MiFi from 3 Review

I have recently been trialling Three’s MiFi device as a way to get my Apple iPad online when I’m not near a WiFi Hotspot. Is is any good? Read on to find out…

What’s a MiFi?

You should be familiar with the term WiFi, which allows you to surf the Internet without any wires from the device of your choice (PC, Mac, Games Console, Mobile Phone etc) to a WiFi Hotspot, which is in turn, connected to a telephone line to an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

You might also have heard of a Mobile Broadband Dongle. This is a USB device that plugs into your computer and allows you to connect that computer to the Internet using a Mobile Network (Orange, Vodafone, Three etc).

A MiFi is basically a combination of the two. You can connect any device to it using WiFi, and then the device connects to the Internet using a Mobile Network, rather than a fixed line (from BT).

Why use a MiFi?

The beauty of using a MiFi is that you don’t need to have a traditional telephone line connection to the Internet, you can connect your device to the Internet wherever you happen to be (provided that you have mobile signal!).

Also, unlike a USB Broadband Dongle, which allows one device to connect to the Internet at a time, a MiFi allows up to five devices to use the same Internet connection.

The MiFi is compact and light, and will easily slip into a pocket or bag so that you can hop onto the Internet wherever you choose to take it!

Using the Three MiFi

Getting the unit up and running is a breeze, although you do actually need a PC for the first part.

There are a selection of lights on the unit that give statuses to different parts of the MiFi service, Clockwise from top-left are:

• Network coverage - This will go green when it detects a mobile signal
• Battery Status – This will change from green, yellow and red, as your battery is used
• M (Mobile Broadband) – This informs you that you have a Internet connection (dark blue/light blue for super fast connection)
• W (WiFi) is enabled – This allows your devices to connect to the MiFi
• R - is only seen when you are roaming (using the MiFi abroad)

There are 3 buttons down the side of the unit, a power on/off plus a button to turn on/off WiFi and Mobile Broadband independently.

Getting the unit up and running requires pressing (and holding for 2 seconds) these buttons in a certain order – Power, WiFi then Mobile Broadband, with each related light flashing, and then turning solid to indicate its active.

Once the lights are static you are good to go.  All you then need to do is enter the provided WiFi Key on your WiFi device and you should be surfing the net in no time.

Results

The speeds of the MiFi have been pretty great. I have been getting between 1.5Mb and 3Mb.

I have streamed video to my iPad and iPhone from TVCatchup simultaneously using the same MiFi connection, and got fault-less picture quality.

I downloaded a 450MB App from the iTunes Store in under 40 minutes.

After the initial 12 hour battery charge, it then takes 3 hours for a full charge (from mains).

With a standard 3G connection to the Internet, the Apple App Store would detect that you are not using WiFi and prevent any downloads over 20MB. Not so with the MiFi, as your immediate connection is WiFi, there are no restrictions. This is great, but be aware that you will gobble up your mobile broadband data allowance quickly with large downloads.

Conclusion

The Three MiFi is an awesome gadget! Why pay for Mobile Broadband restricted to one device when you can get one of these and connect whatever devices you like to it.

For iPad owners it will cost you an extra £100 to upgrade from the 16GB WiFi model to the 16GB WiFi+3G unit. A Pay-As-You-Go MiFi is half that price (£49.99) and allows you to connect ANY device to the mobile Internet.  I think it’s a bit of a no-brainer!

The unit is solid, and light, and while connecting is easy, I think that it really needs to be simplified to a one button activation.

It’s also a shame that you are unable to charge the device via USB when plugged into a USB port on a computer.

The PC MiFi Manager Software is a bind and would be a problem for Mac users (like me), so for people who are using an iPad then it would be nice to access the control panel via a web browser.

Faults aside – it’s a very usable device – and I would highly recommend this to anybody!

You can pick a MiFi up from Three for as little as £49.99 on Pay As You Go.