Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot

Mobile Hotspot

I purchased the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH–LC11 yesterday from my local Verizon Wireless store. I was anxious to see the performance. After all, Verizon was boasting 10x speeds. From the reviews, people were actually getting great performance from the 4G experience.

Well, just from surfing around, and not doing the speed tests, it seemed that performance on my hotspot was considerably better than my 3G version, and even better than the free WiFi at Starbucks. (This is not a complaint of the free WiFi at Starbucks, I’m very thankful for it!)

Speed Test Time

I did do the speed tests on my MacBook Air inside a Barnes and Noble. I ran two tests back-to-back. I went to dslreports.com and ran the Java and Flash versions of the test.

My results:

• Java Download: 3.142 Mbps
• Java Upload: 4.195 Mbps
• Flash Download: 3.851 Mbps
• Flash Download: 2.219 Mbps

I saw a report that one guy got 16 Mbps download. Wow!

My conclusion: It’s fast compared to my 3G MiFi hotspot. Much faster.

iPad Setup

Impatient being that I am when it comes to new gear, I just had to try setting it up using my iPad while sitting at the coffee shop. Fortunately, it was a no-brainer for me. I’m experienced at setting up routers from the browser, so if you’ve done that once or twice, you’ll have no trouble getting it all set up from the browser.

I had no trouble changing the security to WPA2 (from the default WPA), changing the SSID to match my old MiFi device and changing the password, as well. A few seconds later, my wife’s iPad hooked up to the new device using the network settings already stored in her iPad.

If you don’t want to open the owner’s manual, the settings are at this address:

http://192.168.1.1

You’ll have to get the password from the sticker under the back cover. It’s not easily guessed.

You can also change the password for administration, so that users cannot change settings on you.

Temporary Hotspot

If you want, you can set up a temporary hotspot using a random SSID and password, without giving anybody your normal settings. Of course, you’ll have to write it down and log back in yourself, because making this change will reset the router.

A Great Companion

In the two days that I’ve had the device, I’ve been pleased to have the greater performance. If you’ve gotten used to having the 3G version from Verizon (the MiFi 2200), you’ll love the extra speed from the 4G from Samsung and Verizon.

Tagged as: Internet Sharing, Technical, Third Place