LTE WiFi hotspot - safe to buy yet?

Hi all. I'm planning to pick up a 4G hotspot to use while traveling. Unfortunately, both the Samsung and MiFi device seem to be constantly trashed here and elsewhere online for their unreliability. Reliability is critical for me and I can't be constantly turning the device off and on in order to keep it online.

It's hard to tell if the latest firmware upgrades have made them really reliable, or if I'm best waiting for the next gen devices.

Thoughts?

Accepted answers

Sinnfein07

Thanks all.

I appreciate the comments that 'support forums' tend to be focused on problems rather than successes. That said, there's no question there is a large volume of problems on both of the existing LTE hotspot devices.

My plan right now is to wait a bit - perhaps a month or two in the hopes that there will be a hint of a new device coming (ideally with better reliability - more battery would be a bonus).

My drop dead date is early January '13 for the CES show in Vegas. My AT&T phone was a brick for the week last year (big surprise), so it's critical that I have a verizon backup for staying online!

All comments

ipodjockey

I would wait if I were you.

John_Getzke

Hello,

The MiFi devices do come with a return policy of 14 days by default. What you could do is get one and beat it up for a few days. If you have any problems then try to resolve them right away with Verizon tech support. Then you would know for sure how well the MiFi will work for you. If you have unresolved issues after a few days then return the product and get out before they charge you to terminate early.

People only tend to contribute to the public forums when they have problems so its natural that you will find all the unhappy users here. Very rarely will you find a thread that say "Man, Im so Happy with xxx product!" (unless its sarcastic). The positive reviews are out there but they are mainly on the 3rd party Technology websites that review the devices. My MiFi works fine.

Sinnfein07

Thanks all.

My plan right now is to wait a bit - perhaps a month or two in the hopes that there will be a hint of a new device coming (ideally with better reliability - more battery would be a bonus).

My drop dead date is early January '13 for the CES show in Vegas. My AT&T phone was a brick for the week last year (big surprise), so it's critical that I have a verizon backup for staying online!

John_Getzke

You say you want more battery eh?

Check this baby out:

http://3gstore.com/product/3048_5000mah_extended_battery_verizon_mifi_4510l.html