xinmpg

You can get the Novatel 2372 for about US$45 right now on Amazon. This is a pretty good price. The only catch is that for HSPDA, it only supports the North American/less frequently used frequencies.

The 2352 model is the same thing, but supports Europe and Asian frequencies. Of course, it's 3x-4x as much.

I found this list of which model to buy depending on which country you frequent:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&hl=en&ct=clnk

From what I understand, it'll still work anywhere, you just won't get the maximum speeds.

Anyway, I'm strongly leaning towards the Huawei since it supports all frequencies in one unit.

Dubai Stu

When we get it all sorted out, LTE roaming will be out and we will have to start again.

wco81

LTE roaming may not be as easy as 3G.

More bands and other hardware differences, supposedly.

xinmpg

LTE is a huge spaghetti mess of different frequencies unfortunately. Just look at how much trouble Apple has been getting into from all of the countries its new iPad won't work with LTE in...

Dubai Stu

My point exactly. I think HSPA+ is what we probably will need to focus on as roamers/visitors. It will be years before they have something that works internationally. My LTE iPad (Verizon) can't even access Canadian LTE.

xinmpg

I've decided on this one for various reasons, and will give a small review after my next trip with it:
http://www.amazon.com/UNLOCKED-HUAWE...m_cr_pr_sims_t


Does anyone know if I'll need to update the APN for every country I visit, or just per-SIM? I have an unlimited international data SIM from AT&T paid for by my employer, so the intention is to pop that in one time and forget about it.

xinmpg

Actually at the last minute I changed to this one, since it looks like a slightly newer version of the previous:
http://www.amazon.com/UNLOCKED-HUAWE...7574629&sr=8-1

Anyway, review in a few weeks!

CatJo

I bought the ZTE MF62 from eBay ($150 shipped); pretty much the same frequencies etc. as the Huawei E586 above, I'd read good reviews of the ZTE unit.

I've only used it for a few days with an AT&T GoPhone SIM in the US, it worked beautifully. I'd definitely recommend this unit.

h15t0r1an

Ummm because some networks ban tethering and this can be detected. Does not matter if the phone can act as a modem, the network has to be OK with it too. Some are, some aren't.

xinmpg

Yes, that's the reason I got one. I have a SingTel and an AT&T SIM, both through work. The AT&T SIM has unlimited international roaming, but AT&T blocks the tether option on phones through the SIM. But it works great inside of a MiFi-type device. I keep it in my Mifi, and the SIM in my phone for calls (since it is my primary number).

As mentioned above. I bought a Huawei E587. It's really nice. Only complaints are that it can't auto-detect the APN off of the SIM card for AT&T with the auto-APN setting (and maybe all?), so you need to know how to log into the admin page and what to change that setting to the first time you use it. (For AT&T, it is "wap.cingular", all other fields on the APN setup can be left blank) Battery life is surprisingly good. I got at least four hours out of with non-stop usage recently. You can even send and receive SMS through the admin web page. Only complaint is that it only supports Edge on AT&T in the US. HSPDA+ most everywhere else though. The device is tiny, slightly thicker than an iPhone 4, but maybe 20% less surface area. Charges over Micro-USB. If you plug it in to your laptop, you can use it directly as a USB attached modem instead of Wifi. I haven't tried it on a Windows laptop, but on a Mac when you plugged it in it auto-mounted a volume that contained the Setup.app which installed the driver to use it as a USB modem. (Not needed if you just use Wifi).

I did have one negative glitch. My Mac refused to join its wireless network, no idea why. I thought it was the laptop (as it's running a beta of the new OS) and tried a bunch of stuff to troubleshoot (erased the SSID, the network preference, etc) but it was actually the Huawei. As soon as I renamed the SSID and changed the WPA key, it started working with the new one.


Anyway, tl;dr version, it's worth buying if you want a very small Mifi device and don't care that you only get edge in US.

FLYMSY

I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for an unlocked MiFi for use with an iPad. I travel mostly to Europe, primarily Germany & Switzerland. Any recommendations on brand, where to purchase in U.S. or Zurich? Cost?
Thanks in advance.

mre5765

Well anecdotedly most of the hotels I've stayed in recently have abysmal wifi. So it is time to take the plunge. I am looking for a solution that lets me use prepaid data plans with swappable sims and can work world wide. Its been a while since this thread was bumped; any updated suggestions?

DYKWIA

I bought a new unlocked Huawei E585 off Ebay. Works great. I've used in in the UK with a number of different providers.

Battery lasts 3-4 hours.

Looking the US version of Ebay, it looks like you can get one for around $50.

sthmp77

Hello, I'm a newbie here and have been following this thread for some time and doing a lot of research on the side, but I'm still really confused. I am trying to find a device that will give me access to the internet internationally, because I am constantly changing locations (volunteering internationally). For the most part, I can get wifi access in established locations, so the device I'm looking for would be used only while in transit or for a few days here and there when the local internet connection is not working properly. I do not have a cell or data contract here in the US or anywhere else in the world. If I were to buy one of the devices mentioned in this thread, here are my 2 concerns:
(1) it sounds like there is no device that would give me international (HSPA?) and US 3G/4G access... is this correct? It sounds like either I'd get decent access overseas but would only get 2G in the US?
(2) it sounds like I need to get a SIM card for the device to operate. If I don't have a contract, do I just buy a prepaid SIM card in the US? Any company preferable? Do I just keep the same SIM card when I travel overseas, or do I need to buy a new SIM card in each country? Where can I find information on how much I would get charged for the data I'm accessing?
I apologize if these questions are really basic. I'm still trying to understand how this works. Thanks for your help!

mrcamp

1. Based on my research, most of the unlocked MIfi devices out there have the 2100 3G band, but not the US 3G bands. You may have to just get a phone with a Wifi Hotspot with both the US and The rest of the world 3G bands. (I use a samsung galaxy Y duos for this. The version I have has the 850/2100 3G bands). There are lots of android phones out there that will have the bands you need and WiFi hotspot.

2. Yes, you will need a sim card. And you probably will need to get a sim card for each of your destination. Using one country's sim card in another will likely incur significant charges, since you will be roaming. Unless you have a data package that includes other countries. Some international sims offer data, but it's usually no where as cheap as getting a local sim in each country.