Verizon has a whole new network (click here for a coverage map), using the LTE protocol it markets as 4G (4th generation) with a speed 10x that of 3G. That brings us to the Verizon 4G LTE network and the hotspot from Novatel ( Verizon also offers a hotspot from Samsung, a comparison of the two available here). Rather than having 1 Mbps of bandwidth, which was more than enough for web conferencing and Skype, the speeds I typically experienced dropped to under 100 Kbps, just 10% of the original speed I once enjoyed. My Droid 2 incidentally had the same hotspot capability as my MiFi, but I used it rarely as you can’t talk at the same time, also the MiFi could run five hours on a charge and my Droid could not.īut, my enjoyment of EvDO on both devices fell sharply as hundreds of Droids began competing with mine for the same EvDO bandwidth.
Life was good until the Droid series of Smartphones became popular, later joined by the iPhone for Verizon, both of which used the same EvDO protocol and frequencies.Īt first I enjoyed accessing EvDO from my phone, first a Motorola Droid and later a Droid 2. It was now easy to setup and share my data plan.
Switching internet sources was no different than switching between WiFi access points. This made using Verizon much simpler, as Wi-Fi was already configured on my laptop and that of my co-workers.
The MiFi replaced software and a physical connection between the cellular transceiver and the laptop, with a built in Wi-Fi hotspot capability to connect up to 5 computers at a time to the Verizon Cellular EvDO network.
The arrival of the original Novatel MiFi Hotspot to the Verizon network fixed all that.
The software also interfered with the primary benefit of the USB dongle to share the hardware and data plan between computers, because installing that Verizon client on the next computer took time, required learning that specific computer’s idiosyncrasies in switching between internet sources and involved training the user borrowing the USB dongle on how to switch their laptop back to wired or Wi-Fi internet access. If the laptop went into a deep sleep to save power, or I closed the lid, the EvDO connection did not recover, sometimes requiring a reboot. Compared to a Rogue Wave or WireAP, there is literally nothing to install, as both devices would draw power from the computer they were installed in.Īs good as that sounds, there was a major hassle in using the included software for the hardware. In addition, the Verizon product received a strong signal out in the middle of Long Island Sound and virtually every anchorage I visited between New York and Maine (see my reviews in They also worked well below decks in my Beneteau sailboat, easily penetrating the fiberglass to get a connection. Three years ago I found it consistently much faster than the Wi-Fi signals barely in range of my boat despite a powerful Wi-Fi access point provided by the cable company nearby. Both used a cellular protocol called EvDO with average data transfer speeds in the 1 Mbps down, and ½ Mbps up range. Back then it was with a tiny card I installed as an option into my wife’s Lenovo ThinkPad laptop and a Verizon USB dongle I used for my own laptop. My first experience surfing the internet through Verizon was in the days before mobile hotspots were available. They have upfront and monthly data plan costs very similar in price to a smartphone. Mobile hotspots are gadgets a little bigger than credit cards that combine a mobile broadband modem with a WiFi router to allow computers and other devices to get onto the internet across distances of 20 miles and more.