MBR1000

I've had a chance to play with the Cradlepoint MBR1000 and I must say, if you are looking for a good router that will handle EVDO (or HSDPA) to wifi conversion on the go, this is the router for you.

What is EVDO?

Let me back up for a second - EVDO is the most popular cellular broadband technology available. Do you have a cell phone with high-speed internet on it? It probably uses EVDO (or, if you are on AT&T, HSDPA). Basically it is just a broadband internet connection that can be streamed wirelessly to a cell phone or a data card.

This is great if you only want to connect to the internet on your cell phone or, if you have a data card, if you only want to get one computer online. What if you're traveling with your family, though, and you want to get a few computers online? Or if your company has a tradeshow booth and you don't want to pay the ridiculous internet prices that they are so well known for?

Enter the world of mobile broadband routers.

What is a mobile broadband router?

A data card is a little card that plugs in to your laptop and allows you to get online (through the high speed cellular network). These usually come in either PCMCIA, ExpressCard or USB versions. A mobile broadband router takes the data card and converts it into a normal wifi signal so any wifi-enabled devices can connect to it. This allows you to share your data signal with as many people as you want (or you can lock down the router so people need a password to access it). Of course if you have too many people on it you will notice a speed decrease, but in my experience getting 4 or even 5 people on it is no problem.

Why is the MBR1000 the best?

I like the MBR1000 a lot - I've had a chance to play with the CTR350, CTR500, Kyocera KR2, Top Global MB6000, Top Global MB9000, Top Global MB6800 and the Top Global MB8000. The MBR1000 seems the most reliable and the speed seemed the fastest. Remember, the router is only as fast as it's ability to translate the signal from EVDO to wifi - this is why you might see a speed difference between two mobile broadband routers even when you're using the same data card.

Other routers, in my experience, frequently require a restart to get the data card working again. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but my theory is that my data plan provider (Sprint) doesn't like me connecting to the internet in this fashion so they disable my card for a few seconds when I've been connected for a few hours. It's not a deal killer, but somehow the MBR1000 seems to take this in stride and restart the data connection so it just keeps plugging along.

What is required to make it work?

All you need is a compatible data card (see MBR1000 compatible cards and phones) and an active data plan. Keep in mind that since you will most likely be using your card quite a bit more with a router that you will probably want an all-you-can-eat plan (I use the Sprint Everything plan with unlimited data).

You will notice that the compatible devices are all USB, ExpressCard or cell phones (you can plug cell phones straight into the MBR1000 and share your internet with your computer!), but not PCMCIA. PCMCIA is an older technology that is slowly being phased out so most carriers are now pushing ExpressCard or USB data cards.