Sonic 4G - the first HSPA+ 42 Mbps Mobile Hotspot from T-Mobile

[Ilya]

Today, T-Mobile has released its new Sonic 4G Mobile HotSpot for its latest 42 Mbps HSPA+ network. So, I decided to give it a try and picked one up at a local T-Mobile store. Haven't seen the 42 Mbps speed yet , but a quick Speedtest at the store (via iPhone) measured more than 10 Mbps down and more than 3 Mbps up. Not too bad! About twice faster than the previous T-Mobile HotSpot unit.

The unit is currently $99 with a 2 year contract. I wanted to go without a contract with a prepaid service (since I only need this for occasional trips), so I paid the full price: $179, which is still much cheaper than the no-contract price of similar units from AT&T or Verizon. Prepaid plans range from $10 for 100 MB (for 7 days) to $50 for 3 GB (for 1 month). A little higher than what I used to pay to Virgin Mobile, but that was 3G (very slow 3G!). You can get much better price per Gig if you go with a contract.

Sonic is a little bigger and heavier than the previous Mobile Hotspot unit from T-Mobile, but it has a much bigger battery. Still, small enough and light enough to carry in a pocket. Comes with a pouch, though a label on the pouch discourages the use of the unit while in the pouch, due to overheating concerns. Like the previous unit, Sonic has a Micro-SD slot. You can use in two ways: as a flash drive via USB, or as web-based file share on the network. Not sure why would I need that, but I will give it a try.

As other similar units, Sonic supports up to 5 devices, but unlike some other units out there, it does work while charging and does work over USB as well.

I didn't take my own pictures, but here are some stock images from T-Mobile's website:

 

[Ilya]

One advantage of a Mobile Hotspot, vs. a USB dongle (in addition to being able to share the Internet between multiple devices) is that you don't have to place it next to your computer. For example, you can place it next to a window to get better reception. My house is on the border of the T-mobile's 4G reception area. I don't get more than 1-2 bars on the first floor. But if I place the Mobile HotSpot on the second floor next to a window, I get 3 bars, and can get the Internet anywhere throughout the house. Not that I need it while I am at home, but the same trick may come handy while on a business trip or on vacation.

 

[Ilya]

Found one major problem with T-Mobile: it blocks SatelliteGuys!
Web Guard is enabled by default and evidently it blocks this forum among other things.
To disable it, I had to go through the "age verification process": basiclly provide all my personal data over the phone to someone in India, I think...

 

[Ilya]

A word of caution to users of this or any other MiFi-like device. When using a broadband connection, make sure to temporarily disable any automatic Windows and software updates, and any Internet backups, like iCloud backup on your iPad or iPhone. Some of these programs only kick in if you are on a Wi-Fi. The problem is that most of them think that MiFi is a Wi-Fi and start sending or downloading a lot of data significantly slowing down your connection and eating up your allotted gigabytes.