Richard Mackney

Creative Technologist

Three MiFi Mobile WiFi

I’ve had my eye on a Three Mobile WiFi unit for a while, I managed to blag  one of the original Three units from @Documentally which used my USB dongle but wasn’t battery powered.
@ThreeMobileBuzz contacted me via twitter and asked if I would like to trial the new unit – luckily I was destined for two weeks in the caravan, so a perfect opportunity presented itself.The unpacking in the pic above shows a removable battery (important for carrying spares) a micro USB cable with charger and the sleek black unit.
Powering up the unit with only one button (important for ease) shows a nifty little display showing the connection status, the amount of WiFi devices bonded, the amount of data used in the current session and the battery status. All quite neat really.
The above pic shows the mobile skin for the admin interface. It’s nice that Three considered many people would be using the device with a small mobile screen. From here you can view your account and data usage as well as your text messages and connection status.
This is pretty much the core kit packed to take away with me for two weeks in the caravan. A small solar charger, wind up generator, iPhone 4, a couple of USB batteries and the Three MiFi unit. Looking back through my Flickr stream it’s amazing how this kit has got smaller over the years – and the Three MiFi really fills a gap.
Upon arriving in North Devon I found a non existent signal on my iPhone 4 (O2) but by placing the MiFi in the roof light I was able to pick up a decent HSDPA signal which provided my iPhone with connectivity.
An important new feature of the Three MiFi is the ability to charge while in use. I was able to plug this into the USB port of the overhead caravan stereo to get both a signal and continuous power.
On the Sunday there was the #F1 and the Three MiFi had no problem in streaming live TVcatchup.com direct to my iPhone.
As per usual when I’m away, I get contacted by @Documentally usually discussing some hair brained scheme or with some tech related chat. Right on cue Christian contacted me via twitter and then we moved to Skype, but soon found what we really needed was a bit of FaceTime. The iPhone only allows FaceTime over a WiFi connection, but the MiFi had no problem providing the bandwidth for three fairly long sessions with different people that morning using about 90mb of data usage according to the on screen display.
The Energizer Solar Flip had no problem pumping power into the Three MiFi. The unit has a 3.7V 1500mAh Li-Polymer Battery and as the Solar Flip contains 2x2000mAh 1.2v AA batteries it was able to transfer power from the sun into the MiFi.
The Three MiFi’s bandwidth depends on the signal strength from the Three network and travelling around, the best I was able to get was 2.29Mbps download and 1.59Mbps upload which is pretty impressive and will match many of the UK’s Home’s broadband connection.
I found that uploading a fairly high resolution video took about 1MB per second of video, so a 20 second video used up 20MB of data. This was tested on the beach when a Sea Rescue Helicopter landed on the beach! Check it out … http://twitvid.com/3SWR0
My highly ridiculed man bag came into it’s own as I was able to walk and charge with the Enegizer Solar Flip.
And when the solar was not quite hot to trot, I used the Kensington USB battery to pump a bit of life into the Three MiFi.
Even though I had no O2 phone signal, I was able to catch up with the @fishmedia office and chat to @colinmitchell for over 30 mins before he got bored.
Even in the remotest parts of the UK I found the Three network to be able to provide data where my phone couldn’t even muster a voice signal.
Of course, being a tech head means you look like a total pillock when trying to gain that extra height for the best signal possible – which is a benefit of having a unit separate to the screen you are looking at.
Just for the record, this is base camp Willingcott.

And here is the iPhone’s geotagging of photos taken in the area.

… Conclusion

There are a couple of negative points of this unit. It doesn’t seem to connect to 2G networks like a Three USB dongle does and I’ve had a weird issue where connection has been a bit hit and miss in low signal areas.

Overall having different devices on different networks has been a massive bonus and the ability to use WiFi only services like FaceTime has been great. I don’t really see how I can get by without one now.

… Costs

I’ll probably be looking at PAYGO as I’ll only need mobile data when I’m not in the office. The Three website is currently selling them for £39.99 which includes a £10 top-up to get 1GB of data that will last for 30 days.

Other PAYGO options include a 3GB kit that will last for 3 months and costs £69.99 which is attractive if I was buying it and going away on a trip.

There are various monthly plans with a 1 month or 18 month contact and this will get you a free MiFi. One deal that struck my eye was a Three MiFi and an iPod Touch with a 15GB data allowance for £23 per month.

Let’s hope that Three forget to ask me for this unit back, otherwise I’ll be taking a trip to a Three shop fairly soon. Thanks for the trial Three!

(Sent from iPhone)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Darren Ramowski says

    Nice review. Currently have the 1st gen & whilst stacks up well against my t-mobile dongle, there are some annoyances with buttons, display and power. Looks like the latest version solves some of those issues.

    Reply

  5. Richard Mackney says

    @tinnion the #ThreeMiFi battery lasts for about 4 hours. It goes to standby when the iPhone drops the wifi connection so manages power well

    Reply

  8. Documentally says

    Great review. I’m still testing mine. Can you keep the mifi powered with solar alone? also, how long do you get continuously with the kensington plugged in. Finally, will the three data usage page save as an app-like-bookmark to the iphone? Cheers!

    Reply

  10. Richard Mackney says

    .@documentally no, the solar flip takes 7 sun hours to charge the 2x2000mAh AA batteries which would run the MiFi for 4 hours. I had extra rechargeable AA’s in my manbag.I didn’t do a full Kensington test as one kept the MiFi going all day and still had power left, but as the iphone shuts down WiFi when on standby, I guess this helped the MiFi battery…. and yes the admin pages have the meta data to display a 3 logo on the iPhone homepage 🙂

    Reply

  11. Richard Mackney says

    .@taige I can’t recommend a solar charger as each one I’ve used has been designed for a specific purpose … the Solar Flip is great for charging AA’s and I have an amazing 50W SINOSOLA that is not portable http://twitpic.com/27ajsjI'd like to do a full test on a solargorilla next.

    Reply

  14. hedgewytch says

    *Grins* and of course the iPhone 4 fits right in. My Novatel mifi doesn’t look nearly as sleek as this 3 one ;(

    Reply

  16. Documentally says

    OMG.. I cannot believe that @ThreeMobileBuzz asked for the unit back. This is the most concise & complete review I have ever seen on the three mifi. Do they not know a good thing when they see it?! You are well known for your long term blogging of tech.. How much is the device? Less than £50.. How many have seen this post.. thousands?I know you would not write any more favourably should they have said from the outset that it was yours. You are always honest with your reviews as many of your readers are clued up tech heads themselves and it would only come back and bite you in the butt.It appears you get nothing free from Three. In fact it seems you are required to bust your balls writing an epic post.. doing a job they should be doing.. field testing, reviewing, report writing etc and then have to pay £50 for the privilege. *shakes head*.When i workied on a newspaper you were NEVER asked to send back so much as a book. It never made you ass kiss the tech. At least it didn’t me. If you write an honest review (like we do) we have a hand in making the tech better next time round. It’s win win.Did they make you pay for the postage as well?>rant over<Thanks again for the review man. Keep them coming. Even if it seems like a thankless job. ;o)

    Reply

  18. hedgewytch says

    Shocking ;( how ungrateful can they be? I’m glad I have my Novatel mifi now. Awesome review though I’ve been passing the link around my contacts who might be intereted inc. mac user groups

    Reply

  19. Richard Mackney says

    @documentally firstly, thank you for your kind comments relating to my #ThreeMiFi blog post, It’s nice to get some great feedback in general and a much higher bonus coming from a high profile tech savy blogger as yourself.You are right in that I (we) don’t write reviews because we get free stuff, we write because we love to help inform. I try and use tech that is widely available, not too high end and get satisfaction from feedback on twitter, facebook, email or from comments that it may of helped someone in their choice of where to spend their cash.I did think that Three missed a trick, as If I continued to use the #ThreeMiFi I would no doubt continue to mention it when relevant. For example, I got asked at the weekend if I could demo the unit at the Derby #Twissup.I guess there is a fine line in getting a review unit and sending it back or not getting a unit to review at all. At least if I blog about beer I can’t exactly return it 😉

    Reply

  20. caroleharry says

    Fantastic review that prompted me to not only order the Three Mifi but also the Kensington USB within five mins of reading it. Many thanks Richard. Great blog site too.

    Reply

  21. Luke Pollard says

    Superb detail review Richard! Purchased a Mifi today. Looking forward to putting it through its paces this weekend… now all I need is a man bag and one of those fancy Kensington USB charger things! 🙂

    Reply

  22. Anonymous says

    One thing that wasn’t clear is how long the internal battery lasts without assistance. Otherwise, your review has sold me on Three’s pay as you go MiFi device to avoid ludicrous data rates on my iPhone 4. I just need to know if I could go a day without charging under normal usage (maps, push email, web browsing, facebook, twitter, etc), or if that would necessitate an external battery.Thanks for the review!

    Reply

  23. Richard Mackney says

    Hi Eric, yeah I noticed that. Not really a proper review without mentioning the battery life! … it lasts for about 4 hours, it’s great with the iPhone as the iPhone shuts off the WiFi connection when in standby and then the MiFi goes into standby – thus improving it’s battery life.Hope that helps 🙂

    Reply

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