Changing provider - Anyone with 3g

We are looking at moving provider to 3.

They are one of only a few that can supply us with the product we need .

Anyone have experience of using this product , we would be grateful for some feedback .
Its called Mi-Fi and this is the link :

[broken link removed]

You can buy an unlocked Mifi on eBay for less than a hundred quid, so if you didn't fancy changing provider you don't have to.

Is this for an out and about solution, or for an office type situation, because if it's the latter, the same effect can be achieved for less by connecting an ordinary 3g broadband dongle to a computer in the office and allowing the other computers in the network to share it.

We have decided to finish paying Eircom the € 25 per month line rental , as there are now 5 x mobile phones in the household .

Therefore we need a product that can service a desktop pc and 2 x laptops .

Not many providers have the capability to do this at the moment , but the device above suits our needs .

we contacted up to 5 broadband providers today and 2 of them have no coverage in our area .

Only O2 could offer a similar device , but it is out of stock.

Bought it in June 2010.

Have Eircom at home but needed broadband on the move.

Mi-Fi wouldn't work this morning. I presumed it was battery so I plugged it in to charge it. It didn't work. The unit got very hot and started to smell.

It's kaput.

I rang 3 support.

I had two options.

Option 1 - Take it to my nearest repair centre before mid day and I'd get it back by 5.00 p.m. (Limerick, Cork or Dublin).

Option 2 - they'd send a jiffy bag which would take 3 to 5 working days to receive, and another 3 to 5 working days before I'd get mi-fi back!

Option 1 not an option at the moment so it's jiffy bag route.

I had €30/monthly credit on it .... asked could it be put on hold (time limited) .... no .... sorry ..

I have 17 days left on it ... so allowing 10 days for option 2 I'm left with 7 days access before I have to pay again.

I bought the Huawei E5830 on the 15-06-2010 and it died on the 13-07-2010.

No replacemnt ... just fix. I was also 'warned' that warranty would not apply if the unit was physically damaged.

All I did was plug it in to charge it ..... something burned inside it .... so it is physically damaged!

Waiting for jiffy bag ..... it was an expensive €89.

If I didn't have Eircom broadand here at home I'd be left internetless by 3!

The mi-fi worked great when it worked. But less than a month's use ... not a great start.

Hi Paddy and sorry to hear about you mishap with the E5830 Modem.

It aparently has a 100 metre radius , so we will definately be storing this one in our back shed .

Was it plugged into the mains with the battery still inserted ?

I wonder would it be best to remove the battery if using with the mains .

Can you tell us , if you were happy with the speed and internet service in general from 3 .

We intend to sign an 18 month contract , so we want to get this right .

The unit is battery powered so I was just recharging it. I reckon it's just one of those things .... hopefully it will be fine when I get it back.

Speed was great although I didn't test it.

I usually upload/download using the Eircom connection at home.

The purpose of 3 was for general surfing, email etc. when away from home.

I didn't sign up for a contract. I bought the mi-fi outright and went on pay-as-you-go as this option suited me better.

I'll top up for the months of July and August fully but after that it will probably be intermittent use.

I tested it by cheating slighlt ... I went to Carphone Warehouse and bought the pay-as-you-go plug in modem just so I could check connection at the various places I would be. I bought on Friday, tested over the weekend and returned it on Monday for a full refund.

I didn't even need top up credit for it as it came with 100MB use. Once I knew it would work I ordered the mi-fi online.

I can't say what the range was as it was never more than 5 feet from my laptop and if covereage was good my connection was good.

Any service query I had was promptly responded to so no real complaints there.

I chose 3 because Vodafone and O2 coverage were woeful where I wanted therm. Meteor wasn't even available within the county!

Saying all the above ... 3 gets a thums up from me (but I'll be spitting feathers if my mi-fi doesn't comer back fixed .... wwaiting for the famous jiffy bag to send it first though).

If you can .... test the coverage first before you commit.