In March, Starhub and Huawei made a press release to annouce that they are the first in the Asia-Pacific to have the HSPA+ Network which can bring the speed up to 21Mbps.
I tried to enter their trial but I was not selected. However, out of a rare coincidence, I managed to get the right person yesterday and today, I got hold of the 21Mbps Huawei E1820 USB Slider for 3 weeks as a Trial User.
My first thought was that this USB Slider must be quite big. I was wrong. There was not much things inside this box. Just a Quick Start manual and the E1820 itself. The SIM card is already install inside.
First View
The unit itself is actually quite small and handy. Below is the front and back view.
This little fellow has a SIM card slot and a MicroSD card slot. That means it can add as a thumbdrive if I wanted to.
Let me do a close up on the slots so that you can see clearly.
As mention, it is a USB slider. Therefore, you will need to slide out the USB connector. I think this is really convenient as you will never lose the cap again.
Here is a close up of the slider by the side.
It is really well made and the overall quality is excellent.
Actually, I am already using Starhub E170 USB Stick Modem. It is 7.2Mbps. A far cry from this 21Mbps. However, I have yet to really test out this E1820 unit. In the next few days (or weeks), I will test it and build a report on its performance and etc.
Comparison
Now, let us do a quick comparison of E170 Stick Modem against this latest E1820 HSPA+ USB Slider. As you can see, the E1820 is slightly broader but shorter.
Installation
As usual, this E1820 is already pre-installed with the software. Just plug it in and it will self install by itself. You will be able to see a disk drive icon and another drive icon which is for the MicroSD card.
Initially, I encountered some problem. After troubleshooting, I realized that it conflicts with the E170 USB Stick Modem. I have to uninstall the previous program and reinstall. After that, everything becomes ok.
Using the E1820
Using this E1820 is super simple. Plug it into the USB port, wait for the program to start (if it did not start, go to Computer and double click on the green Starhub icon) and press connect. It will automatically connect to the network.
Initial feel on the speed is positive. I have never seen the download speed to be over 500kbps on my old E170. Anyway, too early to confirm the results. I will update later on my user experience.
March 5th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
what happens if u put the sim card in a mobile phone.. will it operate n be able to make calls… and surf the internet???
March 6th, 2010 at 7:22 am
The SIM card will work on phone. However, it will be data only, no voice. That means for surfing net and not for calling out.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I got the e1820 from Singtel and it’s quite slow for now, but it’s supposed to be activated tomorrow. The device feels very hot after a few minutes of usage, is this your experience as well?
March 12th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Hi, Jaryl,
It is hot under usage. This is common. Hope this helps.
Regards,
Joe
April 10th, 2010 at 4:00 am
you need to verify that the cell site you are connnected to is activated with HSPA+ (21mbps), otherwise you usb stick will downgrade to whatever speed the cell site is capable of. Please do remember that 21mbps is just a theoritical value. If you are lucky maximum throughput you will get is 19mbps if you are the only user and you are under the cell site.
July 12th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
A couple of days ago,I bouth a Huawei E1820 HSPA+ USB Slider (21Mpbs) but it is not working in my computer…. My Computer operating system is windows 7 64bit….
I need windows 7 driver if it’s possible???
Please help me!!!!! I am waiting for your answer or answers!!!!!!
When I am using E1820 with windows 7 64bit or 32bit my computer freezzz….. and ? have to press and hold my computer open close switch so as to start my computer again…. I know that E1820 contains ?ts drivers but these drivers only for xp 32bit 64bit Vista 32bit 64bit…..
So please help me……
July 12th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
kaplang: Did you contact the service provider regarding this issue? Maybe you need to upgrade the firmware. Seems like this E1820 do not support Windows 7.
http://www.starhub.com/support/broadband/devicesuserguides/approveddevicesformobilebroadband.html
August 25th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
I am using an Adriod base MOBILE INTERNET DEVICE.
Anyone can tell me where to get Andriod drver for Huawei E170?
thanks