Telstra launches fastest pocket WiFi 3G hotspot

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 06 April 2011 11:39

Your IT - Mobility

Telstra has introduced a second pocket-sized battery powered 3G WiFi hotspot, this one operating on HSPA+ giving it a theoretical maximum downlink speed of 21Mbps.

Known as the Telstra Elite Mobile Wi-Fi, it will be available to prepaid customers from Tuesday 12 April for $129 with 5GB of data on 90 days expiry. It is available now for Telstra Business customers. for $0 upfront on a 24 month Telstra mobile broadband standard plans that start at $29 per month with 1GB of data.

However Tasmanian online retailer SN Phones  already has for sale the "Telstra Next G ZTE MF60 WiFi Router" for $129, but it seems without the included data. ("Simply enter the password key supplied and get on line immediately with your Next G SIM.")

Telstra says that customers in capital cities and many regional areas will experience typical download speeds of 550kbps to 8Mbps and typical upload speeds of 300kbps to 3Mbps. Active battery life is given as up to 4 hours. Standby time up to 100 hours. The device can support MicroSD cards up to 32GB.

The device has been sourced from ZTE (model MF60). ZTE also supplies Telstra's current product, the NS30, with a maximum downstream speed of 7.2Mbps. Another advantage of the new device is that it has an optional external antenna to improve performance in marginal coverage areas.