe for overage charges or disconnection, the first step for most users will be accessing the admin pages and setting up WEP, WPA or WPA2 encryption. Thankfully that’s straightforward with the MiFi’s basic but speedy UI; there are also options for MAC filtering and recording various logs of WiFi connections and modem events. The MiFi can be loaded with up to six “internet profiles”, each with corresponding settings to a different SIM; that way, if you regularly switch between carriers (say, if traveling) then it’s simple to flick between the presets.
As on a full-sized router, there’s also port filtering support, the ability to set custom permitted applications, port forwarding, a switchable DHCP server and VPN pass-through support. Unlike a normal router there’s also an optional power management setting which can shut the MiFi down after between 2 or 60 minutes of idle time. Once you’ve made all the tweaks you want, you can backup the settings to a connected computer.
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