HuaWei E170 USB Stick Modem Review

Introduction

In recent years, with the acceptance of 3G and 3.5G as a common and popular mobile network, HSPA (High-speed packet access) it 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 country’s Telecommunications Company). It may be built into the devices already or it may be on an external drive.

This review is based on HuaWei’s E170 USB modem. 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 be using the modem of the Singapore telecom operator, Starhub.

The package

The Starhub package comes only in white color 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 indicated 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 in 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. The 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 resistant. 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 over if dropped (and you’re only left with a cover).

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 plugged in. A Dell laptop was used for this connection check. It took about 5 minutes to set up 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. The Starhub connection is based on HSDPA/HSUPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM.

It takes a minute to connect (the modem I have has no 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 page and phone book that I did not explore. Basically, according to Starhub, the SIM card is a data card that cannot be used for calling. However, basic text messaging is possible. As for the phone book, it is the storage of SIM card contacts. 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 otherwise. This could be due to signal strength and download sharing factors.

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

The connection is stable. In fact, this unit was tested with Skype and webcam. It has a bit of a delay, but this may be caused by the other party’s wireless connection. Therefore, this is not conclusive.

Use

This little device is the best for Road Warriors to download emails and surf the internet. Since 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 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA uplink is 2 Mbps, still not the fastest compared to a LAN. It is not designed for gaming and if you have to load a lot of large files, you may feel the lag.

If you intend to use it abroad, please check with your telecom operator about the data rate abroad. It can make 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 telecommunications operator. With the tests on the previous model (E220) at a speed of 1.8 Mbps to 3.6 Mbps, some heavy connection tasks could be quite demanding. You should seriously consider the minimum downlink standard of 7.2 Mbps if you want to use it frequently. It’s a must have for Road Warriors right now.