Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Knowing that I would be somewhere with no Internet access for a couple of weeks, I researched several "MiFi" devices. Because they were all fairly similar, my choice was based on T-Mobile's 'pay-as-you-go' option. The 4G Hotspot was a bit more expensive than other products, but I liked the idea of no contract, and being able to buy a gig of data-time for 30 bucks just for the times that I wanted or needed to use it. My main objective was to be able to send/receive email and text from my iPod Touch and laptop. I understood that with only one gig, I would not be streaming movies from Netflix or watching YouTube videos. For the two weeks that I used it, primarily for email, I used half a gig of data. Even though I bought the HotSpot from Amazon, when it arrived, I walked to the T-Mobile store in my neighborhood to have it activated. I did, subsequently, have problems setting up the password (and I never was able to change the SSID name), but I called the tech line and they were very helpful in solving my password problem. The first time I went to T-Mobile's site to check how much data I had used, there was a glitch and it said I had used it all. When I checked the next day, it was working and I was able to see my correct data usage. In general, after getting used to using it, with a bit of trial and error, it turned out to be an amazing product. Almost every place I used it, I received 4G service. It was particularly helpful when I was out and about with my iPod Touch. It's true, as others have mentioned, that sometimes it kind of "locks," but I found turning it off and then turning it on again (a kind of reboot) fixed that problem. If you have the patience to go through the activation process (I recommend doing that at a T-Mobile store), setting up the password, getting used to minor quirks at the beginning, this is an excellent and extremely useful product. Also: If you want an iPad with 3G -- or have one without it -- and don't want to commit to AT+T or Verizon, this is a great alternative.