And then I came across FreedomPop, which has only been in beta for the last little while. The kicker here is that I don’t have to pay a dime; FreedomPop gives out 4G wireless Internet for free, including providing you with a mobile hotspot. To give them a try, I ordered the FreedomPop Photon 4G mobile hotspot and here are my impressions.

What Is FreedomPop?

Backed by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, FreedomPop aims to provide Americans with free Internet access. The “free” account is limited to just 500MB a month (you can pay for more), but it is free. All you have to do is get the USB dongle or the mobile hotspot, but both of those are free too; you just have to put down a (refundable) security deposit. On paper, this sounds better than the NetZero 4G offering which only provides 200MB/month for a first year and you have to buy a wireless device from them.

The FreedomPop Photon 4G mobile hotspot is exactly the same as the CLEAR Spot Voyager, except it has been re-branded. This is because FreedomPop is an MVNO that is currently utilizing the CLEAR WiMAX network. What this means is that while you get “4G WiMAX” speeds, coverage is not nearly as good as the majors. Thankfully, FreedomPop has signed a deal to use the Sprint LTE network and they should be rolling that out some time in 2013.

Setup and Configuration

So, what about the Photon 4G itself. It’s actually a lot smaller than I expected, measuring about half the size of a modern smartphone at about 2.6″ x 2.6″ x 0.5″. There’s a 1830mAh battery inside that’s reportedly good for up to six hours of continuous use. It has a range of up to 100 feet and can connect with up to eight Wi-Fi devices simultaneously.

There are three indicator lights on the front: Power, Wi-Fi, and 4G. In case you ever forget what any of the colors mean, there is a handy guide printed on the back of the Photon. The power light, for instance, is solid green when the battery is close to full, changing to amber and finally red as it starts to drain.

The setup process couldn’t be easier. Also printed on the back of the device is your default SSID and password. You turn on the Photon 4G by holding the power button, give it a minute to start up, and then connect to it with your smartphone, tablet, laptop or whatever other WiFi-enabled device the way you would connect to any access point. Assuming you have 4G signal, you are now connected to the web.

The Mobile Admin Page

The Photon 4G acts more or less like a regular router, so after connecting to it, you can use your mobile browser and enter 192.168.1.1 to get to the mobile admin page.

This is significantly stripped down from what you’d get from your wireless router at home, but you do have access to all the basics that you need. This includes monitoring the battery level and 4G signal, as well as easily changing the SSID and password (which you’ll probably want to do). Curiously, you cannot access your FreedomPop account from here to see how much data you have consumed. This can become troubling if you’re getting close to your quota and run the risk of overage fees.

Coverage and Speed Tests

So, how does this perform in the real world? It’s a bit of a mixed bag. I had previously borrowed my friend’s T-Mobile 4G hotspot and I had coverage just about everywhere I went. Speeds were generally very good too. FreedomPop is a little different.

My testing took me from Bellingham to the edge of Seattle in Washington state. I did not have any 4G signal between the US-Canada border and Bellingham, but I did pick up a signal when I got into town. It was mostly fine when I was outdoors or near a window, but the signal did begin to fade out when I got into the mall and it fell out entirely when I got into the concrete behemoth known as Costco.

The speed test on the left was performed inside a store in a strip mall in Bellingham. It’s not exactly blazing, but if all you need is some mobile access to e-mail and Facebook, almost 3Mbps is more than adequate. The signal dropped out again as I hit the Interstate, coming back periodically but mostly falling out. It wasn’t until I got to Lynnwood (about 15 minutes north of Seattle) that I got a solid signal again. It was here that I performed the speed test on the right, which is much better at over 6Mbps down and with about half the ping time at 79ms.

I can’t say for certain what the coverage and the speed will be like in your area, but based on my experience, the CLEAR WiMAX network is really only useful when you’re in bigger cities and it’s barely usable in smaller towns. It also has a hard time penetrating dense foliage or buildings and this is likely due the 2500MHz band that it utilizes. It’s good to have some free Internet, but it’s not nearly as reliable as what I was able to get with T-Mobile or AT&T.

Conclusion

Given the price, I suppose I can’t really complain. All I had to do was put down the $100 security deposit and I had a “free” 4G mobile hotspot in my hands. When I was able to get a solid WiMAX signal, the resulting speeds are perfectly adequate for casual use, but it’s getting that solid signal that is such a challenge. I imagine performance with the USB dongle or the iPod touch sleeve would be much the same.

Battery life was pretty close to the claimed six hours, though I wasn’t actively using the connection the whole time. Of course, the Photon was constantly hunting for a 4G signal too. Build quality is good–it has this nice soft finish–and it really couldn’t be any easier to use. I think that FreedomPop is really onto something here, but it just won’t do with the CLEAR WiMAX network. I look forward to what Sprint’s LTE network can bring, but until then, I would not recommend relying on the FreedomPop 4G as your primary mobile Internet service.

The post FreedomPop Photon 4G Mobile Hotspot Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Want to get a mobile broadband connection that you can share with your buddies? Want to get it at a reasonable price? You’re in luck, because the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 is on sale for 60% off. This works with the Virgin Mobile service in the United States.

At roughly the size of a thicker business card, the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 is super easy to carry around and it can provide you with a high-speed personal hotspot just about everywhere that you go. You can connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices at the same time and you can do this without having to sign up for a contract. It’s compatible with both the 4G and 3G networks, which Virgin is offering through the nationwide Sprint PCS network. The MiFi range is up to 40 feet.

The Broadband2Go plans from Virgin Mobile start at $35 per month, giving you unlimited 4G where available and 2GB of 3G data where it’s not. You can bump that up to $55 a month to get 5GB of 3G data, while still retaining the unlimited 4G data. Pick up the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 for $59.99, which is significantly cheaper than the $149.99 list price.

The post Virgin Mobile MiFi 2200 Prepaid Mobile Hotspot for $60 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

You know how AT&T has been crippling 4G access on 4G capable devices? And even then, it’s not really 4G, because it’s just HSPA? Well, the spinning blue globe has finally turned itself around, because it is revealing its first 4G LTE devices.

Without getting into the technicalities of how LTE is arguably only 3.9G, let’s look at the glass as being half full. Finally, AT&T will have some LTE devices to go along with its recently deployed LTE network. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, they’re not smartphones. Instead, we are treated to the Momentum 4G and Elevate 4G.

The former is a laptop card that’ll give your notebook the blazing 4G speeds you need while on the go, while the latter is a mobile hotspot. Both latch onto the LTE network, which is supposed to be three times faster than their current faux-G network and up to 10 times faster than 3G.

The Momentum 4G ($50) and Elevate 4G ($70) will be available exclusively on two-year contracts. Somehow, I doubt they’ll be doing the unlimited data thing, so all this could mean is that you’ll rack up your charges more quickly.

The post AT&T finally taps into LTE with Momentum 4G and Elevate 4G appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Well, for the most part the answer is yes. With Verizon’s iPhone 4 you still get the same retina display and the same “rounded rectangle” form factor that the AT&T version of the iPhone 4 is rocking. There are some critical differences, however, like the lack of a death grip occurring, for starters. This is thanks in part to an altered top antenna bar, as well as the increased robustness of the Verizon network.  As you can see in the image, the external antenna bands are broken up in different places.

Also, unlike the AT&T version, the Verizon version will come pre-loaded with a 3G Mobile Hotspot application. This will work like a standard mobile hotspot, translating your 3G (no LTE yet) wireless connection into a Wi-Fi hotspot for sharing with laptops, iPads, and whatever else. You can connect up to five devices to this hotspot.

And that’s about it. If you’re already familiar with the iPhone 4 via AT&T, you’ll feel right at home with Verizon’s take. In fact, you could be pleasantly surprised by the lack of dropped calls and the inclusion of a native hotspot app.

The post The difference between the Verizon iPhone 4 and AT&T iPhone 4 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.