Winknet launched the MF50 3G Pocket Wi-Fi Router, earlier this month in India. It is manufactured by ZTE and has HSPA support up to 14.4 Mbps download and 5.76 Mbps upload speeds. It has a LCD display, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n & WPS support that lets you connect up to 10 WiFi-enabled devices and comes with a 1500 mAh battery. Since it was originally launched in July for BSNL with bundled plans, the box has BSNL branding. Tata Docomo launched 3G Wi-Fi Hub last year at a similar price, but it offers download speeds only up to 7.2 Mbps and lets you share the connection only with 5 WiFi-enabled devices. Let’s get into the detailed review.
Box Contents
The box contents include, the 3G pocket router, 1500 mAh battery, a power adapter, USB cable, Quick start guide, Warranty card and Service center list.
Hardware and Design
It feels light and weighs just 80 grams. There is a LCD display at the front that displays connectivity status, signal type, signal strength and battery status. The device is compact, and looks just like a mini phone. The violet colors around the sides makes it more attractive.
There is a power button at the left side of the router. There are Internet and WPS buttons below that. The Internet key lets you connect to or disconnect from the Internet, and you can hold it for five seconds to change between manual and automatic connection. The WPS key lets you start WPS Wi-Fi Protected Setup authentication process and enable / disable Wi-Fi function.
On the right side, there is a USB slot under the back cover, and a port that lets you connect an external antenna to enhance the signal strength.
When you open the back cover, you can see a 1500 mAh battery. When you remove the battery, there are 2 slots, the right slot for SIM cards and the left slot for microSD.
Features and Performance
The device works in the automatic settings after you insert a SIM card. Once you power on the device, you need to press the WPS key for 2 seconds if you notice Wi-Fi status as not connected. Once you start connecting it to different devices, you’ll notice the number of connected devices. You can connect up to 10 devices at a time, and share the connection with a PC simultaneously. The WiFi password is mentioned at the back of the device, under the battery. You can also change it later.
For the first time, you need to set USB tethering by connecting it to a PC or Mac. It mounts a drive, which you need to click to install the required drivers automatically. After the installation is complete, it open a webGUI, and creates a desktop shortcut called ‘Mobile Hotspot’ for later use. You can login to the web UI, using the password admin.
The WebGUI lets you access, PhoneBook, SMS, Settings and Status. You can see the upload and download speeds, connection time, number of shared connection, battery, number of unread text messages and quick shortcuts to sites.
You can read or delete SMS stored in the SIM card, but cannot reply to them. You can also use the search feature to search for SMS.
The setting option lets you change the wireless network name (SSID), enable / disable WPS and Firewall. You can also limit the WiFi sharing, which is normally 10.
There is also USSD feature that lets you dial a code to check the balance or data on your SIM card.
The status tab displays 3D information and other system information like such as IMEI.
The connectivity is pretty good on USB and WiFI. We got about 10 Mbps download speeds and around 3 Mbps upload speeds. The device supports up to 14.4 Mbps upload speeds and 5.76Mbps upload speeds, which is pretty good.
Conclusion
This small pocket router gets you connected in few seconds. Unless you want to change some settings, you don’t need to connect it to a PC. All you need is to insert a SIM card, switch it on, and you are connected to the network immediately. The microSD card slot is a good add-on that comes in handy if you need a storage device. Since the slot is underneath the battery it is hard to chance the SIM card quickly. The battery lasts for about 3 and half hours if you use it continuously. At Rs. 5,800 it priced a bit high, but if you travel a lot and carry around several WiFi-enabled devices and a laptop with you, this is the one you need.