Mobility

Image Gallery: Sprint Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot

By · February 1, 2010, 8:45 PM PST

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  • Sprint Overdrive retail box

    I recently purchased a Verizon Wireless MiFi and then saw that Sprint rolled out a 4G WiMAX network in my local area. I said I wanted a MiFi-like device to access this network and Sprint now has such a device available with their Overdrive device from Sierra Wireless. Sprint also lowered the price to $59.99 per month and if the 4G connection is not available you bounce back to a strong 3G connection. Observed download speeds were easily twice as fast as that seen on the Verizon Wireless MiFi so this looks to be the king of high speed wireless connectivity.

  • Sprint Overdrive plastic box

    After removing the paper sleeve you will find a glossy black plastic box that matches the look and feel of the Overdrive in a larger form factor.

  • Sprint Overdrive front

    The Overdrive is a glossy black device with corners that have angles to take away from sharp edges. There is a single power button on the front with Sprint logo.

  • Removable battery

    The back easily slides off to reveal a battery so you can carry extras and keep connected for hours at a time.

  • Volume switch

    There is a volume switch to toggle notification sounds.

  • microUSB and microSD ports

    microUSB is used to charge and connect the Overdrive while a microSD card slot supports up to 16GB microSD cards to share with devices.

  • Verizon MiFi on top of Sprint Overdrive

    The Overdrive is a square block compared to the rectangular slimmer MiFi.

  • MiFi on Overdrive

    As you can see the Overdrive is about twice as thick as the MiFi.

  • Another view of MiFi on Overdrive

    Here you can see both the thickness and height of the two devices.

  • MiFi next to Overdrive

    Both are quite small and pocketable devices that you can carry with you anywhere.

  • Overdrive display

    A small color display is used to show status of the Overdrive. The number in the parenthesis is the security connection code for the Overdrive.

  • Sprint Overdrive management page

    You can connect your Sprint Overdrive to your PC or Mac and manage it via a webpage interface.

  • Look at all of these Overdrive settings

    There are a large number of settings available on the Overdrive and I was quite impressed by how customizable it actually was. Every setting you can imagine for a wireless router can be found on the Overdrive.

  • View of signal quality

    One of the status pages shows the signal quality details of the Overdrive.

  • Fastest measured connection

    This was the fastest 4G connection speed I personally observed in an area where the signal was reported with a 40% strength level.

  • Overdrive gallery 1

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  • Overdrive gallery 2

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Sprint Overdrive retail box

I recently purchased a Verizon Wireless MiFi and then saw that Sprint rolled out a 4G WiMAX network in my local area. I said I wanted a MiFi-like device to access this network and Sprint now has such a device available with their Overdrive device from Sierra Wireless. Sprint also lowered the price to $59.99 per month and if the 4G connection is not available you bounce back to a strong 3G connection. Observed download speeds were easily twice as fast as that seen on the Verizon Wireless MiFi so this looks to be the king of high speed wireless connectivity.
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