Huawei E586 21.6 Mbps Mobile WiFi

Day 1) I bought this device back in late June 2012 when it became rapidly apparent how absolutely awful Vodafone's data service was and how even worse was the support - with the Vodafone dongle. The Dongle expired and I've today [mid September 2012] moved over to the Unlocked Huawei E586. I had bought three three-month '3' PAYG SIMs 3 Original Broadband Ready to Go 3GB Preloaded Data Sim for Mobile Devices and just dropped one into the already charged device. My MacBook Pro found it immediately (press the button on the side of the device to bring up the password on its screen) and it worked straight away at what seemed a blazing speed. TweetDeck was turning over at the normal rate. Emails went back and forth. This was all a bit of a surprise as all networks have very poor cover where I live. OK it worked outdoors anyway.

With a 3 SIM it really is very easy and I note you have to use alternative settings with other networks (see below) and with a local SIM with networks abroad. There are easily found sources for these APNs on the Net.

The Huawei E586 is sleek and really very small and pocketable. There is a front screen and two buttons on the side - a power button and a key button that brings up information including the password. You also get a couple of cables (USB to mini USB), a mains charger and an optional charger cradle. The book of words is minimal to say the least.

I've also dug out a tiny cheap camera case Lowepro Altus 10 Small Camera Pouch to slip the Huawei E586 device into. I'm sorry there wasn't anything provided but similar such cases can be sourced for under £4. (See uploaded photo.)

Some people complain of the life of the supplied 1500mAH battery and I note you can get a much larger battery [3600mAh] with an alternative case back (as it makes the whole thing fatter) such as eXt-Power Huawei E-5-I Battery for E586 (3600mAh, replaces HB4F1, Black) I don't think this will be too much of a problem for my use as I can clearly power and/or recharge the Huawei E586 using a USB cigarette lighter adapter from the car or in the car via my HyperJuice car adapter powered MacBook Pro.

Small point but a nice one is that there was always a worry of accidental mechanical damage to a dongle sticking out of your laptop; no such worries with this device.

You can supply wifi connections for up to five devices (phones, tablets etc) or should you wish, you can plug this device with the supplied cable straight into a USB port on a Laptop and use it like a dongle. Accessing the control interface is a bit like any modem using a browser via its own address 192.168.1.1

My use tends to be in out of the way places so I'll be testing how good 3's coverage is. I like that this is supposedly future-proofed in that it will work on 4G networks.

Day 2) Using the Huawei E586 in the wilds of Surrey (so not very wild), I got a good solid signal and my MacBook Pro was behaving very nearly as well as it does on my home network. The device is SO easy to use. So much better than my redundant Vodafone USB Mobile Broadband Internet PAYG Dongle. Loaded a picture I'd just taken online for Twitter with no problem. Bliss. The Mac needed recharging from the car but the Huawei E586 never did.

Day 9) In an urban area I did a speed test and I was getting better performance on my laptop than with a wired ADSL connection at home: 7.21 Mbps down & 2.34 Mbps up.

Day 30) My Gloucestershire hotel had no Sky News (or BBC News Channel) on the TV. The Huawei E586 on 3 gave me a perfectly adequate signal to stream Sky News before breakfast. I also got a variable but perfectly usable service in more remote areas in the upper parts of the Severn estuary. Good enough to use Google Earth, for instance.

I've also sprung for the large 3600mAh Huawei E-5-I Battery for that extra battery duration. It makes the unit fatter and it will no longer go in the power cradle but otherwise works just fine. (See uploaded photo.)

Day 44) Worked perfectly in the Ouse Washes - again in the middle of nowhere - up to streaming Sky News and BBC News Channel.

Day 93) I used the Huawei E586 all day along the edges of the North Norfolk coast and I got perfect connections everywhere except Cley which was my first black spot.

Day 94) My first 3 Sim expired and I dropped in a new one. No change needed, it worked perfectly immediately.

Settings for other networks
-----------------------

Orange
APN: orangeinternet Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

O2
APN (contract): mobile.o2.co.uk
APN (PAYG): m-bb.o2.co.uk Username: web Password: web

T-Mobile
APN: general.t-mobile.uk Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Three
APN: 3internet Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Tesco Mobile (uses the O2 network)
APN: prepay.tesco-mobile.com Username: tescowap Password: password

Virgin Mobile (uses the T-Mobile network)
APN: goto.virginmobile.uk Username: user Password: 'leave blank'

BT Mobile (uses the Vodafone network)
APN: btmobile.bt.com Username: bt Password: bt

ASDA Mobile (uses the Vodafone network)
APN: asdamobiles.co.uk Username: web Password: web

Manx Telecom (Isle of Man)
APN: 3gpronto Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Sure Mobile (Guernsey & Isle of Man)
APN: internet Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Wave Telecom (Guernsey)
APN: pepper Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Airtel Vodafone (Guernsey)
APN: airtel-ci-gprs.com Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Sure Mobile (Jersey)
APN: internet Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Jersey Telecom (Jersey)
APN: pepper Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

Airtel Vodafone (Jersey)
APN: airtel-ci-gprs.com Username: 'leave blank' Password: 'leave blank'

GiffGaff (uses the O2 network)
APN: giffgaff.com Username: giffgaff Password: password

This dongle provides a superior signal to others I have used and even though I wanted it unlocked due to issues with 3 in the past, I have to admit that on the 3 network the signal and speed is outstanding even in areas where other networks provide poor coverage.

OK, so I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (WiFi) - UK Version, but being too cheap and too iggerent, I only got the wifi version, trusting, naiively that I could generally rely on my home wifi or, away from home, on complimentary wifi. This didn't seem too much of a stretch - McDonalds, my local hospital and most airports provide such a service, but it quickly became obvious that I was perhaps expecting too much. I never go to McDonalds, spend little time at Frimley Park Hospital (thank god) and my home wifi router is pretty feeble. So, on the advice of a relative, I bought this.

For those of you of a similar level of stupidity to me, this is basically a 3G/4G mobile phone: it lacks a keypad and microphone/speaker, but that's as good a description as I can provide. Despite being pretty useless as a moby, it DOES emit a wifi signal, allowing your wifi device (iPad, Tablet, laptop or gaming handset) to access teh interwebz via the mobile network. Fab, innit?

What you get in the pack is the hotspot device itself, a charging cradle, a couple of USB cables (one short and one long) and a 3-pin power plug. there is also the battery which needs to be installed and charged (either by connecting the 3-pin to the hotspot via one of the USB cables or using the cradle). There you go. That's it!

Well, not quite. You do need a SIM card. I bought this one, which gives you a 1GB download capacity with a life of 1 month and this one, which gives you a 3GB download capacity with a life of 3 months (the card's life runs from the instant you first access the network). I currently have no idea how 1GB pans out but I'll see which lasts longer, the card's capacity or its life, and report back.

To set it up is child's play. Pop in the SIM and the battery, charge it up and then get your wifi device to search for it. My Tab found it immediately and asked for the password which is provided on a card but can also be displayed on a wee screen on the hotspot by pressing the key button. Type this password into your Tab and bingo, you're connected! Even I managed it and I find that technological devices recognise me and have a habit of exploding or ejecting small, lethal knives into my fingers just to spite me before they spontaneously switch off (and I promise you I NEVER exaggerate).

The hotspot's display will also provide you with plenty of other info - battery state, connection strength, remaining capacity and so-on.

The hotspot itself is very small. The product picture doesn't do it justice. It's about the size and weight of my Samsung Slider phone (the size of a box of Swan Vestas): small and light enough to slip in a pocket and be forgotten about. Admittedly the charger is a bit of an encumbrance but the battery life - 5hrs - while not enormous is sufficient for a short day of heavy browsing or a full day of intermittent porn searching.

Huawei have also provided the hotspot with a microSD card slot which theoretically should allow you to access your digital camera's photos. I say "theoretically" because there's no information in the rather sparse user manual to explain how you actually access the card once it's installed in the device. What little research I've done suggests that you cannot (currently) access the card wirelessly. Logically then you can only do so by attaching the mifi to your laptop/tablet via a USB cable and treat the mifi as an external drive. As this requires a special cable (ie with the correct connector at each end) I haven't tried this and for me it represents a useless function.

Signal strength is about as good as my Sky home broadband router - it fades out if I put a couple of good structural walls between it and me, but that's the point, isn't it? You can carry it with you so it can go in your pocket, rucksack, tote-bag or down the front of your Speedos (if there's room) and you will never be without a signal (network coverage permitting).

How cool is that?