The new MiFi: Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot – FIRST LOOK

You know the Verizon TV commercials with the thunder and lightning, raving about the new “4G” LTE Network?  Well, that ain’t no lie, it is definitely something to get excited about.  The new Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot allows up to five people to connect wirelessly to Verizon’s thundering 4G LTE Network.

I purchased the 4G Mobile Hotspot today and yes, the speeds really are that impressive so far. It is equivalent to a fast home Cable internet connection and superior to DSL.  Below I share my thoughts on the hardware and some early speed test results.  At the bottom of this post there is a Flickr slideshow of all the pictures.

The Device

The device hardware is not exceptional: its similar to the previous Verizon MiFi Intelligent Mobile Motspot in that is card-sized.  A comparison of the 4G Hotspot and 3G Mifi reveals the Mifi to be a bit slimmer and lighter.  However, both devices are compact and pocket-sized mobile work-horses. It has a Micro-UBS connection for charging.

The LTE Network

Verizon advertises the LTE Network to be up to 10 times faster than 3g and get this: they are telling the truth.  My speed tests so far show it consisestly 8-10 times faster up and down when compare with Verizon and AT&T 3G.

Let me give you a few points of reference:

Verizon advertises the speeds of it 3G network at 600 to 1.4Mbps down and 500 to 800 Kbps up. AT&T 3G speeds tend to run in the range of 1.5-2.2Mbps down. AT&T advertises the speeds of its 4G network at up to 6Mbps down. Verizon advertises it 4G LTE Network as capable of 5-12 Mbps download speeds. It is notable to me that in researching the claimed network speeds Verizon’s information was easy to locate on its website while AT&T’s speeds were almost impossible to find.

All of the speed tests I did were performed in the Oklahoma City-area using either an iPhone 4, an iPad 2 or MacBook Pro Mid-2010. All devices were connected the mobile Hotspot and Mifi wirelessly. Take a look at the numbers below:

In my office where any signal is challenged but AT&T’s is particularly weak:

Verizon LTE Edmond (iPhone 4)

AT&T 3G at my office (iPhone 4)

AT&T 3G at my office (iPhone 4)

Verizon LTE at my office (iPhone 4)

Verizon LTE at my office (iPhone 4)

Some results from around the town:

Verizon LTE Edmond (iPad 2)

Verizon LTE at my office (iPad 2)

Verizon LTE 4G at home (MacBook Pro)

This is a slideshow of the pictures I took on this project.