Review: Sprint MiFi 2200

A few months ago, I got a Sprint MiFi 2200 to test and use for work. When I first saw this device at CTIA Wireless back in April, my jaw just dropped because of the size and utility of the device. In case you don't know what it is, it is a mobile WiFi hotspot.

For a number of years, I've written drivers/applications for various USB modems. While USB modems do have many uses, the lack of drivers drew me to the MiFi. The quality of drivers/applications ranges from good (the ones that are built into the OS are best) to not so good, so by eliminating the drivers, my main complaint about modems goes away. I also really like the ability to connect more than one device to it when I'm in a situation with co-workers without a broadband connection. In addition, having the modem separate from the computer lets you put the modem next to a window and you can sit somewhere else in say a hotel room. This is huge when you have trouble getting a signal; you no longer have to have sit next to the window.

Really my only complaint about the device is battery life; due to the small size, the battery doesn't last as long as the battery on my Mac.

Pros

• Small size
• No drivers required
• Can share to 5 devices
• Fast connection for a wireless card
• Sprint has a fairly large footprint with good coverage

Cons

• Poor battery life
• 5 GB/month data cap (may not be an issue for the casual user)
• For a consumer, the monthly cost could be a barrier.

Overall, if you have a need for mobile broadband, I don't think that you can go wrong with the MiFi.

Reduction in frustration

For work, we use a Cisco VPN. Unfortunately the Cisco VPN client for the Mac is a piece of crap. The software looks awful and isn't completely integrated into the OS. It gets quite confused if you switch networks without disconnecting; instead of it repairing the mess it made, it almost always requires a few restarts to get things going again. The problem is that it replaces /var/run/resolv.conf (/etc/resolv.conf is symlinked to it) with DNS for the VPN. So, if you disconnect properly, your original DNS settings are put back; if you don't disconnect properly, then DNS gets wacky.

One of the killer features in Snow Leopard is Cisco VPN support. I've read reports of it not working for some depending on if their VPN is using UDP or TCP; it works fine for me. The one annoying problem was that it asked for my password about every 45 minutes which almost made me crazy. A colleague sent me a tip today which solves this.

While the VPN client supplied by Cisco gets confused with network changes, the one built into Snow Leopard seems to disconnect properly on network changes and doesn't muck with /var/run/resolv.conf. The only issue I've found so far is that using a command line tool like "dig" doesn't resolve DNS lookups properly for lookups that are in my work's domain (we use split DNS). Other terminal tools such as SSH work fine, so this is just a minor inconvenience.

Mac Mini vs 1080p

Yesterday when I was playing back an HD show on the EyeTV, I heard the fan running like mad. The Mac Mini is a 1.66 GHz Core Duo Mac Mini. I thought that the problem was the processor being a Core Duo and not a Core 2 Duo machine, but then realized that the machine has integrated Intel graphics while the latest Mac Minis have separate NVIDIA graphics. My suspicion is that the new machines won't have to work so hard to play HD video full screen.

Shattered (Media Center) Dreams

Now that I've made the leap to HDTV, I had to find a way to record HD shows. I thought that I'd turn a Mac Mini into a media center with El Gato's EyeTV. I bought the EyeTV 250 Plus, hooked it up and was immediately disappointed. I'm used to TiVo and the user interface is second to none for using and scheduling. While my wife isn't technology adverse, sometimes she's a bit slow in adopting the technology I throw at her. It took awhile for her to accept the TiVo, now we don't know what we'd do without it.

The EyeTV software is computer software and not consumer software; scheduling basically needs to be done with a mouse. I can use Apple Remote Desktop and schedule from my laptop, but that kind of makes it more difficult to program.

I looked briefly at the HD TiVo and the price tag didn't faze me, but there are 2 things about the device that basically killed it for me. First, I have basic cable which also gets me 6 or 7 digital HD channels. The HD TiVo requires CableCARDs to get guide data for the digital channels. The second is that the HD TiVo cannot record 2 HD channels using basic cable at once. This completely baffles me, but their FAQ tells me this. TiVo has actually confused basic cable and digital cable like I did. (The guide with the EyeTV provides guide data for the digital channels I get over basic cable.)

I had hoped to ditch my TiVo and retire my Apple TV to switch to a Mac Mini, but at this point, it looks like I'm going to keep the TiVo so my wife can program it for most shows and use the Mac Mini for HD shows. We'll see how this works. So far, the HD recordings are nice, but the scheduling is not easy to do without using Apple Remote Desktop.

Oh well. I think that this is a conspiracy to get me to get me to buy "Digital Cable" from my cable company; something that I refuse to do as I'm unwilling to pay an exorbitant amount of money for TV when we watch just the regular over the air channels.