Japan Gets MiFi Equivalent — Huawei Pocket WiFi
I have stated on more than one occasion that the Novatel MiFi is a candidate for gadget of the year. A pocket Wi-Fi router that uses a 3G connection to get up to 5 devices online no matter the location (given 3G coverage) is incredibly useful. A similar device by Huawei is now available in Japan, and it offers the same benefits as the Novatel product.
The Pocket WiFi (D25HW) by Huawei taps into the 7.2 Mbps 3G network and shares the connection over Wi-FI with up to 5 devices. It features a microSD slot that will accept cards up to 16 GB. The Pocket WiFi can be had for as little as $67 with a 2-year 3G data plan, or for $445 sans contract.
Thanks to our man on the street in the East, Robert Kawaratani for finding this.
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Hmmm, these have been available in the UK for months now – http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/MiFi – and I’m willing to bet the Japanese got them before we did.
In related news, the Wi-Fi Router application on my HTC HD2 gives me faster internet access than my Huawei 3G USB dongle. I’m not sure if that’s down to the Snapdragon processor or better code on the phone but either way I’m currently stuck with a mobile broadband contract that doesn’t seem quite as useful as it once did.
how about to hook my magicJack to it? will i be free to go…?
I’ve had the Version that’s available in the UK from THREE for a couple of months and have to say that it works pretty well.
The Novatel Mifi is only now becoming available from other providers here, and even then its mainly to Business customers right now.
Yep, that definitely looks like the Huawei E5830. Three in the UK call it a MiFi – not sure why Novatel lets them get away with that.
Alan.