We do like the grippy feeling plastic on the back, though, which makes the device comfortable to grip. The highlight is a small but readable TFT screen that displays plenty of information. There's no buttons or controls on the front. You'll find a power button, a WPS button and a plastic flap covering a full-sized SIM card slot on the right side, while a microSD card slot, a reset button and a standard micro-USB port for charging are on the left side.
Concealed behind the plastic flap hiding the microSD card slot is an antenna port that can be used to boost reception in flaky coverage areas if required. To change any settings, you'll need to access the modem's Web interface. The Web interface is both straightforward and functional. Options include editing the SSID name and password, editing the APN, changing the screen time and a host of other advanced networking and security options.
When you're in a 4G coverage zone, the Optus 4G Mini WiFi modem promises maximum theoretical download speeds of up to 50Mbps, which is around seven times faster than what you can achieve on the 3G network.
These are maximum, best case scenarios though, and the results we achieved were far less, albeit still pretty impressive. Like all mobile broadband products, the speed of the Optus 4G Mini WiFi modem will depend on a number of factors including time, location, network coverage, signal strength and congestion.
Using the Optus 4G Mini WiFi modem in a 4G coverage zone we managed to achieve download speeds of up to 35 megabits per second but generally found speeds hovered around 22Mbps. Like many portable modem routers, it's also capable of acting as a storage device via microSD card. Despite having such a large display screen, the one thing you won't see much of on the front of Mini WiFi Modem is connection detail. The OLED display takes up a tiny fraction of the front display, and once it's shown the Optus splash screen, you'll be given three small lines of information relating to the current connection.
Optus provides "up to" 8GB of data with a relatively generous six-month expiry, although there's a sting in the tail of that offer, which we'll cover shortly. The Mini WiFi comes with security enabled out of the box via a password that's permanently printed on the back, inside the cover. Once you've set up the account our review unit came with a pre-configured account , you could just fire it up and surf securely.
The in-built web-based configuration utility isn't particularly hard to deal with if you want to tinker or set your own unique SSID and password. In our tests, we managed to keep the unit running and providing data to an iPad and a pair of mobile phones for four hours and 10 minutes, which is pretty impressive for a portable router.
It's not quite a full day's work if you use it all at once, but if you're moving between other data sources, it could supplement them nicely.
Likewise, Wi-Fi range was decent for such a small unit, and we found we could easily move between two rooms and maintain a decent connection. So we hit the road and tested seven different mobile devices across six sites to try to get a more complete picture of mobile broadband performance in two capital cities.
Why capital cities and not regional zones? Partly, that's a factor of time, but also so that we could get a picture of 4G zones — and right now, Optus is concentrating mostly on capitals for its 4G — as well as the issues that congestion can introduce into a network. We've tried to mix up our locations as much as possible, with our six sites covering a family home in Hornsby in Sydney's north outside any 4G zone , Darling Harbour in the Sydney CBD for an outdoors 4G test, because the Mhz frequency used by 4G LTE has some in-building issues , in Glenelg Library in Adelaide because it has thick walls and is a busy public space , in a coffee shop in Adelaide's Rundle Mall because again the walls are an issue, as well as public congestion and finally in departure lounges at Sydney and Adelaide airports, as they're awash with travellers checking mobile devices prior to boarding their planes.
All testing was performed with the Speedtest. Tests were run three times in each location, and then averaged to find ping, download and upload averages for each device. The E Mini WiFi Modem generally tested very well, although we typically found that it lagged behind the kinds of connections that we could get with the same laptop set-up and Optus' 4G USB modem.
The exception to that was our indoor Glenelg test, where, despite only detecting a 3G network — because Optus is still switching on parts of its Adelaide 4G network — it managed a highly respectable download speed of There's fast.
You've probably heard of the 3G and 4G network - 5G is the next generation. Our 5G network rollout has begun, so join us on the journey as we watch it grow.
As the 5G network matures, it will be faster, more responsive and have higher capacity, so you can get more out of the network. The fast speeds and improved bandwidth mean you can connect multiple devices at once. Even better, getting set up is quick and easy. Optus 5G Home Internet and Mobile has launched and is now available in selected areas where we have coverage.
The 5G network is growing and evolving each day and, as it does, so will the benefits. Download movies, games and other large files in minutes instead of hours on 5G Home Internet.
Internet that's perfect for working and learning at home.
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