MiFi 2352 on the road experience [Update 1 + 2]

22 08 2009

We just returned from vacation tour through several places in Germany. Overall a great trip plus the MiFi added additional pleasure for all of our devices (2 * iPhone + a Windows 7 notebook) and saved us a lot of money, compared to hotel WiFi charges and roaming charges.

The Network experience

Before we left I had bought and setup a PrePaid Fonic card. I bought the SIM card and activated the daily data flat rate plan. Their pricing scheme is simple, you are charged € 2.49 per day of usage with a drop back to EDGE speed after using 1 GB. Fonic leverages the German O2 GSM network. Since being taken over by Telefonica, O2 has invested into their network, so that I expected good UMTS or even HSUPA coverage. This expectation was fully met at our first location. The MiFi immediately picked up a HSUPA signal and delivered very good network connection, after it had started to work (details later).

Our second stop provided a challenge. We had chosen to spent a week on the island Usedom. near the border to Poland. Landscape and tourism are the most prominent feature of this location. Network speed dropped back to GPRS speed. For my typical notebook usage this was definitely not enough, e-mail and Google Reader on the iPhone worked ok. Luckily we had very good weather and no situation required me to connect the notebook to the cloud. Other networks (mostly T-Mobile), had in some places UMTS coverage. As I now from previous trips to Germany, that T-Mobile has a good and wide-spread 3G network plus complete EDGE coverage I have now established a contingency solution with Ja! Mobil. Ja! Mobil uses the T-Mobile network, has a daily flat rate for € 2.49 and a maximum connection speed of 384 kB/sec (UMTS speed).

All further stops, mostly metropolitan areas in Germany, again had mostly full HSUPA coverage.

The MiFi experience

After unpacking our stuff in our first location I quickly wanted to check my e-mail, tried to switch on the MiFi and nothing happened. It had worked some hours earlier but now nothing happened. Probably the battery was empty, so I hooked it up to the AC charger and we left the hotel.Later that evening still the same problem. So I started to examine the problem. The MiFi seems to "crash" immediately after plugging in the power supply (solid red LED indicator)

To make a long story short: the delivered charger doesn’t work with the MiFi. My MiFi currently only charges using the supplied USB <-> MicroUSB cable and any USB power supply, e.g. iPhone AC charger, USB car battery charger or notebook USB port. I later bought a Motorola power supply for standard MicroUSB devices, but the effect remains the same.

Besides this problem the MiFi worked as expected and connected us to the cloud. The only downside is the approx. 10 second wait time before it starts to deliver the Wifi signal and is hooked up to the GSM network. I didn’t do a full blown eval of the battery time. My subjective rating, with no constant operation but multiple startups of the device, would be an operating time of 2.5 hours per charge. Enough for a vacation, for business use I might require a longer battery.

I mailed MobilX, the shop where I bought the MiFi, about the problem. So far they responded that I should send back the whole set and it will take them 2-3 weeks for a repair / return. As I have some trips ahead and I’m allready hooked to the device, this currently is no feasible approach for me. I have to reach out to them and see if there is any other solution. I’ll keep you posted.

[Update 1]

Approached mobilX again regarding the necessary repair. As the problem seems to be with the charger, they now asked me to mail in only the charger. Did this today. Now I’m waiting for any further processing.

[/Update]

[Update 2]

mobilX replaced the charger fairly fast. It took them roughly a week before the replacement part reached me. Unfortunately the charging problem remains. So I’ll have to sent in the complete MiFi unit

.mobilX WebSite

[Update 2]

Overall a positive experience. I highly recommend the MiFi.

- PTL -


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Categories : General, Mobile, Travel, iPhone

MiFi 2352 or Tired of data roaming charges

20 07 2009

Data roaming charges in Europe are sometimes crazy, two digit Swiss Franc figures per mega byte (MB) are common, if a cellphone is operating in a foreign network1 . A work around needed.

What happened?

Looking at my normal internet usage profile, these fees can sum up pretty quick to a serious amount of money.
The last time I observed my internet network traffic for simple email processing, RSS browsing, news reading and some instant messaging for about 2 hours I had used roughly 200 MB.
On my last trip I had to check email while en-route. So my iPhone was set to manual pull mode for the email Activesync connection to my hosted exchange and I sometimes requested a sync. Over a couple of hours this added up to 2 MB, for which my service provider charged SFr 16.
Normally I refrain from using the roaming data service, but sometimes I need to use it and honestly I want to use the internet and tools I’m used too.

Carrier Options

Since I live in Switzerland and often travel for a couple of days to other European destinations I have optimised my Swiss phone contract to the lowest possible per MB fee while roaming, the next step would be to purchase a monthly MB contingent, e.g. 200 MB for SFr. 200 which is in many ways ridiculous.
So it seems that there is a need to obtain local pre-paid SIM cards for each country with reasonable pricing. Interestingly I stumbled over a site that maintains hints on local pre-paid arrangements for data usage. Prepaid Wireless Internet Access
This was a good starting point. So the carrier side was covered.

Required Hardware

Last year I had experimented with a software solution using an old Windows Mobile handset. The software basically transformed the handset into a wireless access point for a GSM network. The solution worked, but the mobile handsets battery emptied rapidly. Great idea, but not usable.
Using a USB data stick to connect my notebook to the internet would only solve half the problem, as could use my iPhone only with my notebook.

Novatel Wireless MiFi 2352

Earlier this year I found a first post about a to be released device made by Novatel Wireless called MiFi, which would serve as a mobile wireless access point connecting to a mobile phone network. A version is sold in the US as EVDO version since early 2009. Some weeks back a GSM version was released. The only option to buy this device is currently through mobilx webshop in Hungary. So I ordered one and was astonished to receive it within 2 days for a decent delivery charge. Great service.

MiFi 2352 usage

The device is nicely built and really lightweight. Set-up was simple, with reading the the manual carefully upfront, it can be completed in three minutes. You basically need to configure the device through it’s web page (http://192.168.1.1 when connected to the WLan). I first tried to do the config via the USB connection, but after some minutes consulted the guide :-)

When running the device has only two LEDs which indicate the WLan and GSM connection state.

Mif 2352 WAN LED states

So far my first test results are great. UMTS reception in my office is sometimes challenging, but the device picked up a full signal.
Charging of the device is only possible with the included power adapter. If you connect the device with the included USB/Micro-USB cable it goes into data connection mode and doesn’t charge. One friendly chap on the net posted a work-around for this. You just need to cut two cables. jkkmobile: How-to: USB charger hack for Novatel MiFi

So now I’m looking forward to my next trip with full internet coverage throughout my trip for reasonable money.
-PTL-

  1. SFr 11 roughly equal to US$ 10↩

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