ZTE MF79N, Unlocked Wi-Fi USB Modem, Low Cost Travel Wi-Fi hotspot to 10 devices, External Antenna ports + 2 Year Warranty (White)

So far, very happy with this product. I got the ZTE MF79N, the dongle that allows you to connect up to 10 devices to what looks like a large USB stick. The product can be plugged into a computer OR into a USB charger straight into the wall. I got it to use with the Smarty unlimited SIM and it works very well. The dongle itself does come with a free Smarty SIM which was not clarified in the 'what is included' part. The setup can also be done with a macbook which wasn't clear from the instructions so it works for both PCs and Macbooks.The speed is fast enough to stream HD movies on my laptop and fulfils all of my data needs (I use cloud-based graphics software). HOWEVER, some advice: The Smarty SIM needs to get a strong enough signal in order to work well and it uses EE's network. If you're going to be fairly stationary and especially if you already have an EE phone SIM, you can check the reception of where you're planning to use the dongle on your phone. If you have 2 bars and above, you will have sufficient reception when you use the dongle as all it does is it amplifies that and creates a hotspot for your devices to connect to. Otherwise, I can guarantee that you just won't get reception. The same applies on if you have a different company's SIM and use the same one for your phone.About the range: I'm using the SIM in one room and I get full bars, but once I leave the room and close the door, my laptop and phone can't pick up on the dongle much if at all. This one is very much meant to be used in the room where you are, especially if the walls are insulated.I have yet to take it out on the proverbial road as I've been using it in some temporary accommodation where I don't want to get a proper router. I would say this is good if you're someone single living alone or people travelling in a group. Just don't expect it to work for a big house or even a flat with many different rooms... the signal just won't be strong enough.

I bought this to work with my Zyxel VMG3925-B10B router that supports '3G' dongles for automatic cellular backup. Can confirm that it works as described in 4G and the caveats below, but you may wish to try another SIM.The interface is rather basic, but functional. It's only accessible when plugged into a computer, not the router, but this is an issue with my router, not the dongle. Options to see SMS messages, set up data roaming, and importantly to manually select networks.For some SIMs it may take quite some time (five minutes) for the dongle to register on the network after plugging in. Once registered it's probably fine, however a couple of months after purchase and automatic renews of a Smarty bundle I'd failed to disable auto renew on I noted my router showed the dongle as 'not present'. I do not know if this is due to the router, the dongle, or the abysmal Smarty coverage locally. Plugging it in again resolved this.Manual selection of network is important, as after trying the Smarty SIM, performance was terrible. A manual search revealed that Smarty (re bundled 3) only supports 3G within my house, I was receiving less than 2Mb down and an unmeasurable amount up. Your mileage may vary.The manual search showed EE had 4G available, so with a 1pmobile SIM I gave it a try. 27Mb down, 21Mb up is faster than ADSL MAX!Time will tell if this is a completely reliable and hassle free solution, but it's cheap and much easier to set up than multiple network connections

The ZTE MF833U1 purports to be a 150mbs configurable cellular USB dongle.The driver installation "worked", after I found the AutoRun.exe file on the flash-drive it masquerades as.The configuration screen is served up to 192.168.0.1/index.html#home - an address that will not work if you are already connected to (say) any home wifi.However, if you disconnect from your home wifi and try and connect to the address you can occasionally see a config screen. You need the config screen to configure the APN for the SIM card, though a less intuitive series of config pages is difficult to imagine.The whole thing was a nightmare to configure, and it never successfully connected and gave me a solid internet connection. Not once. 150mbps? Don't make me laugh!The problem was not with the SIM card - I installed the SIM in a cellular phone and it worked just fine.The problem was not one of connectivity, for I could tether my phone and get the connectivity I needed.The problem lies entirely within the ZTE MF833U1 hardware and software, which I will not even bother returning, in case it is sold on to some other victim.All in all, I would rate this product ZERO stars if I could.

Originally purchased this item in readiness for the copper switch off (which I have signed a petition to stop from happening for safety reasons). Was hoping to use it on Asus router but Smarty is not recognised. If the switching off of Copper does happen I will have to buy a TP-Link 4g Router that supports Smarty.