MiFi impossible

A new trend for mobile broadband has been the appearance of mobile WiFi routers or 'MiFi's' allowing the user to setup their own WiFI hub quickly for internet access via 3G. As many of our jobs here at ExperienceLab mean that we need to be out and about we decided that one of these MiFi's would be a useful addition to our technology arsenal.

Now I've only had it a couple of days but I have to say that the experience has not been great. The device uses five LED's to indicate its current state, though the longest I have seen them on is probably about 10 seconds before they switch off into a power saving mode, not that helpful if you are trying to troubleshoot the connection.

Try as I might I can't get a connection to Three's 3G network. The manual tells me that I need to look for the signal strength indicator to turn green to indicate that it is connected to the network, however as this indicator turns off after about ten seconds to "save power" I've never been sure if I have ever got a signal.

What is really irritating that I also have a USB modem provided by Three that manages to get a signal when the MiFi device just sits there like a expensive looking paper clip holder refusing to tell me anything about its status.

The design would have been improved had Three seen fit to offer any kind of useful feedback about the signal strength and network connection that lasted more than 10 seconds, perhaps by including, oh I don't know, a LCD screen that has been the standard fare in mobile devices since the beginning of time….

I'm sure that in an area with good (any) 3G network coverage the process could be more straightforward but when you run into any problems that require troubleshooting the options provided are totally inadequate for a device that promises to be quick and easy to setup.

In conclusion a nice idea but let down by feedback mechanisms that are likely to prove essential in a device such as this.