Monday August 23, 2010
By TAN KIT HOONG
intech@thestar.com.my
DiGi's MiFi gets your mobile devices connected to the Internet wherever the company has coverage.
THE nature of my job means that I probably spend more time on the road travelling than the average person. The problem is that even when we're travelling we're often required to work online.
There are a number of carriers offering some kind of wireless USB modem for 3G wireless access but the thing is that these dongles are very dependent on the operating system you use - you're pretty much up the creek without a paddle if you don't have a Windows PC or a Mac machine.
So what do you do? The answer is to get a pocket wireless router. This is where the DiGi MiFi comes in.
What you get
The DiGi MiFi isn't something new - similar products have been available in the United States for some time, but it is only now they are making an appearance in this country.
The hardware itself is actually a Huawei E5 pocket router and it's pretty small. In fact it's no bigger than a regular mobile phone and you can just as easily slip it into a pocket and forget about it.
The back opens up to reveal a SIM card slot and a fairly large battery which accounts for the claimed 4-hour battery life.
DiGi is offering the device for RM360 together with a monthly fee for 16GB Internet access on 3G but beyond the first month payment for the access there is no contract as such - the device is yours to keep and the data plan can be stopped after the first month.
Again, like all of the company's data plans, once you exceed the 16GB data limit you're not charged extra but instead get throttled down to 128Kbps speed from the typical data rate of 700Kbps that DiGi gives you.
Not too bad a deal as 128Kbps is still good enough for general surfing.
In use
Right out of the box, the MiFi is preconfigured with all the settings you need to get Internet access.
Ayou need to do is fire up your notebook/PDA/portable game console or another device, turn on WiFi and then connect to the MiFi like you would a normal WiFi access point.
Initial settings have no wireless security, but the router has all the normal security settings such as setting up a password for the wireless network.
In fact, I would strongly recommend that a user go into the settings and turn on WPA2 security or risk strangers hogging bandwidth when you're out and about.
This is even more important in the case of the MiFi because not only do you have a data cap, but the device itself can only accept five devices logged on at any one time.
You don't want to be locked out of your own wireless access just because a bunch of people at the cafe are connected on the MiFi.
This ability to connect multiple devices at once is also where the MiFi has it's greatest advantage - unlike the USB 3G dongles that most telcos sell, the MiFi is essentially hardware agnostic.
Basically any device which supports WiFi can connect to the MiFi without needing special drivers or even requiring a USB port for that matter.
Configuration
Anybody who has any experience setting up a wireless home router will find the MiFi settings page familiar.
Just connect to the router (whether wirelessly or via a USB port), open a browser and type in the URL, which by default is 192.168.1.1.
Going to the URL will take you to the router's settings page and from there you can access all the familiar router settings, including adding a password to access the router (recommended), changing the SSID and of course the router's security settings (essential).
Even users unfamiliar with router settings should be able to figure out at least the wireless security settings - I recommend at least WPA2 AES.
In use the hardware itself worked just fine, although I did at times have a problem where I could not connect to the WiFi network even though I hadn't reached the five-device limit.
In terms of 3G network coverage, it was surprisingly good within Kuala Lumpur city limits - I could get a connection most times and audio streaming worked without skipping about 70% of the time even while driving.
In my house in the Petaling Jaya area, signal wasn't all that good but I could still surf without a problem.
I also took a road trip to Singapore and had the chance to test DiGi coverage as I travelled on the bus to the south.
As expected, coverage on the highway was spotty at best - there were areas where I could surf for a good half and hour before the Internet connection dropped, while at other times I only managed to surf for a couple of minutes.
Streaming music was practically impossible on it as there wasn't a period where I could stream music without skipping for more than a couple of minutes.
Of course, this is quite an extreme test and not even my Maxis connection allowed me to stream audio without a break.
Battery life is pretty close to the claimed four hour limit. If you want more juice, you could connect the MiFi to a regular USB charger or your notebook's USB port and charge it while using it.
Oh yes while there is a five device limit, you can extend it to six devices when you connect the MiFi to a notebook via USB - in this case you need to install the software that is stored on the MiFi.
The MiFi device has some flash memory onboard which includes drivers for direct PC connections. Installing it and then connecting the MiFi will route the Internet connection through the USB port when your PC is connected to it, leaving the wireless free to accept up to five devices again.
Conclusion
Overall, the MiFi is a pretty cool device. I can see myself using it for the times when I need Internet access on the notebook or iPad and there aren't any wireless hotspots.
Unlike 3G USB dongles, the MiFi also has the advantage of being quite future proof and hardware agnostic.
Any device will work, as long as it has WiFi, which means you can connect say, a Sony PSP or even a Nintendo DSi to it to download games.
Pros: Works over WiFi; hardware agnostic.
Cons: Occasional hardware-related connection problems.
DiGi MiFi
(Huawei/DiGi)
3G WiFi pocket router
SPECIFICATIONS: HSUPA/HSDPA/UMTS 2100Mhz, EDGE, GSM, 802.11b/g
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 95 × 48 × 13mm
WEIGHT: 90g
PRICE: RM360; RM128 for 16GB monthly access plan
Review unit courtesy of DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, 1-800-68-3333
http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/8/23/it_gadgets_reviews/20100823170911&sec=it_gadgets_reviews
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