WiMAX uploads top out around 1 Mbps, so uploading the files took longer: 3 minutes and 43 seconds.Ĭonnected wirelessly to an HP Pavilion dm3t, the MiFi 4082 lasted for 4 hours and 11 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery test (web surfing over Wi-Fi). It took 28 seconds to copy a 113MB folder of audio files from the shared network to the HP dm3t's hard drive. The LC11 hotspot for Verizon's LTE network doesn't support tethering.Īny user connected to the MiFi 4082 can access, copy, download, delete, or upload files stored on an SD card docked in the hotspot (access can be turned off in the control panel).
![sprint hotspot sprint hotspot](https://www.sprint.com/content/dam/commerce/products/sprint/en-us/coolpad/coolpad-devices/devicenb_650x900.png)
We also noticed that the MiFi 4082 could connect directly to a notebook and still share it's Wi-Fi signal with other notebooks.
#SPRINT HOTSPOT DOWNLOAD#
Likewise, the OpenOffice download (151MB) took 9 minutes and 24 seconds over Wi-Fi and just 5:30 with a USB connection. In Union Square, the difference between tethering and Wi-Fi was 3.6 versue 2.7 Mbps. At the office, we notched an average download speed of 8.9 Mbps, much faster than the 5.41 Mbps we experienced over Wi-Fi (the average upload remained below. Tethering the MiFi 4082 to a notebook via USB allowed for faster data connections. Amazon Cloud Drive dropped songs mid-stream fairly often and Hulu video was slow to load between commercial breaks. However, performance across all three machines wasn't perfect. test showed download speeds of 1.5, 8.3, and 1.1 Mbps for each respective device. While the MacBook streamed The Daily Show, the dm3t downloaded a 17.2MB file, and the Samsung Indulge streamed music over Amazon Cloud Drive. In our office, we connected an HP Pavilion dm3t, Apple MacBook, and Samsung Indulge smart phone to the hotspot. Like most hotspots, the MiFi 4082 supports up to five devices. Those times are good, but, the LC11 for Verizon averaged 4 to 7 seconds. We consistently accessed the New York Times, CNN, and ESPN web sites in 6 to 9 seconds. Web page load times were speedy regardless of our location. Maybe WiMAX coverage in Brooklyn is just poor, but it took more than 20 minutes there to download the file. Unfortunately, it took 9 minutes and 24 seconds to download the file in Union Square, a much slower rate of 2.14 Mbps. In our office, the process took just 3 minutes and 10 seconds, a speedy rate of 6.4 Mbps.
#SPRINT HOTSPOT INSTALL#
The MiFi 4082 downloaded a 151MB install file for Open Office with gusto. Uploads were higher on LTE as well: a 5.93 Mbps average for the LC11 versus 960 Kbps for the MiFi 4082. In our midtown office, the LC11 reached an average download speed of 15.7 Mbps versus 5.4 Mbps for the MiFi 4082.
![sprint hotspot sprint hotspot](https://www.netgear.es/images/support/mobile/hotspots/aircard/ac771s.jpg)
In Union Square, the LC11 for Verizon averaged 6.8 Mbps while the Sprint MiFi 4082 mustered 2.7 Mbps. We tested the new Samsung 4G LTE mobile hotspot alongside the Sprint MiFi 4082, and in each case, Verizon's LTE hotspot outpaced the latter. With advertised download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps, Verizon's 4G LTE is a faster technology. We garnered a high/low range of 1.06 and 380 Kbps with averages of 900, 960, and 970 Kbps for midtown Manhattan, Union Square, and Brooklyn. Sprint says 4G uploads reach about 1 Mbps, and our upload results bore that out. In midtown, our average download rate was 5.41 Mbps. Download averages for downtown NYC and Brooklyn were 2.7 and 3 Mbps, respectively. That spread included results high enough to meet Sprint's advertised 4G speeds of 3 - 6 Mbps, but we notched a number of results below the 3 Mbps mark, too. We saw download speeds as high as 6.5 Mbps in our midtown Manhattan office, while results dipped to 1.3 Mbps in our Brooklyn apartment and 1.41 Mbps at a cafe in downtown NYC. The MiFi 4082's performance on the synthetic benchmark varied around town. Users can also define power management settings, such as when to set the MiFi 4082 to idle, and set up a preference for 3G access, which can help save battery life. Like the AT&T Mobile Hotspot MiFi 2372, the 8042 features MiFi OS, which allows you to access a landing page for the device (http:mifi.mlp) that displays connection strength, battery life, and lets you manage passwords for the router, the control panel, and file sharing access. This feature is handy when you're running out of juice, and it also delivers faster speeds when you want to get online with just your laptop. The MiFi 4082 has another leg up on Verizon's new mobile hotspot card: it supports tethering, so it can share an Internet connection directly with a notebook over USB. That's faster than the LC11, which sometimes took up to a minute to connect.
![sprint hotspot sprint hotspot](https://m.wsj.net/video/20110422/042211worthit/042211worthit_640x360.jpg)
During testing, we were on the Internet after 20 to 30 seconds.
#SPRINT HOTSPOT PC#
Like all mobile hotspots, the MiFi 4082 connects to PC or other gadgets via Wi-Fi. The LED along the lip flashes blue for a 4G signal, green for 3G, and yellow if a signal is unavailable. Hold the power button for two seconds, wait for the 4G or 3G radio to spool up (about 30 - 40 seconds), and the MiFi 4082 is ready to connect.