3 MiFi – Mobile Broadband Wi-Fi Modem

MiFi is Three’s Mobile Wifi offering, and it’s a cracking product.  So good T3 magazine named it their ‘Best Work Gadget of the Year’ in 2010!

What is MiFi?

MiFi is Three’s mobile wifi modem that lets you share a 3G mobile broadband internet connection with up to 5 WiFi enabled devices such as tablet computers (e.g. iPad 2), laptops, games consoles and the iPod Touch – all at once!

Best 3 MiFi deals

MiFi is exclusive to 3 – check out the best deals below:

MiFi Tariff	Contract Length	3 MiFi Price	Monthly Price	Buy Now
3 MiFi 1GB	18 months	Free	£9.91
3 MiFi 15GB	24 months	Free	£18.03
3 MiFi 5GB	1 month	£39.99	£15.99

Last updated: 17th March 2011

What are the pros and cons of MiFI?

MiFi Pros:

• Share your mobile broadband connection across several devices.  For example, unlike with a standard USB modem you could use your MiFi modem to connect an iPad, a laptop, an iPod Touch, and even a Nintendo 3DS all at the same time.
• Share your mobile broadband connection with your friends or family.  You can use a MiFi modem to share a connection across several laptops and other WiFi enabled devices.  This is ideal when you and your family are away for the weekend staying somewhere without WiFi access as you can keep everyone entertained and connected to the internet without having to pay for several mobile broadband connections.
• Share a mobile broadband connection with colleagues at work.  If you regularly work away from the office with a team of people you can buy one subscription and share it amongst the team using MiFi and connect several laptops to the internet at once.
• Replace your home broadband.  If you live in a house or flat with strong mobile broadband coverage you could use the MiFi to replace your home broadband connection and still be able to share that connection with all the WiFi devices in your home.
• When using mobile broadband at home you can get around some of the typical mobile broadband coverage issues because you can place some of the standalone MiFi modems in the corner of the room, or near to the window that provides the best coverage and then use your computer wherever you want in the house.

MiFi Cons:

• If you’re regularly sharing your mobile connection via MiFi you need to be even more careful not to exceed your monthly data allowance and end up paying the large out of bundle data fees.
• Using MiFi to replace your home broadband connection is a bit risky as 3G coverage can be very inconsistent from house to house.  Make sure you check 3G coverage in your home carefully before signing up to a contract.

How easy is MiFi to use?

As with mobile broadband usb modems MiFi is easy to set up and very easy to use – you just switch it on and it connects to the 3 mobile broadband network.  Your Wi-Fi enabled laptop or iPod Touch will find it’s WiFi signal and you simply enter the password provided.  You’re then connected! We’ve tried it ourselves and we were browing web pages within 2 minutes.  Easy peasey.

How secure is MiFi?

To stop every Tom, Dick or Harry from connecting to your MiFi modem and potentially pushing you over your data download limit your MiFi modem will be password protected.  3′s MiFi modem is pre-programmed with an eight-digit network key which you will be asked to input once for every new device you want to connect.

Who sells MiFi?

MiFi is exclusive to Three (3) in the UK.  Check out their latest deals here.

3′s current MiFi modem is based on the Huawei E585 Wireless Modem.

What do you think about MiFi?  Leave a comment below to let us know.

Read our guide to 3 3G coverage and check the coverage in your area.

Several mobile phone networks offer similar devices.  Read more about them in our Mobile WiFi Buyer’s Guides:

• T-Mobile Wireless Pointer
• Vodafone Mobile WiFi
• Orange Mobile WiFi