Sprint to bring MiFi 2200 mobile hot spot in June
Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200.
(Credit: Sprint)Just one week after Verizon Wireless made its announcement, Sprint said on Wednesday that it will also offer the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 mobile hot spot device starting the first week of June.
The MiFi frees you from having to search out a Wi-Fi hot spot by providing instant wireless access using Sprint's EV-DO EV-DO Revision A network. It supports up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices (laptops, MP3 players, gaming devices, etc.), and unlike the Verizon version, Sprint's model supports the MiFi's GPS capabilities so you can use it with location and mapping applications. The MiFi also includes WPA2-PSK, WEP, and SPI Firewall security features.
Sporting a brushed aluminum finish, the MiFi measures 3.5 inches wide by 2.3 inches tall by 0.3 inch thick and weighs 2 ounces, so you'll have no problem slipping this into a coat pocket or bag. The device is battery-powered, with claims of 4 hours of user time and 40 hours standby on a single charge.
The Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 will cost $99.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate. The price of the device is the same as Verizon's model but service plans are quite different. Sprint will offer two plans (under the Sprint Mobile Hotspot name): $59.99 per month or $149.99 per month with Sprint's Simply Everything Plan. Both come with a 5GB per month cap and 5 cents per megabyte overage fee. While Verizon offers the same $60 plan, it also has a $40 monthly subscription that gives you 250MB of data or a 24-hour Day Pass for $15.
Bonnie Cha is a senior editor for CNET, covering smartphones and GPS. When she's not testing the latest gadgets, you can find her chasing after her crazy lab or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California. E-mail Bonnie. 
I use it about once a month. I Sprint tries to charge me $50 or $60 more I am going elsewhere.
Before these connect cards and extra monthly fees; I can remember people connecting their laptops to the internet via their phones. Is this what you are currently doing? And if so how is the speed and ability to download data. My Sanyo Katana II is on its way out and I would like to purchase a phone that could connect my laptop and I-mac to the internet without the extra fees associated with connect cards. Is this possible?
- by unusuallygenius June 21, 2009 9:06 PM PDT
- they will never charge you...because using your touch pro...or my treo pro as an internet sharing device is done through windows mobile, so sprint cant control it, sure, they can disable it, which they did on my treo pro, but using wmwifirouter.com software, you can bypass that, for a one time charge of $30...well worth it. i am typing this now, on a acer laptop hooked up to my treo pro via wifi, running on the sprint network, i have the $129 a month family share unlimited data... and i love not having to pay to use my laptop...or even my xbox 360 on the internet...go sprint
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