4G LTE Pocket Mifi Router

 

My family will be going to Malaysia soon and we decided that we would need some internet for GPS and entertainment. I have signed up for 2 data sim card (one from redOne and one from OneXOX, which I will be reviewing after I came back from my trip.) 

I thought that having a Mifi router would be a good idea, since using phone as a hotspot would not only cause it to become laggy, gets very hot and also drains the battery real fast.

Specifications

I searched online for quite awhile and settled for this OEM Mifi router for SG$37. 

Portable Wifi - model H1

Accepted SIM card: Prepaid and Postpaid 3G and 4G SIM card (Micro SIM)

Bands: 

FDD - B1,B3,B5,B7,B8,B20. 

TDD - B38,B39,B40,B41

UMTS - B1,B5,B8

Battery: Rechargeable, 3600mAh, can last up to 5-7 hours.

Range: Up to 10 meters. Maximum 10 connections.

Speed: Up to 300mbps

Some supported Telcos:
Singapore: TPG, SingTel, StarHub, M1, Circles.Life, ZERO

Malaysia: Digi, Celcom, Maxis, Yoodo, XOX, Hotlink, U Mobile

Design, Accessories and Setting Up

It comes in simple box and very little accessories. Just a Micro USB charging cable, a 3600 mAh battery and an instruction manual in both Mandarin and English. (It's really useful IF you can read it because the images are so small you couldn't see anything while some texts are very difficult to read!!) 

Design wise, it's simple and stylish. Slightly thicker than I expected but still light enough to put in pocket/bag. Interface is simple, with just 3 logo indicators. One is the battery level, then the wifi and then I think the last one is SIM connection.

Operating is simple, just put in SIM card, then peel the plastic film off the battery connector, put in battery and then switch it on. It should start working immediately. By the way do take note that it only accepts Micro-SIM card, so you might need an adaptor. (You can get it online for less than $1 or 2).

I tried using a Simba (TPG) SIM card and while my phones can detect the wifi connection, there is NO internet. I realised that to use TPG SIM card, you need to configure the APN.

Setting APN, SSID and password

It's very easy to do, you just have to follow the instructions manual. But in case you lost yours, I'll share how I do it here.

1) You need to go to your web browser on the device that is connector to the Mifi. Type in the IP address at the back of your device in the url bar. (Usually 192.XXX.X all numbers) It may different between devices but you can try 192.168.100.1.

2) You will reach a login page, whereby you have to in put the username and password provided at the back of your device. (both: "admin" by default)

3) You'll come to a page whereby you have the option under "Advanced" at the side bar, there you go to "APN Setting". Select a Profile (Profile1, Profile2...etc) at the bottom.  

4) Input "TPG" into Name and APN and leave the rest blank. Click "Save Configuration" at the bottom and then "Execute" at the far bottom. Next time when you insert your TPG card back in, you just have to select the Profile name to use it, without having to type in the APN and Name again.

You can also change the SSID name and password, which is really important because all these devices comes with the same passwords and people can easily tap into your connection and they can try and steal your personal data and information if they want to.

After resetting the password or SSID, the Mifi should reset and then you'll have to reconnect your device with the new password.

User Interface

While I find the 3 logo indicator provides enough information about the connection status and such but it doesn't give extra information like some other Mifi which comes with a small LCD display. 

Those devices can display more information like the wifi password, admin page login password, Telco and number of connections, data usage... etc on the LCD itself so no need to keep taking out the battery to check at the back of the device. Some even provide a QR code for easy connection. But of course those device cost much more than this.

For this device if you want to find out all these information, you need to go through step 1 to log into the website to check.

Connection Speed

I don't know what to expect for Wifi connection, like what is considered fast and what is considered slow. How much do I need to run social media smoothly, so I downloaded some app to help me determine.

I tested the connection speed on 2 separate apps and the gave somewhat similar connection speed. This is with 2 phones connected, both running YouTube in background. 

By the way, from my own experience with using this Mifi for YouTube, the video loads and streamed flawlessly without any lag, even with 2 devices connected. 

Initial Using 

I tried using it for slightly more than 2 hours for a day. I popped in my StarHub 4G SIM card. Connected 3 smartphones to it. (On and off. Since I ask my family to try also, I can't control where they go or what they do!) 

What I tried:

1 >  GPS (Map) application without driving around but just leaving it on for at least 15-20 minutes.
2 > YouTube (2 device using simultaneously). Video resolution is automatically selected as 360 or 480p, rarely goes to 240p but it did once or twice.

3 > Random web search.

Results:

After 2 hours of usage, I used up almost 1GB of data (0.8+ GB), with video resolution of 720p and 480p, didn't go any higher as video quality is good enough. The device used up about 1 bar of battery (According to the Admin webpage it's 1 bar down, but the Mifi device shows full bar), it's mildly hot, warm to touch. (Even my smartphone feels hotter than it for some weird reason).

However, I do realised 2 problems with the Mifi, and that is it'll auto shut down/sleep after 10 minutes IF no device is connected to it. I tried to turn this function off but I didn't find that option anywhere. The signal may also not be strong enough to pass through walls.

I brought my phone with me into the kitchen and the connection got really weak. While the distance is probably within 10 meters away from the device, I guess the wall between my living room and kitchen is enough to affect the connection.

My phone quickly switched to another Wifi (my house Wifi) and when I was done with my chores in the kitchen, the Mifi have already entered sleep mode.

Honestly, the connection speed did dipped a little and when I did a speed test somewhat an hour into the testing, it went as low as Download-6mbps and Upload-2mbps. YouTube is still able to stream flawlessly if not set to HD (720p and above). 

I actually do fear how fast it consume data as we will be travelling for about 9-10 days in total and we only have 20GB + 25GB for 4 pax. 

Update: I've used the device with ONEXOX SIM card (Malaysia local Telco card) and redONE SIM card, and it doesn't work at all!! No matter what I do (setting APN and resetting the Mifi), the reception icon just remains red and there is no Wifi!!

I've tried it in both Cameron Highland and Ipoh! I am sure it's not because of weak reception as the reception is full bar when I place it in my phones and I get fast internet via my phone hotspot! I don't know what went wrong there but if you're getting this to use in overseas, then I guess it's not such a good idea!