Review: Sprint MiFi 4082 mobile hotspot

4G WiMax access, widgets and Wi-Fi sharing

By Keith Shaw on Fri, 04/29/11 - 3:50pm.

The scoop: Sprint MiFi 4082 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot, by Novatel Wireless, about $80 (after rebates, plus two-year agreement and monthly data plan)

What it is: Like other mobile hotspot devices, the MiFi 4082 provides users with the ability to connect to a 4G wireless WAN (in this case, Sprint’s WiMax-based network) via a connected USB cable or wirelessly through a Wi-Fi connection. It also allows other users within Wi-Fi range to connect securely to share the 4G connection.

The device features an LED screen on the front to indicate signal strength, whether you are roaming, a GPS indicator and battery life. A light glows green for 3G signal, and blue for 4G.

Why it’s cool: In our tests, we got about 1.8Mbps of download speeds, and about 840Kbps of upload speeds. This is a slight upgrade over speeds connecting in the 3G space, but we were in an area where the 4G signal (Framingham, Mass.) for Sprint was weaker than in other stronger areas. Sprint says in a strong area, you can expect between 3 and 6 Mbps of download speeds.

Another cool feature is the inclusion of some embedded “apps” on the device, in this case there was a GPS application that let you search for different items (just type in a term like “ATM” or “bank”, and points of interest would pop up). We also saw a weather forecast app based on our current location. I’d be interested to see how more apps get delivered to these devices, although it’s likely that users would already own a smartphone with similar apps.

Some caveats: I was disappointed in the speeds (especially compared with the Verizon 4G LTE hotspot I also tried), but I’m chalking this up to my location for the tests. If you are traveling in a very good Sprint WiMax coverage area, you should get faster speeds.

Grade: 3 stars (out of five)