Huawei E5331 is it any good?

Hello all I am new to mobile broadband.

As the title suggests I have ordered an unlocked Huawei E5331 and was wondering if anybody has any real world experience with it. I will be using it for 2 things, basic surfing and the most important which is xbox live. I know its not an ideal product for live but is all I have got until the useless openreach techs connect my new phone line so I can get adsl.

I have orderd a pre pay sim from 3, 02 and my wife already has a virgin sim which I think is tmobile/orange network. The area where I live has full 3g coverage for all networks and o2 has 3g900 in my area which i believe is the best data connection they have to offer.

So I was wondering If anybody could give me a rough idea of what to expect in the ways of pings and download speeds. I know many factors come into play when using mobile networks but any advice or ideas would be much appreciated.

the 3 e5331 modem is actually really good!

I've only ever used it on the 3 network, and it works well for me. Its compact, battery is not too bad and its really cheap, I got it for £43 from ksn.

ive tried o2 mobile broadband and it was never as fast as 3 network, but that was via a dongle vs this e5331 mifi.

Use the 3 online coverage checker, if you have reception in your area, then you cant go wrong IMO.

Hello, first, you should make sure your SIM has fee, secondly, you should simply set up HUAWEI E5331 because sometimes, they can't auto ping the ISP and get connected. The most important to set up is the dial number and APN of your ISP. dial number is defaulted to be *99#, ISP APN, you could check your ISP or search it online.

By the way it's better to buy an unlocked one rather than one with contract.

Hope my suggestion help you.

I have got a Huawei E586 Mi Fi with a three mobile broadband sim. I went to three as I wanted coverage in the depths of Dorset and Devon where I cannot connect using wires. The Three Network works great with constanht 3G signal where my colleagues with other networks get little coverage if any. I can average between 5 - 8mbs download speeds which is more than enough to watch videos and live TV without any buffering. My brother in law has a mobile business and tested it against his vodafone dongle and found it to work just about anywhere in the South and South west of the UK without any disconnection. I got the mi-fi device for free so only paid for my contract. If you arent convinced then buy a cheap three PAYG mobile card and dongle and try it to see how you get on.