Back in June I attended an event where the new version of 3's MiFi was shown off publicly for the first time. I was impressed then with it and the improvements over the original version and have now, thanks to ThreeMobileBuzz had the chance to trial one of these, putting it through its paces in a variety of situations. The device did not disappoint and proved useful in many situations and easy for people to use. The MiFi 2 feels a lot easier to use than its predecessor. This is perhaps odd as the MiFi 1 was not very difficult to use, but never really felt responsive. The lights on the front of the original unit sometimes didn't help much and when starting up the device, if you are in impatient type, it was easy to think that it was not working. The one button design of the MiFi 2 and the informative screen solve all of this by providing a very obvious visual indication of what the device is doing. It is really easy to tell when it is starting up, or ready to use and the availability of this information greatly enhances the user experience. You get help cards and a set up guide to help you on your way too.
The device is configured through a web interface which you can find by navigating to http://3.home in your browser. You can even use this as a bit of a home screen if you like as it has some links to popular sites (although I could not find a way to edit this list), an SMS client, some indicative figures about the data you are using and further administration options. If you access this with a mobile device you will get a mobile optimised version of the web interface, a really nice feature and something that I think will be liked by people who use it with devices like the Apple iPod Touch. I found the web interface easy to use and it had some useful information. For some reason the trial device didn't receive text messages sent to it so I do not know if that was an issue with the device or the account it is connected to.
I've been asked by a few people about using the MiFi to keep connected at conferences and events so I decided to try the MiFi out in one of these situations for real. I recently attended the Ubuntu in Business event and decided to take a netbook and the MiFi 2. There was no other WiFi access at the event so it was down to the MiFi 2 to keep me connected with the world so I could do things follow up links from talks and mention some of the points I found interesting on Twitter. I also made some notes and stored these in my Dropbox folder so they would automatically get backed up through the connection. All typical types of usage for an event like this.
The MiFi 2 coped with this task without any issues. I switched on the device and left it in my pocket and connected up to it. The five hour battery life is enough to get you through a typical conference day (if you switch it off while networking and eating!). I was able to stay connected and follow up on some of the very interesting talks. DropBox worked very well with this connection and it was nice to know that the notes I made were safely backed up should anything happen to the netbook.
It wasn't all business use though, on one occasion I was relaxing in a coffee shop and wanting to browse the web on my new cheap Android tablet computer. It has WiFi so it was easy to hook it up to the MiFi2 and enjoy the tablet computing experience on the move at an economy price. Having an indication available on the device of how much data is being used is reassuring too, I can relax and know I am not running up a huge bill or using up a pay as you go allowance too quickly.
Another use I tried the MiFi2 with was maybe a more serious one. With more of our lives happening online I was curious about using it as a backup for my home ADSL connection. I use the Internet for many things, including my banking so I wouldn't really want to be without access if there was a fault with my telephone line, which can happen and can sometimes take a few days to fix. So I started thinking of the MiFi2 as a good option for a backup connection. If my ADSL connection did break I could start up this device and have a working WiFi hotspot immediately in my house.
The only problem is that at my house I get quite a weak 3G signal, so I tried this out and left the MiFi2 upstairs where the 3G signal is a little better. I sat on my sofa downstairs and connected my laptop to it. The speeds I got seemed to vary at different times of the day, perhaps with network traffic, and sometimes I could not get connected. When I did the speed was very respectable and certainly fast enough to keep up with essential websites. Interestingly the coverage near me varies considerably. When I tried it at work, which is only about a mile and a half away, the speed was four times faster!
When I mentioned using the MiFi with my Android Tablet in an earlier blog post, an anonymous commented suggested that the MiFi is a “technologically marooned product” as I could have used my HTC Desire to create a wireless hotspot (which I think is not possible until the Android 2.2 upgrade later this year?). This is an interesting comment, and in theory it should be right, but I think there are factors that make the MiFi a very relevant solution still. In my example of using the MiFi as a backup to my ADSL connection, I had to put the device in the part of my house with the strongest signal, not where I happened to be sitting. I want my mobile phone to be by my side really, I don' want to have to run upstairs every time I get a text message.
The example of the event is important too. The battery life in modern smartphones is not great a lot of the time, so having an inexpensive device that can give you a WiFi connection for five hours without giving your mobile phone a flat battery is very useful I think. You can then save your phone for other use. The MiFi is relatively inexpensive and small so having one is no inconvenience. Also those with contract phones might like the idea of a Pay As You Go MiFi to keep control of their data costs.
I have been very impressed with the MiFi 2 and it shows what can be done when a company put a lot of effort in to getting feedback from their customers on a product and implement the suggestions they have been given. The MiFi 2 has more features than the MiFi 1, but I think the most important point is that the experience of using the MiFi has improved greatly. From £49.99 on Pay As You Go this good looking device is also very competitively priced.
Re: The MiFi 2: Sometimes sequels are better than the ...
I confess it! It was I that accused Three's Mifi as being technologically marooned; a comment I stand-by and will attempt to justify, if you so allow.
The MIFI device, along with the dongle, is bereft of all purpose for proletarian punters. But it has great purpose for Three and other air-time purveyors.
With MIFI you need the extra device; its charger plus leads; and a modicum of behaviour modification – in that one needs to remember to actually charge the device. But, most importantly, we also would need an extra air-time package to connect.
As an aside, gentle reader, you may remember the time when magazines carried product reviews. We all learnt to treat them with caution as the reviewing magazine always seemed to carry a full page pay-back advertisement. One wondered who was feeding off whom. It all became very corrupt, to my mind, with a lower case 'c'. I resorted to reading 'Which' in the library. But with the advent of the Internet we no longer read magazines in the volumes of old. That is why Three is likely encouraging Liam to try and create a buzz around its WIFI dongle router. It's all very seductive; Liam is, no doubt, flattered to be asked by Three's marketeers to review the Hero or their MIFI device. In the end, though, the act of 'gratefully accepting', and the inevitable deference it brings, can work to deny readers access to full impartiality. However much an author thinks not, he will inevitably become a servant of the monster that is marketing.
However, let me get back to my main points. MIFI 1, 2, or 7 even, is now and will be evermore technologically marooned. Why is that? Simply because all its features have been surmounted by applications running on Smartphones, either USB or WIFI connected.
Three's 3G/HSDPA dongle SIM won't work in a phone – and I guess the MIFI SIM won't either. Why not? It's all data. Phone calls – texts - mms messages - internet browsing, it all the same 0s and 1s; its all binary digits. And its only data. But we all pay a king's ransom for each text message when you consider that each of the 160 characters is carried by 8 bits. A 12 pence text message is equivalent to around £100 per mb of data. And we are forced into separate data plans for dongles and voice plans and text bolt-ons for phones. That is an obscene use of marketing power against us prols and, to me, the silence from OFCOM seem part of the problem. One wonders how much of their soul has been sold.
But if you are seduced and you buy a MIFI device Three know for £10 each month, after an initial flurry, your MIFI will only be used occasionally. But they will continue to collect the booty from your separate subscription to their service. Eventually more and more punters will realize this fact and ditch the thing – in the same way I've stopped using a dongle with my netbook. Who needs it now? I've a web enabled phone!
I was lucky enough to spend your Winter in New Zealand's Summer this past season. I was living in a place without a wired Internet connection. I had two computers, a netbook and nettop, I wanted to connect both to the Internet simultaneously. The solution didn't need MIFI or umpteen dongles and data plans. I bought a combined HSDPA data and voice plan and USB tethered my HTC Hero to one computer. I used the instructions in Liam's blog post about setting up that computer to be a WIFI host to which my second computer connected. I did all this on Android 1.5 using its USB tethering feature.
What? You can't tether your Android 1.5? Is it Three or Orange branded by any chance? Phone resellers often remove software 'to improve the user experience'; in reality to reduce the demand on their creaking under-funded network. Three are so concerned at the user experience that even today Android 2.1 has not been released for Three branded HTC Heros. Why when Google released Android 2.1 in February and even the laggardly HTC managed to get it out in early June? Well, its not in their interest to hurry is it? The longer you wait the more inclined you might be to upgrade.
But you can jailbreak your phones folks!! Throw off the shackles and rise up! Get all the features you paid for and more! It's legitimate for a US users to root their Androids or iPhones as of a few days ago – see this article for amplification. Thus, by implication, it is legitimate for us all.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2010/07/28/dmca-legal-to-jailbreak-or-unl…
I've rooted mine and was running Android 2.1 during much of the 6 months it took HTC to release an official upgrade. And to answer Liam's point about WIFI tethering only being available on Android 2.2 (Currently only Google's Nexus One has this …. officially). I am able to run ANetShare on my rooted 2.1 Android. And this little free application totally wipes out any reason to own separate MIFI. Also, given that Chinese Androids are retailing at around £100, why would you need the one trick pony of Three's MIFI device with attendant separate data plan?
If you want to find out about rooting your Android this site will tell you how
http://forum.xda-developers.com/
Happy playing folks, and Liam I enjoy your blog posts as I have told you before, but I would really welcome the real, impartial, Liam back!
Re: The MiFi 2: Sometimes sequels are better than the ...
Hi Croques,
Thanks for your comments. First of all I would like to say that I stand by my blog post and feel it is an accurate reflection of how I found the device. I thought your comment about it possibly being "technologically marooned" to be very interesting so chose to explore it. It is not a viewpoint that I agree with so wanted to explore some of the reasons and use cases why a MiFi type device (be it 3's or Novatel's) might prove useful as part of this discussion. I am deeply saddened that you saw this as evidence of some sort of inappropriate influence from Three, and you feel that I am not being impartial.
This blog is a hobby of mine, a place where I am free to write about the technological subjects that interest me. Like many other bloggers I will occasionally be approached by companies, including ThreeMobileBuzz to review products and services. Undoubtedly part of the aim is to raise awareness of these products and services, but let's be honest, a product appearing here is not going to lead to a surge in sales. What independent bloggers like me can offer though is an outside perspective on their products. We can point out things that we like and don't like about products and the companies can use this information to improve their product. This is exactly what Three did with the MiFi, put out an original version then gathered a lot of feedback through various channels and then decided to revise the product. Ultimately if companies listen to this feedback they can make better products which will help them make more money. If reviewers like myself just say nice things all the time this process breaks down and nobody really gains. In fact ThreeMobileBuzz have said that they want honest feedback.
When reviewing products I always try to take into account different use cases and people in a variety of situations. Many people are not very confident when using technology or do not have advanced skills. To them rooting a phone is frightening, they just want to get online with the minimum of fuss. For those of us with technical skills we will always have more options, but many people just want to get the job done in the simplest way, so I have to think about them too when reviewing. I think you have a point though about separate data plans and I would like to see multiple devices on one account (as I've said before).
I won't say I hate or love a product when I don't. The fact is I like the MiFi 2 and am impressed by the improvements made. I also really like the fact that Three listened to feedback and made improvements. It would serve no purpose for me to pretend that I dislike this product, that would be dishonest as it would not be my opinion.
In the end you have to chose between believing what I say here or to think that I am a "servant of the monster that is marketing". I can only offer my opinions and people can make of them what they will. I respect your opinions and hope that you can feel the same way about mine.
Re: The MiFi 2: Sometimes sequels are better than the ...
Hi Liam,
Well, as of today HTC have released Froyo (Android 2.2) for the HTC Desire. Yours is unlocked isn't it?
So you'll be able to check out ANetShare, no doubt, and report with your usual precision as to how you see the comparison.
Unfortunately, there is a rise in marketing via social media. This link may interest you http://mashable.com/2010/07/24/tips-social-media-marketing-jobs/ . These guys wouldn't pour money into any marketing activity... unless it worked.
I don't doubt your integrity but I'm sure your strings are being pulled, however much you think you retain independence.
Re: The MiFi 2: Sometimes sequels are better than the ...
Hi Croques,
I can assure you that my strings are not being pulled :) I don't have a problem with marketing through social media channels. For me it means I can try out some new products and get to chat to the people behind them, for the companies it is a chance to increase awareness of their products through alternatives to traditional advertising in addition to getting feedback. A responsibility I have though is to review items fairly, and that is what I strive to do. Social media allows people who are outside of the mainstream technical press, like me, to have our voices heard and bring something new to discussions.
As I've said before, and I will say again, the MiFi will be a good solution for some people and not others. Not everybody has or even wants a smartphone as they can be quite expensive. I think about a variety of situations and people when trying out products and comment accordingly. This is a personal blog, so it reflects my opinions. It is a great shame you cannot accept that our opinions vary without suspecting improper influences.
And yes, my HTC Desire is unlocked.
Re: The MiFi 2: Sometimes sequels are better than the ...
Thanks this post Liam.
Firstly @croques i just wanted to say that i have always found Liams reviews helpful and impartial. He has an open source bias, but thats fine by me!
I dont agree that the mifi is technologically marooned at all. I have a very old mobile phone on PAYG. I agree tgat the rates you pay for contracts are basically a rip off, and as I am a low user of voice of text, i pay no more than £25 a year for my calls and texts. Most of the people i communicate with are online, so i use an iPod touch and wifi at home or work to do so. A mifi on a PAYG tarrif will essentially allow me to turn my touch into the best parts of an iphone without the cost of wasting my money on a new smartphone.
My parents in law are looking at getting online, but we are not nearby to help set up a router for them and they are unsure how much use they will get out of the internet so don't want to commit to a long contract or changes to their landline. A mifi on PAYG plus an iPad would present an extremely user friendly way for them to get online easily.
So, don't assume that the market for such products as the mifi rests only with those willing to hack smartphones. Some of us want a simpler, cheaper but just as connected, life :-)
Re: The MiFi 2
I got my MiFi2 yesterday and so far I'm happy with it apart from one thing. I can't seem to change the admin login for the dashboard, or the device username and wifi access password. You need to be connected to the dashboard via the unit to do this, right? Every combination I try just says "Wrong password" (I can connect to the dashboard and device OK using the original settings). What have I missed? Some screenshots would be very helpful but I can't find any on the 3 site.
Re: The MiFi 2: Sometimes sequels are better than the ...
Hi,
excellent summary of a device I just recently purchased, but have yet to use in anger (on the commute.)
But so far so impressed. I can see Croques point of view, but side with Liam. I have an iPhone which I could j/b and I have had an HTC Magic (which I modded to run Cyanogen), a Nexus One (not branded) and Palm Pre (with custom Mifi tool installed) and yet I still got the 3 Mifi, why? Convenience, switch it on, insta internet that I could share with 5 devices.
I don't have to worry about running my phone down, when I may need it as a phone, yes the primary purpose of the device! If the Mifi runs flat I believe any Micro USB mains charger (e.g. Nexus One's) would fill it up and you could always charge and use it via USB.(unlike the old one i think)
Re: The MiFi 2: Sometimes sequels are better than the ...
The trouble is these days how can we tell the difference between genuine posters with an honest point of view or a buzz-marketer just posing...?