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Introduction

In recent years, with the acceptance of 3G and 3.5G as a common and popular mobile network, HSPA (High-speed packet access) becomes very crucial for road warriors as they are much faster than GPRS network and easy to use.

A person will need 3G or 3.5G enabled devices to use this high speed network (of course, this service depends on the Telecommunications Company of the country). It may be built into the devices already or it may be on an external drive.

This review is based on the HuaWei USB modem E170. HuaWei Technologies Co., Ltd has been aggressively promoting its USB modems.

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HuaWei’s latest USB stick modem is much smaller than its predecessor (E220). Technically, this USB modem device is actually a modem, a USB flash drive, a virtual CD-ROM drive.

In this review, I will use the modem of the Singapore telecom operator, Starhub.

The package

The Starhub package comes in white only with a Starhub logo. It is packaged in a DVD-sized case with the modem itself and an extended cable. The main difference between the E220 (the predecessor) and this E170 is that the E170 itself already has a USB connection point. In normal operation, you will not need to use the extended cable. In the operation manual, it is stated that this cable can be used to improve the signal. You will need to purchase the SIM card separately for this modem. Or you can use your existing SIM card in it. Starhub bundled this bundle with an unlimited data SIM card that is easy to install on the device.

The modem

The modem is very light and the finish is of high quality. The size is slightly larger than a conventional USB stick. Dimensions are 80.5mm long by 24.1mm wide and 11.8mm thick. It is bright white and very well made. The USB connection is hidden with a cover that is quite sturdy. The cover comes with a silver hinge for you to hang this device. Near the USB connection port is the SIM card holder. It is carefully hidden and aligned with the overall design. I wouldn’t be too sure about that, as the device can fall out if dropped (and you only have one cover left).

The connection

As mentioned above, this modem is a virtual CD-ROM drive. The reason is that the software is flashed and is detected as a CD-ROM drive when connected. A Dell laptop was used for this connection check. It took about 5 minutes to configure the modem automatically. You will be prompted for the first time to install the software on the computer. It is a mandatory step. After installation, the Starhub connection panel will appear and you just need to click on the connection icon. Starhub connection is based on HSDPA/HSUPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM.

It takes a minute to connect (the modem I have doesn’t have a password. So it connects automatically when I press the connect icon).

The main panel will show connected once you are done and in the bottom right corner of your computer, you can see the Starhub modem logo.

In the main panel, you can switch to the statistics page to see the upload and download speed with a nice graph. There is also the text and phone book page which I did not explore. Basically, according to Starhub, the SIM card is a data card that cannot be used to call. However, basic text messaging is possible. As for the phone book, it is the contact storage of the SIM card. For this pack, there are 500 contact slots.

Performance

Ideally, the download speed of this modem using the Starhub service should be 7.2 Mbps. However, actual performance showed the opposite. This could be due to signal strength and download sharing factors.

Some tests were done on a website by clicking on a link to a page with lots of images and also refreshing this same page. Both results were satisfactory since it can be loaded in a minute.

The connection is stable. In fact, this unit was tested with Skype and webcam. It has a little lag, but this may be due to the other party’s wireless connection. Therefore, this is not conclusive.

Use

This little device is best for Road Warriors to download emails and browse the internet. As the form factor is small, it can be easily transported. With an unlimited data plan, this unit can stay connected to the Internet all day without worrying about bills.

HSDPA downlink is 7.2Mbps and HSUPA uplink is 2Mbps, still not the fastest compared to LAN. It is not designed for gaming and if you have to load a lot of heavy files, you may feel the lag.

If you intend to use it abroad, check with your telecom operator about the data rate abroad. It can put a big dent in your wallet.

conclusion

Overall, this device serves the basic purpose of connecting on the go. With its small form factor, it can be taken anywhere. The connection speed depends a lot on the telecom operator. With testing on the previous model (E220) at a speed of 1.8 Mbps to 3.6 Mbps, some heavy connection tasks could be quite taxing. You should seriously consider the 7.2 Mbps minimum downlink standard if you want to use it frequently. It’s a must have for Road Warriors right now.

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