Vodafone Launches MiFi-Based Mobile Hotspot

Mobile operator Vodafone has launched a pocket hotspot that uses Wi-Fi to connect up to five devices to 3G broadband.

The operator is selling Novatel’s MiFi 2352 pocket hotspot in Germany, Romania and Spain – there is no word yet of a UK launch date, with a Vodafone spokesman saying: “All launch decisions are being taken on a market-by-market basis based on customer needs and local market dynamics,” and promising to let us know when it’s the UK’s turn.

The device, as we found in our review, is easy to use, with a single on-switch, decent four-hour battery life and minimal set-up. As well as acting as a Wi-Fi hotspot, it can also be connected by USB, to act as a dongle, with up to 7.2 Mbps download speed. It’s also got a microSD slot, with up to 16GB of memory.

Cheekily, 3 launched a similar service last week using the name MiFi – even though it is using a rival device made by Huawei.