Hardware 
4 Comments 3 Mobile Wi-Fi Pre-pay Wireless Modem
- Your own Mobile WiFi
- Network designed and built for the Mobile Internet
The Huawei E5830 wireless modem sends out a Wi-Fi signal to give you internet connection whenever you need it. With your own mobile Wi-Fi connection (known as MiFi®) so you can connect different Wi-Fi enabled devices at once and get fast internet speeds with no wires, no hassles and no need for a Wi-Fi hotspot.
The E5830 is really easy to use and fits in your pocket. Just turn on your wireless modem, switch on connection to the 3 network, and select the Wi-Fi function. Then choose the Wi-Fi option on whichever device you’re using. There’s no need to load any software to get online using the Huawei E5830. The wireless modem gives you download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps (megabits per second) and comes with a battery that lets you stay connected to the internet for up to 5 hours.
The E5830 also comes with onboard software that starts each time you connect it to a PC or laptop using the USB cable. The software allows you to send and receive text messages and change settings for your Wi-Fi connection.
Orders Limited to two per customer.
Rating: 
(out of 4 reviews)
List Price: £42.99
Price: £49.75
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Review by Bob Grist for 3 Mobile Wi-Fi Pre-pay Wireless Modem
Rating:
I’ve recently bought my first iPod Touch (and what an amazing gadget that is), and I basically wanted to use it as an Internet accessing device as and when I chose to. I considered going down the route of paying for a hotspot subscription (BT Openzone or The Cloud, etc.) but that means actually finding a hotspot, and sometimes they just aren’t available to you.
The wonderful thing about this little device is that it means I literally carry the Internet with me. I’ve done some serious testing over the last couple of days, mainly around London, and have surfed the web with it from the Victoria & Albert Museum, a Starbucks round the corner from the Regent Street Apple Store, from a bus travelling along Holloway Road, from generally walking around in the street and whilst circumnavigating the outside of the Arsenal stadium on a brisk Monday morning. I have kept a lookout for standard hotspots whilst doing so and, of course (especially when in the street), haven’t always been able to find any available.
With this little device, though, I have had a fairly constant and strong signal and been amazed that I can access the web pretty much anywhere.
For some reason, though, my actual flat is like the Bermuda Triangle where mobile phone signals are concerned, I literally cannot get a decent one, so the MiFi, which accesses the web via the 3 network, is unusable in my flat. However, I have home broadband anyway so don’t need it and, to be honest, I’ve never failed to get a signal on the MiFi anywhere else (including in my office at work).
It’s not cheap, of course. I’m going for pay-as-you-go and I’m forking out £10 a month for a one gig supply of data (but you can pay £15 a month for 3 gigs). However, I don’t intend to use it all the time so that should suffice (and I can easily check online to see how much data usage I’ve got left at any one time).
A few negative points are:
1) It does cut off after 10 minutes of absolute non-usage (to save battery time, which lasts around three hours), so you may lose your connection if you pop off to the toilet or go and make a cup of tea (if at home, of course. When out and about that’s probably less likely).
2) There’s no decent battery life indicator. It’s either a strong green – meaning it’s fully charged – or yellow – meaning it needs charging – or red light – meaning the battery is flat.
3) It takes the pressing of three buttons (to turn the modem on, to turn on the WiFi, to connect to the 3 network) to get it to work.
These are simple things to get around, though, and hopefully design flaws that will be addressed in later models.
For me, it does, indeed, make my iPod Touch far more Internet friendly and closer to being the kind of permanent-Internet access machine that the iPhone is. Also, later I’ll get to use it with my netbook as it is, after all, a WiFi device for any kind of computer tech that can access the web (and you can connect four devices at any one time to it).
I thoroughly recommend it if you want to have an almost constant (at least in the city where mobile signals are strong) access to the Internet.
Review by Janos Bakos for 3 Mobile Wi-Fi Pre-pay Wireless Modem
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had this since it 1st came out and use it on all my devices laptops netbook and phones and it conects with everything and keeps its conection and gives fast reliable mobile broadband i have used o2s dongles and the broadband on theirs is nowhere near as good as on 3 networks i use the o2 sometimes because you can buy daily web allowence but the quality and speed is not anywhere near what 3s is
Review by Mr. Sa Smith for 3 Mobile Wi-Fi Pre-pay Wireless Modem
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This is actually a very good product. Charge the battery, insert the SIM, find a 3g signal, and you’re away.
The only criticism I have is 3′s “use it or loose it” policy on credit top-up.
- e.g. £10 gets you a 1GB of data and it LASTS FOR 30 DAYS!! (correct as of 15/01/2010).
I wouldn’t mind so much, but I like to use what I buy when I want. I’m lead to believe their mobile phone policy is similar at 90 days. Which isn’t quite as bad.
So, unless you’ve not got broadband at home I wouldn’t bother. Otherwise it will only get used for those special occasions like holidays.
I suppose you could also argue getting rid of your land-line phone (if you never use it) that’s costing you line rental, and buying a Mi-Fi. It will cost you about the same each month (apart from the actual up-front purchase), but you’ll be getting FREE broadband. And you can connect multiple PC’s. Check the broadband speed ratings first before you think about this option. I think the Mi-Fi is about 3.5MB, but don’t quote me.
Review by Huw for 3 Mobile Wi-Fi Pre-pay Wireless Modem
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I have been very disappointed in this product. If you have an iTouch and want to get ready connection, upgrade to an iPhone. It works OK in the UK but doesn’t roam anywhere useful for me (Japan, Germany). Email service support was good, but don’t try ‘phoning unless you want a frustrating experience with the Three non-UK call centre.