What is speed of verizon jetpack?

If you don't want to hold up to see how 5G pans out or need a mobile Internet solution right now, the MiFi 8800L is an excellent choice, even though it's not cheap, costing $200 retail or $100 if you sign up for a two-year contract.

Made by inseego, formerly Novatel, the MiFi 8800L is an oval plastic box that measures 4.45 by 2.80 by 0.75 inches. It's not tiny but not huge, either, just about the right size for a mobile hotspot.

On top, it has a 2.4-inch 5-line black and white touchscreen that shows the device's status, connected clients, and so on. The screen's sensitivity isn't the best I've seen but is good enough, and you can use it to manage most of the hotspot's settings.

For security reasons, you need to use the device's web interface to change its Wi-Fi and admin passwords, by the way — more on this below.

You can open the underside of the hotspot to get to its removable 4400mAh Li-Ion battery. Under the battery, you'll find a SIM slot. The 8800L uses a nano-SIM.

Inseego told me the device is unlocked -- meaning it will work with other carriers (changes in settings required) --but I haven't tried that out. After all, this is a Verizon device.

On the side, there's a power button. You need to press and hold it for a few seconds to turn on the hotspot. It works fine though I find it a bit finicky. There's very little tactile response, so sometimes it's hard to know if you have pressed on it. But that's not a huge deal.

The most exciting part is the USB-C port. You can use it to charge the hotspot's internal battery or charge a device connected to it.

That's right. The MiFi 8800L can work as a juice pack. I tried that with my Pixel 3 XL, and the charging worked fine. It stopped when the MiFi's battery level drained 25 percent.

You can also use it to tether a computer that doesn't have Wi-Fi to the Internet. In this case, you can choose to make it also work as a mobile hotspot at the same time or not.

And there's more; you can use the USB-C port to host a storage device, like a portable drive, and share that storage with all connected clients. It's like a mini NAS server.

A portable drive would drain the hotspot's battery fast, and there's only one USB-C port. That said, this option is cool but impractical unless you use a USB-C external drive with a power adapter of its own.

The 8800L comes with a secure Wi-Fi network that you can use right away out of the box. If you want to change this network's name or password into something easier to remember, you'll need to use its Web interface.

It's easy: From a connected device, point a browser to its default IP address, which is 192.168.1.1.

The interface is responsive and gives access to all of the hotspot's settings and features. And for a small device, the MiFi 8800L does have a lot of features.

For example, there's built-in GPS, which supports the NMEA GPS-over-Wi-Fi standard. Thus, supported Wi-Fi clients can automatically use the MiFi's GPS feature. Others, such as a computer, will need a software driver first.

There's also a built-in VPN client that comes in handy if you want to remain as part of a home or office network when on the go.

Other than that, the MiFi 8800L also has all the standard settings found in most routers. These include port forwarding, port filtering, MAC filtering, firewall, Guest network, and more.

Per inseego, the MiFi 8800L is the first and, for now, the only hotspot in the U.S that uses Qualcomm's latest X20 modem. This modem features Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), meaning it has improved LTE speed thanks to carrier aggregation and the use of the 5GHz frequency.

The MiFi 8800L supports LTE bands 2/4/5/7/13/14/20/28/46/48/66, as well as UMTS 3G. For this reason, it can work almost anywhere in the world. In the U.S, however, it works best only with Verizon.

As for Wi-Fi, the MiFi 8800L features dual-stream (2x2) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) with the top speed of up to 867Mbps on the 5Ghz and up to 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz. Ether is more than fast enough to deliver its cellular Internet in full.

I tested the MiFi 8800L throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and was happy with its performance. Verizon has good cell coverage in the area, and I was able to get good reception -- and therefore fast Internet speed -- without using external antennas.

On average, I got about 40Mbps, but there were locations I got up to 120Mbps. The slowest speed I got was around 15Mbps. Generally, I could stream movies to three devices simultaneously while using a fourth for other tasks without any problem.

By the way, since the hotspot is so fast, I recommend getting the unlimited data plan (currently costs $80/month). Otherwise, you can blow through any data caps in a matter of just a few hours.

The battery life was also impressive. With typical usage (web surfing, emailing, Google Maps turn by turn direction, and so on), the MiFi lasted me two days of work time on a single charge.

When I used it heavily (continuous Netflix streaming and other tasks), it lasted about 6 hours. Generally, on average, you can expect some 12 hours easily.

By the way, you can charge the hotspot using any USB-C car charger, including those used for phones.

In my case, the hotspot woke itself up (from sleep) each time I started the car, saving me from having to fumble with the temperamental power button, as mentioned above.

As for Wi-Fi, I was able to use it up to 100 feet away in open space. In a house with walls, however, the range now maxed at around 50 feet. While this was shorter than a regular router's, it's among the best for a mobile hotspot.

You probably think you don't need a mobile hotspot since, when need be, you can likely use your phone as one anyway. And for the most part, you are right.

But for those traveling with a lot of Wi-Fi clients, the phone's built-in hotspot feature -- which allows only three clients -- won't be enough, plus it'll drain the phone's battery fast.

And that's where the Jetpack MiFi 8800L comes into play. With super-fast LTE speed, the support for up to 15 clients at a time, and long battery life, until 5G is available, this is a hotspot as good as it gets.

Verizon Jetpack MiFi 8800L's hardware specifications. As for Wi-Fi, the MiFi 8800L features dual-stream (2x2) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) with the top speed of up to 867Mbps on the 5Ghz and up to 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz. Ether is more than fast enough to deliver its cellular Internet in full. What is this?

Road warriors need fast Web access on the go, without having to rely on Wi-Fi hotspots. The new Verizon Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi 5510L offers speedy LTE goodness for up to 10 connected devices at the same time. Add in epic battery life and a low $19.99 price, and this Jetpack is a must-have accessory.

Design

Click to EnlargeThe Jetpack 5510L is rectangular with rounded edges, giving it an almost pill-like appearance when viewed from above. There's a slight flare near the bottom, which gives the device an almost trapezoidal look. Measuring 3.9 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches, it's a little smaller than the Verizon Jetpack 890L, which measures 3.5 inches square, but not as small as the 5510L's predecessor, the MiFi 4620LE, which measured 3.7 x 2.3 x 0.5 inches.

Outlining the top of the 5510L is a red ring, which illuminates while the device is charging or when the display is active. It's a nice design touch that sets the Jetpack 5510L apart from other hotspots. A black-and-white, 1.54-inch OLED display sits in the center with three capacitive-touch buttons just below it. The forward, backward and check buttons help users navigate the interface and menu options.

The top edge of the Jetpack 5510L houses the power button and micro-USB charging port. While we appreciate the inclusion of the charging cable and plug, we wish the cable were a little longer. We had trouble getting it to reach from a coveted Starbucks power outlet to the adjacent table. Thankfully, you can also charge the device via your computer's USB port.

Features

Click to EnlargeThe Jetpack 5510L can provide 4G LTE connections to 10 devices at once. This hotspot will definitely keep your data party going, though you'll want to keep an eye on your usage, which you can easily view via an option on the main screen. This MiFi can also connect up to five devices when using a 3G connection.

Have a bad memory? You can easily find that the Jetpack's password in the Menu under Wi-Fi Name/Password. Other menu options include Connected Devices, Messages, Mobile Network, Software Update, About Jetpack and Jetpack Home, which takes you back to the main screen.

If you want to change the Jetpack's password, you'll have to access the device via its website using the address and admin password found in the "About Jetpack" section. While we think it's a bit of pain to have to use another login and password to change the initial password, it would be a nightmare to try to enter a new password on the Jetpack 5510L's small display.

Users will want to check for software updates. Verizon has stated that the Jetpack 5510L will be upgraded to the 4G LTE AWS 1700MHz band in a future update.

Performance

Click to EnlargeVerizon touts that it has the largest 4G LTE network in the United States, covering close to 89 percent of the population in 476 markets. By comparison, AT&T's 4G LTE service is available in only 149 markets, and Sprint's 4G LTE is available in a paltry 67 markets.

The Jetpack 5510L was a speedy performer during most of our tests in the Chicago area.

Using Speedtest.net, the average download speed was 21.75 Mbps, with a top speed of 31.71 Mbps and a low of 14.49 Mbps. For uploads, the Jetpack 5510L averaged 10.02 Mbps, with a top speed of 11.76 Mbps and a low of 8.67 Mbps.

Unfortunately, the Jetpack 5510L was not the fastest hotspot when we downloaded OpenOffice. The device took 6 minutes and 27 seconds to download the free office suite to our notebook. While that's 45 seconds faster than average, we've seen other hotspots take half that time.

While surfing the Web with the Jetpack 5510L, we found ourselves double-checking that we were connected to the hotspot instead of our home Wi-Fi. We found that CNN.com loaded in a speedy 5.6 seconds, Laptopmag.com in 5.7 seconds and NBCNews.com in just 6.1 seconds.

Battery Life

Click to EnlargeThe Jetpack 5510L is rated for 8 hours of battery life and will disconnect after 30 minutes of inactivity to preserve its charge. In our LAPTOP battery test, which involves loading webpages every 30 seconds, the Jetpack 5510L lasted a whopping 14 hours and 43 minutes. Over the course of using the hotspot intermittently over a few days, there was still approximately half a charge left.

The Jetpack 5510L also works while it's plugged into your computer via USB, making it unlikely that the device will die if you have a cable handy.

Value

The Jetpack 5510L costs $19.99 with a two-year contract. The only type of plan available for the hotspot is the company's "Share Everything" pricing scheme. If you are already a Verizon customer, the hotspot is a $20 a month add-on to your plan. Those signing up for a new plan have one of five options: 4GB for $30 per month, 6GB for $40 per month, 8GB for $50 per month, 10GB for $60 per month, or 12GB for $70 per month.

The Jetpack 5510L is $199 without a contract and month-to-month service, which costs the same monthly as contract service.

Verdict