"Pocket wifi" - anyone tried it?

MANILA, Philippines — Telco Smart Communications Inc. announced Thursday the deployment of "5G" wireless technology Long-Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) in the Philippines, after offering the 4G LTE connectivity since 2012.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2014/08/14/1357553/philippines-now-5g-technology-smart-says

Thanks. Sghe had just bought the Globe 4G one...

We are in Northern Ireland right now. For us we are roaming. So we paid £15.00 for an EE 4G Data Only sim. That gives us 2 GB data which, depending on usage could last a month. It will do us for 5 days. It is installed in our ipad, but can as easily have been installed in one of our iphones. We run all of our devices from it including the Samsung camera. Saves us paying roaming charges.

Yes. It does consume battery power but we tend to only use it at night and occasionally during the day and recharge at night.

I noticed, in the EE shop, that they appeared to be selling an in car wifi kit.

I just bought a Huawei e5377s-32...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-E537...8&qid=1432147191&sr=8-1&keywords=huawei+e5377

This Mi-Fi has twin external MIMO antenna sockets for use with 4g. Be sure to get the e5377s-32 as sometimes Amazon send the wrong one and you get lumbered with the E5377Bs-605 which does not have the required frequency coverage.

You can also use this Mi-Fi has a WiFi repeater and, supposedly with an Ethernet connection if you buy an 'AF18' adaptor. Problem is, the AF18 does not appear to be available anywhere in the whole world!

I also bought the following antenna for use with the e5377...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-600...F8&qid=1432147634&sr=8-4&keywords=ts9+antenna

But then I found another problem! Huawei claim the e5377s-32 has TS9 sockets for antennas. But I think it actually has the very slightly smaller CRC9 socket so the antenna I purchased fits rather loosely into the MiFi. I could by adaptors or just use sticky tape to fix the problem!!!

i am using lobe tattoo 8mb for my internet connection but is only good for my laptop.Pocket wifi is the best alternative, provided the signal is good.She can check out from Sun, Globe or Smart and see which has a strong signal in her area.But if she can have PLDT its more faster.

Globe uses Huawei for their pocket WIFIs. I feel you, Howerd. When I was still in the Philippines I only get a signal through the ceiling. I bought a long cord and hanged it through a hook with tape on it! Glad I won't be having problems like that anymore.

Nickel is right. PLDT is faster but still annoys us when they have system problems.

Yes Anne, Pocket WIFis are more of a necessity in the Philippines, that is why I bought one, ready for the next visit. But they can be handy in the UK too, such as when my house was flooded! I struggled then using a SIM card directly in my laptop, that is why I looked for a Pocket Wii with external antenna connectors and Huawei seems to be the best.

I also bought my wife and sister-in-law a solar USB charger, so that they can charge their phones and Pocket WiFis, You can get those in any CDR King.

The stuff in CDR King should be avoided, it really is poor grade, cheap plastic and badly made. Won't go there again, plenty of other shops who sell real stuff.

I would agree with you, but we could find no other shops selling such an item

Thats effectively what we do when we leave the Isle of Man and visit mainland UK. Running several devices off the one sim. I have done that for the last 3 years.

It works in the car. In the hotel or wherever.

I know, right? Their customer service will give you a call--almost everyday just to acknowledge your concern but won't be fixing it right away. Lot of time wasted just to talk to them.

Some smartphones have an external aerial connector which makes tethering via a phone an even more viable option. The Samsung Galaxy 3 Mini is one such phone. It is also possible to repeat a WiFi signal with suitable software on a rooted Android device. I think it may even be possible to create a WiFi hotspot on an Android device from an Ethernet connection if the Android device is OTG compatible.