Huawei E5330 Router, White

I originally bought one of these MIFIs to replace a first generation model, which was becoming unreliable. It arrived on time and, apart from the white label to seal the box in which it came (which appeared to have replaced the manufacturer's seal) that raised suspicion that it was not 'new', as described, it functioned well, booting quickly and broadcasting a reasonably strong signal. The 'extender' function also performed well when connecting to the house WIFI.However, the battery life deteriorated within a few days, lasting a maximum of 90 minutes even with full charge. That effectively rendered the device useless for my purposes as a mobile broadband router. I returned it via Amazon's excellent system and my account was promptly refunded.I ordered another one at the same time, as I was impressed by the performance of the first unit (particularly when comparing it to my first generation device). Again, using Amazon Prime, the unit arrived the following day. The small box in which it was packed again had a white label to replace the manufacturer's seal. As before, the router and accessories appeared to be new.I began to set it up and, as instructed in the accompanying user guide, used the password printed on the inside of the removable cover; after a couple of failed attempts to register it on my computer and 'phone, I then removed the battery to examine the password printed on the main case and found it to be different. This password worked and the MIFI registered on the computer. I can reach no other conclusion but that this unit was as described by another reviewer - bought locked to a network, unlocked and resold as new. The removable cover was for another MIFI of the same model, probably mixed up on a reassembly bench.That aside, the MIFI works flawlessly and the battery life is as advertised, so I am happy that I paid a good, competitive price for this model, which meets my needs well. I will monitor the battery life for premature deterioration but early signs are encouraging.

I am very happy with this WiFi Hotspot.I purchased from a well-reputed dealer - it would have been available cheaper from other sources but I wanted to be sure that it was indeed 'unlocked' as some reviewers seemed to indicate that theirs was tied to a network in spite of being advertised as otherwise.The back cover needs to be removed to insert the SIM (I purchased a 30 day EE 2gb data sim online) and it's a very tight fit - I ease it off gently so as not to break it and think it will loosen in time.With a prompting from other customers I used a magnifying glass to read the password on the inside also as it is tiny - you only need to read it once and jot it down.The battery on my device wasn't holding a charge well - I hesitated to send it back as otherwise it worked fine but I am so glad that I did because the replacement works much better. It can of course be run directly off the mains with a usb connection or from a computer - but the point for me had been that it could stand independently and at a good position (for me on an outdoor window sill) to pick up a good signal.I have used mobile dongles before but the beauty of this device is that any WiFi enabled device can connect with it.I will also use it for travelling - changing SIMS when needed.There are 2 webpages to refer to - the Huawei device one and the one for the SIM that I use - then I can monitor the amount of data used.The Huawei webpage has quite a bit of information on - but one only needs to engage with a certain amount of that and ignore the rest.The speed of the device will depend on the signal you can get and it will have limitations - my expectations were relatively modest and I am happy with mine.Highly recommended.

Arrived quickly. I bought it for a trip to Egypt not being taken for a few months but wanted to make sure it was working properly in this country first. I fitted a pre-bought sim card, just got a cheap pne from the internet, used a calls message and data one mainly because I was only trying it out to check it worked so 250Mb was fine for that. I found it quite fiddly to fit the sim the corner being cut off symbol to put it the right way round was not very easy to see so the first time I got it the wrong way round and wondered why it would not connect. DUH!!! I blame my age.Once I had put it in correctly it worked fine , I found the password really small and could not make out it it was an i or a l, after using a magnifier to see it I decided to change the name and password to an easier to remember one via my pc. This was accomplished quite easily, the only problem I found was then both came up on my network list the old and the new, I solved this by telling my phone to forget the old network. I managed to connect 2 friends phones to it at the same time as mine and it worked great not quite up to the speed on my 4G phone but it will be fine for me to use while I am away, for Whatsaap, skype browsing facebook etc. Love it and well worth the money. Last year we were paying £10 per day in Sharm for dodgy wi-fi that was only available in the Lobby with this I can use it anywhere in the hotel, the pool area, our room, the bar. It will pay for itself and a data sim within the first week.