Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi launches in the UK

First real rival to Three's Mi-Fi

Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi launches in the UK

16 August 2010 15:03 GMT / By Paul Lamkin

Vodafone has launched its very own mobile Wi-Fi device that, like Three's Mi-Fi, allows you to connect your Wi-Fi enabled devices to the 3G network.

Vodafone's version, which it is simply calling Mobile Wi-Fi, is a Huawei piece of kit (the same guys who make Three's offerings) and the network says that you'll be able to connect up to five different devices to it at once.

The 3G hotspot has HSUPA 5.76 Mbps as well as HSDPA, so you could potentially get a 7.2 Mbps speed, although don't count on it.

The hot spot has 256MB of flash memory built in, but you can expand this with a microSD of up to 32GB. Vodafone hasn't given any details as to what this actually means, although a shared-storage option could be on the cards. Pocket-lint will seek confirmation on this and update you as soon as possible.

Standby time is an impressive 100 hours, but its life will be more like 4 hours with the maximum number of devices connected to it. You can charge it with the included USB or mains lead.

You can get the Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi device for free by paying £25 a month for a 5GB data plan on an 18-month contract. If you don't fancy forking out that much, £15 will get you 3GB (but you'll have to pay £49 for the device itself) and £20 will get you 4GB (£29 for the device).

It's available now directly from Vodafone.

Full tags

Wi-Fi adapters, Wi-Fi, Vodafone, Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi, Huawei, Hardware, MiFi