For about 2 months or so, I’ve been thinking really hard of replacing my old and rusty Pocket WIFI MF51 (a Sun freebie) with this new and shiny Mobile WIFI E5372, and guess what? I just did that today!
For Php 5,595.00 at Interpace Gaisano Tabunok, I don’t consider it as a cheap replacement but since it’s already 4G, I guess that justified the price. It’s not that I’m dying to use 4G for a faster connection, it’s just that my MF51 is already acting weird and grumpy after 3 1/2 years of service.
To start off, this nifty gadget has a small LCD screen in front of it, no more blinking LED lights like its many predecessors. In fact, it’s like a mobile phone. All the important stuff you need to know are conveniently displayed in the screen (e.g. battery level, network, number of connected devices, etc.). You can also these stats and more if you access the configuration page via your browser at http://192.168.8.1. The default login is admin (username) and admin (password).
If you want to change the login password, login to your Web Management Page, then go to Settings > System > Modify Password
There are a lot of things you can do with this Mobile WIFI but for casual users, you can just go ahead and use it immediately. In fact, you don’t need to tinker the dashboard after inserting your SIM card to get it to work. Huawei has set this default SSID (the WIFI name) and the default password printed at the back cover of the gadget. The default SSID should start something like ‘HUAWEI-xxxxx-xxxxx’ (a series of random letters and numbers).
For those of you who are looking for ways to boost our beloved Smart, Globe or Sun signal, there’s an optional TS9 gain directional antennas that you can attach to the gadget. The setup below is not mine, so I can’t answer your questions as to where and how to get those antennas but more or less, your setup should look like that when you’re done.
By the way, there is no supplied 220v charger for this unit. They give you this USB to micro-USB cable you can attach to your PC or laptop to charge it. I’m pretty sure I can use the power supply adapter from my old ZTE MF51 because their batteries look identical. Also, this mobile WIFI is warm, not hot, but warm when in use. In the enclosed manual, it says that it will automatically shuts off if it gets too hot to protect it from frying itself. Now that’s a relief!
Charging Times
Stats below according to this website. I will have my own stats a few weeks from now.
- Charging from a plug: 2 hours to full charge. 4 hours using it while charging
- Charging from PC/laptop: 2 1/2 hours to full charge. 8 hrs using it while charging
- When it’s fully charged, you’ll have 10 hours to enjoy it
Update: Speedtest using SmartBro LTE on 29 Sep 2014 at 1:53pm
