The standard is anything over dial up's 56k speed is considered hi speed. That of course doesn't mean much in days of speeds way faster available, but if it's over dial up speed, it's considered Hi Speed.
I do agree with you though, I've used my mifi in many hotel rooms because it was considerably faster than the so called hi speed connection they were providing was.
It should get better as AT&T takes over all the properties, but not sure how long that will take.