It used to be that you needed to find a WiFi hotspot, like at a coffee shop or airport, in order to get your laptop onto the Internet while you’re out on the road. The USB Internet sticks changed that, but they didn’t provide the kinds of speeds you grew accustomed to having through more conventional Internet access points. That changed with the arrival of LTE.

Rogers Wireless recently launched its LTE network in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa, supposedly giving you speeds that might be even faster than what you have at home or at work. I had the opportunity to try out the only Rogers LTE device (AT&T in the USA) at the moment — the Sierra Wireless AirCard 313U mobile broadband modem — and this is what I found.

Plug, Play, Surf

The USB modem works in much the same way that your cell phone does. You plunk in the SIM card, it connects to the network, and you go about doing your business. This is similar to what I got with the Nokia CS-18 HSPA+ Rocket Stick last year, but in a more flexible form factor and with supposedly much faster speeds.

The setup process is easy. You turn on your laptop of choice (it works with both Windows and Mac), you plug in the modem via USB, and you let the setup wizard do its thing. The whole configuration process only took a few minutes and I was online right away. It installs a simple application on your computer that lets you connect to the Rogers LTE network, send text messages, manage your data usage, and so on.

Flexible Form Factor

Whereas the Nokia stick looks like a big USB flash drive, the Sierra Wireless AirCard 313U is like a small card with a bendy USB arm sticking out the end. You can slide open the “card” portion to reveal the SIM card slot. It helps that the USB portion can be folded up when not in use, making the USB modem easy to stow in any laptop bag.

The form factor, while not tiny, is certainly small enough. As mentioned, the USB arm can bend, depending on how you want to use it, but it can also rotate 90 degrees too. This is handy depending on how your notebook is configured. Also included in the package are a USB extension cable and a display clip. This way, you can “mount” the USB modem on the top of your laptop lid, presumably getting slightly better signal strength.

So, How Fast is Rogers Wireless LTE?

Since the definition of 4G has gotten quite convoluted (the existing HSPA+ network is referred to as 4G by some folks), Rogers decided to describe its new LTE network as “beyond 4G.” Using 2×2 antennas, the current LTE technology has a theoretical maximum download speed of 150.8 Mbit/s. Of course, it’s unlikely that you’ll hit this peak speed very often, if ever.

To get a sense of the speeds I could get, I tried using the card in a few locations around Vancouver and Burnaby, testing the speeds with Speedtest.net. The speeds ranged considerably, even varying a fair bit when I was in the same physical location by tested against a different data center. Speeds in Burnaby (a suburb just next to Vancouver) ranged from 14Mbps to 18Mbps downstream. Looking at the coverage maps, I should have still been within the LTE network area.

However, getting into Vancouver itself, even when I was a good 7km or more away from the downtown core, I immediately saw results north of 25Mbps. One of the best tests I achieved clocked in at 43.42Mbps downstream and an astounding 13.49Mbps upstream, including an impressive 42ms ping. That was with connecting to the Burnaby server. From the same physical location connecting to the Vancouver and Calgary servers, I got 25.00Mbps and 13.21Mbps, respectively.

Needless to say, your mileage will vary greatly, even from the same physical location, using nearly identical circumstances. To be fair, I never got lower than about 13Mbps, which is still faster than many residential ADSL/cable Internet plans.

Pricing Plans and Conclusion

The cost of the Sierra Wireless AirCard 313U device itself is the least of your worries. It’s just $79.99 on a qualifying 3-year service agreement and a mere $169.99 without a contract. The monthly plans are what will put the bigger dent in your wallet. The LTE Flex Rate Plan starts at $47.93 and that gives you 2GB of data. This ramps up to $62.93 (4GB), $77.93 (6GB), and $92.93 (9GB) as you make your way through the tiers via actual usage.

There is a $52.93 introductory plan for 10GB, which is easily your best deal. I wouldn’t use LTE to replace your home or office Internet connection, since getting through 10GB is pretty easy if you consume much media at all, but this is a fantastic supplementary tool when you are on the go and don’t want to go hunting for Wi-Fi. The “beyond 4G” LTE speeds are quite impressive and are likely faster than what you’d get at Starbucks.

The caveat, of course, is that you need to be in the service area. LTE will expand into other markets eventually, but it’s good to know that this device will fall back on HSPA+ or even EDGE as needed. The flexible form factor helps and the high speeds will put a smile on your face. Just make sure you get that 10GB plan while it’s still around.

Related Links

- Rogers Wireless
- AT&T

The post REVIEW: Sierra Wireless AirCard 313U 4G LTE Mobile Broadband Modem appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

While I’m more inclined to use wireless tethering now, there are still many others who love the MiFi and the terrific utility that it provides. If you want to go even faster, you’ll be happy to hear that Novatel Wireless has just completed testing for the 4G version of the MiFi. That’s right. The credit card-sized box has hopped onto WiMAX, and it’s going to get a heck of a lot cheaper.

Using present 3G MiFi, most users have reasonably happy with the connection, it all works as expected, the web, the tweets, the face books. However, the speed can lag out with hefty data transfers.  The WiMAX 4G version however, will sustain a throughput of 18Mbps.

Theoretically, a maximum download of 30Mbps and upload of 10Mbps are attainable. That’s a lot faster than many home broadband connections.  With that much speed it wouldn’t take you very long to burst through the stingy 5GB data cap.

Some industry sources believe it could replace current home Internet connections, but have all the implications of blanketing communities in another source of radio frequencies been thorughouly investigated?

The post MiFi to go 4G, WiMAX to blanket communities appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

What to do. You have a solid 3G connection with your USB modem, your colleagues are sitting around pretending to do something on a disconnected laptop, you need to share that connection somehow. With Connect One’s Wi-Reach Classic you just insert your 3G USB modem, and voila, a Wi-Fi cloud appears sharing with up to 10 people.

A great solution for a portable internet sharing appliance that first in your pocket. Wi-Reach uses built-in rechargeable batteries which charge off USB, giving you about “four to five hours in normal use.”

Firmware upgradeable, Connect One expects to adapt the device for the future wireless USB modems when they migrate to 4G, WiMax and LTE.

“Wi-REACH Classis is portable, flexible and ready for the future,” noted Amir Friedman, Connect One’s CEO. “We designed Wi-REACH with ultimate flexibility in mind. It moves with you, moves between wireless networks, and keeps moving into the future.”

Shipping today, the Connect One Wi-Reach retails for $99, check the companies website for a retailer nearest you.

The post Wi-Reach Classic makes USB 3G & 4G modems into portable battery-powered WiFi hotspots appeared first on Mobile Magazine.