Nervously purchased this, but really glad I did - worthy successor to MiFi 2200 May 18, 2012

Reviewer:  KCinDC76  (Washington, DC) -

I owned the [[ASIN:B0029ZAJ0K Novatel MiFi 2200 Mobile Wi-Fi Modem (Verizon Wireless)]] for more than 2 years. After my contract ended, I kept using it because it worked so darn well. Working well for me means that when I turn it on it connects to both the Verizon network as well as my connected devices every time, all over the Washington DC area, and other parts of the country when I traveled. The 2200 did this, consistently.

About a year ago, I started looking at a replacement for the 2200. I didn't like what I saw. The reviews were alarming. Yes, some of these newer devices were supposedly faster at "4G," but some of the reviews of the newer models said they were unreliable, in that they didn't consistently work well. For me, there was no point in upgrading the device to a faster speed if it didn't work all the time.

I am really glad I waited. I've had this device, the 4620L Jetpack, for almost 2 months now. It has worked every time I have turned it on. The connections are really quick. And, the speed at 4G is fantastic.

One caveat: the plan I had under 3G with the 2200 was no longer offered by Verizon, and the cheapest plan for the 4620L is $15 more a month, with a higher monthly data use allowance. I don't use any more data than I did before, so I am effectively paying more each month, but at the higher speeds it is worth it for me.

In sum, if you are upgrading you will like the faster speeds. If you are new to the MiFi product line, you will appreciate that it works as described.

****UPDATE, July 2, 2012****
As you may know, the Washington, DC area just got through a very bad storm and many people have been without power for days. I myself lost power for 2 days. During this time, neither my Cable company's internet service worked, and nor did the data service for my iPhone, provided by the major competitor to Verizon. The Verizon Jetpack, on the other hand, worked consistently during this time allowing me to stay connected to the internet to check on the status of power restoration, as well as do other critical things.

The battery life of the Jetpack was impressive, but it certainly did not last the entire time my power was out. So, in addition to charging the Jetpack while driving, I used the [[ASIN:B002RB6E6O Brunton Inspire Portable Power]] to keep it charged.

****UPDATE, Dec 5, 2012****
Since I have purchased this, I have had a chance to use other "hotspots." For exmaple, I purchased another brand for my mother to use in her assisted living facility. One thing that sets this product, the Novatel MiFi, apart is its smaller size. Its not apparant when shopping for them, but some other models are really quite large. The nice thing about the Novatel MiFi is that it is small and light weight, so you can slip it in your pocket and not really notice its there. By comparison, the model I got for my mother (offered by a different provider) is large and heavy.

Also, just thought I would mention that this Novatel MiFi is still going strong. One of the nice things is that every couple months Verizon sends a firmware update, so I know that are actively supporting it.

Say goodby to your netgear! June 7, 2012

Reviewer:  Lionel 

After years of fighting with delays with my old Internet link, which happened to be a Netgear system, I finally step up BIG TIME to the Jetpack Mifi and OMG what a blazing change! Literally mind blowing. I understand my netgear response time had a lot to do with my providers capabilities too (century link) But guess what, I said goodbye to them as well! All cell phone and Mifi household here and loving it. This Mifi has apps where you can check on your data usage, the little box has a lot of features. The only drawback is the size (smaller than a deck of cards), have to keep an eye on it for sure. Someone needs to create a "find my Mifi" ap just in case. It's early, but so far I'm loving it!

Excellent 4G LTE Cellular Wi-Fi Modem April 20, 2012

Reviewer:  William "staney"  (Kingwood, TX, United States) -

This Verizon cellular modem is compact and half the size of my previous modem. It connects to Verizon's 4G LTE network instantly and maintains a strong signal (At least in the Houston TX area so far). CNET also reviewed this modem and gave it their Editor's Choice award as the best cellular modem to-date.

Best hotspot on the market for Verizon August 30, 2012

Reviewer:  W. A. Kirkpatrick  (Columbia, MD, USA) -

While staying at a hotel in Alabama recently during a trip from Maryland to Alabama, the hotel in Alabama's wi-fi speeds were really bad. So I went to the local Verizon Wireless reseller (Cellular Sales) and picked up a 4620L after doing research and learning that we would have LTE available on nearly all of our drive back to Maryland. After buying the 4620, I fired it up in the hotel room and was instantly able to get almost double the speed the hotel's wi-fi offered, and used it solely during the rest of the stay. On the drive back home, Verizon and the 4620 never failed me. I had LTE about 90% of the time. My first speed test in Georgia was over 15Mbps. You should get this, if for any reason, due to Verizon's LTE coverage. The device itself is top-notch. Very easy to configure via its web-based interface. You turn it on, it connects in < 15 seconds, and you're online. Period. Battery life varies depending on how much you task it while it's on.

Battery problems June 11, 2012

Reviewer:  Texassparky 

Had the modem 10 days when the battery refused to charge or hold a charge. Called Verizon, had to take it into a store to be evaluated. They could not replace or repair the modem because I purchased it through Amazon. Contacted Amazon wireless and the first girl said (after 17 Minutes)she would send a replacement and confirmation email. The email stated she re-ordered the optional antenna instead of the modem. The email stated that the battery problem would be fixed with the new antenna.
I called back and got another girl who understood that the antenna did not have a battery and it was the modem that needed to be replaced.
They have one on the way.
Love the modem and the speed, the portability and the ease of use. I just hope that the battery will last a little longer this time.

Fantastic Device!!!! June 1, 2012

Reviewer:  Michael M Perez 

I just got it today and it was so easy to set up! Plugged it in and hit the power button and it was up and running...so simple even a caveman can do it! Absolutely great product, really easy to activate and fast as heck! Shipping was super fast too!

Drops connections with Mac Book Pro August 25, 2012

Reviewer:  Mike in Seattle 

I have the mini 4G hotspot and it continued to drop connections with my Apple Mac Book pro. I took it to the Verizon store here and they told me to down load a patch to work with the Pro. I did, it still dropped the connections after 5-10 minutes, because it does not automatically connect, I have to reboot the hotspot by holding the power button for more than two seconds. Powering it up you have to hit the power button twice once to get the battery state, the second hit you get antenna strength. I went back to Verizon and they refused to replace it on the warranty, so I cancelled. Even though you get this device for free like on Amazon, you end up with a two year contract which is expensive to cancel early at $55.00/month. I now have an ATT Elevate hot spot which works with all my Mac Book, iPhone, iPad and although LTE is not in Seattle yet, I am still getting close to 4G performance in Seattle.

Not very good at maintaining a connection January 1, 2013

Reviewer:  RFurnival  (Rixeyville, VA (USA)) -

I've been using the JetPack since last May. It is reasonably fast, when it works, but is terrible at maintaining a connection with my iPad. I have to reset the device at least a couple of times a day. I am told by Verizon that it is because the device keeps switching from 3G to LTE (which is only marginally supported in my area --if at all). They claim I am stuck with it until reliable LTE is implemented -- not likely soon.

I also tried using it in my car on a trip to Michgan. It locked up and dropped connection constantly. My AT&T iPhone tether never lost its connection to the device, and only dropped data when no cell service was available.

It's usable, and I'll hang on to it. However, I can't shake the feeling that there has got to be a better way.

awesome money saver September 13, 2012

Reviewer:  yreuven 

instead of having separate mobile bills for laptops, ipads, phone, this card just done it all. ended up saving me a couple hundred a month. it adds up.

Sometimes good Sometimes bad November 24, 2012

Reviewer:  RedDog001 

When it is working well it is very good. Other times it is slower than my 3g 5 spot. Anywhere from 800 to 8,000 kbps from the exact same location with the day of the week the only apparent variable. Often in online gaming, it comes and goes with connection interrupted and lag. The 3g may have been slower but at least it was reliable. If the gaming doesn't smooth out, I'm going to reactivate the 5 spot and use this thing as a paper weight.

Did love it, Month down the road Verizon charged me for Overage, but battery was not in the device. October 5, 2012

Reviewer:  Charles 

Good device, bad company its connected to.

Verizon will sneak in spam software, how do I know its them, Verizon wireless commercials over topping hulu videos.
Takes bandwith, uses up your gigs, then to top things off, I took my battery out of the device to make sure I do not get charged for overages. Because the device is OFF RIGHT? I get charged anyway.
Its a great device, just a bad company its connected too.
Yep, just keeping tabs on how a company runs itself, this is for documentation for others.
Let me know when you want to pursue a lawsuit, anybody?

Super piece of junk, does not work, do not buy February 19, 2013

Reviewer:  Tungsten Carbide "W74"  (California) -

Purchased via Verizon.
Poor reception, much worse than my phone.
4g works terribly ... Mine is now set so that it only uses 3G.
Poor battery life.
Seems to work worse with iPad than laptop (could be fault of apple).
Expensive to own (about $50/mo in USA)

Great upgrade! June 6, 2013

Reviewer:  SoulHouseGirl  (NC) -

My bestie bought this 10-user jetpack for us to share and travel with, and so far I love it! Most of what i want to review is that it took almost an hour to get it set up fully, but part of that was waiting for the battery to charge from 48% to 99%. I never got 100% so don't wait for that. And so after charging it up completely to be sure everything would go well, i got it connected, downloaded and installed drivers on my laptop (15 mins max for the driver install + an update) and then a 29mb firmware update took about 15 minutes to complete, from download to back online.

Security features seem very good...it offers Private mode and a combo encryption scheme...and I created a wireless-broadband connection profile in my Windows 7 and then turned broadcast off, and now it connects manually in about 3 secs. Will try changing the IP network address next, it all seems simple enough in the vz.hotspot web interface.

Have not tried massive downloading yet and probably will not, because the plan is limited....because this is not for primary internet use, i/we just wanted an away-from-home device that was better than the thumb device that i was using before, and this is WAY better on every count than that dinosaur that it replaces.

Wracked by intermittent malfunctions! May 12, 2013

Reviewer:  John Rickenbacker 

Since I live in a very rural area, this router/modem served as my internet connection for my desktop computer. I imagine that many times when connections fail when mobile users are using this product are blamed on towers being out of range or transitioning from one tower to the next, which was never the case for me.

I have had a lot of difficulties connecting, and the Verizon support people ascribed this for the most part to my location, not very logical when I have adequate connection 80% of the time or better. I wasted a lot of time and money with supplementary antennas and other nonsense.

The unit malfunctions sometimes, and this seems to be particularly in wet weather. When it decides to malfunction, often the battery charging function is going awry, reading low battery charge even though it's plugged into the charger all the time. When it malfunctions, it will claim it continues to be connected by wifi to my computers, but the computers tell me they can't hear a thing. The solution is simply to do a hard reset - and I don't mean pressing the power button, because when it is malfunctioning, this only turns off the screen. It must be disconnected from power and battery removed and then restarted. Over the past two days we've had rain 50% of the time and I've needed to reset this way maybe six times. Pretty annoying.

I have returned the unit to Verizon and installed a replacement, and it functions identically. I insisted on getting replacement e v e r y thing, including battery and charger.

What rating to give is pretty arbitrary for me - I don't have many options. Previously the plug in modems I'd used (two models) were absolutely fine in terms of hardware, but the "VZ Access" software that interfaced with it was rather annoying, clamoring for frequent updates.

works great or not at all May 6, 2013

Reviewer:  don hurst 

[[ASIN:B007XLCMXM Verizon Wireless Novatel MiFi 4620L Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot]]it works great at my moms house--4g--24/7. but at my house, which is only 1/4 mile away, the signal fades in & out & will switch from 3g to 1x & freeze what ever you happen to be doing at the time--very frustrating! i bought an antenna for it which worked good for a couple of months, but now doesn't seem to increase signal at all. i chatted with a verizon rep online & she said her info showed that i was covered according to my zip code--but somehow that info did not increase my signal. she said i'd have to talk 2 a rep on the phone during bus hours. if i can't buy some sort of signal booster, then the hotspot is useless at my house! so before buying, i would find somebody with 1 of these devices that would be willing to come 2 my house & see if the signal is strong enuff to operate the device!!! the monthly bill will come whether your device is working or not!

Awesome when it works; usability issues; 4 have died on me April 17, 2013

Reviewer:  MattD 

I really want to say the device works; I really do. On the surface it works, but complications have turned it into a nightmare.

---------
The good:
---------
-Works as advertised* (up to 10 devices all running on blazing fast LTE)
-USB tethering too
-Gets about 4 hours battery life with light LTE usage. Heavy usage I get around an hour.
-Nice push button interface with OLED display. Lots of useful information without accessing the internal web panel.

--------
The Bad:
--------
-Has a tendency to go "Dormant." Google: "4620L too dormant to use." If you don't have a application on your computer (i.e. a ping, downloading something, ect..) continuously accessing the internet, the MiFi will enter a "Dormant" state. Most of the time this isn't an issue, but it frequently doesn't leave the Dormant state. This leaves you with a dead internet connection and you have to power cycle the device. This happens frequently when I'm streaming online music; the connection will die, because of the burst nature of the traffic isn't enough from keeping the 4620L from going to sleep.

-Obsolete Single band LTE. Only supports the 700MHz Upper C Band. Verizon is now deploying LTE on the 1.7GHZ AWS Band as well as the 700MHz Upper C Band. The newer MiFi 5510L supports both bands and will be the better device moving forward.

-Charge Deficit. When your uploading large files on an LTE connection, the battery with discharge even if it's plugged in (i.e. the MiFi consumes more power than provided by the AC charger). The MiFi doesn't seem to accept high current charging, so this is a tremendous problem for me. I constantly find my MiFi in a "fail safe" battery protection mode after uploading ~1GB of data (i.e. the internet connection is dead again).

-Mandatory over the air Firmware upgrades. This thing will hold your 4G internet connection hostage until you click okay for the firmware updates Verizon pushes onto it.

---------
The Ugly:
---------
-These 4620L's die like flies. I'm on the 3rd warranty replacement within 6 months! They usually die during a botched over the air firmware upgrade. The net effect is that I've seen 4 of these MiFi's and I'm beginning to think I'll see 10 of them before the original warranty period expires...

Disaster of a solution, wholly unreliable April 17, 2013

Reviewer:  D. Holm  (Northern California) -

I'm not sure it is possible for me to be any more disappointed with the MIFI Jetpack 4260LE solution. I went in to replace my lost MIFI 2200, and was so enamored with the slightly larger size, sexy exterior form factor/materials, and display of this new device. I naturally thought that the wireless performance would match these exterior appearance upgrades. I couldn't have been more wrong. It is 100% the OPPOSITE.

As a solution consultant for enterprise software, my job requires me to demonstrate web-based software to large companies. I need reliable wireless networking service anywhere. My expectation was faster speed and 100% rock solid, predictable service. My first experience at failure was at the Oakland airport, where I normally have great connectivity. The next disappointment was in my hotel in Seattle. The straws that "broke the camels back" and are driving me to write this scathing review are my experience at two different customer sites. Two customer facing meetings in a row, and two experiences with intermittent or no connectivity, or slow connectivity at best.

This kind of performance is a firing offense and a huge personal risk to me. I can't sit in front of customers trying to demonstrate enterprise software and not connect to the internet. My only hope now is that I can return the device (bought it two days ago) and cancel the new two year contract I signed. Rest assured that I will update this review if they force me to pay the canellation fee. If you hear nothing further in this review, this means I was able to take back the device and cancel the contract.

Verizon Junk Pack March 7, 2013

Reviewer:  wheels4 

Device worked great for about the first couple of months. Only a few disconnects here and there. Lately though it has been very problamatic with the Dormant issue. For such an overpriced data plan this thing should be rock solid. Very disappointed. Also agree with earlier posts about mystery data usage at the end of the billing cycle that magically puts you over the limit. Time to look elsewhere for rural broadband options.

Many problems March 1, 2013

Reviewer:  Richard  (Dayton, Ohio) -

Even though I live close to a major city, I have no access to the internet ( other than dial-up). I am forced to rely upon wireless modems. I have had Cricket, Clearwire and now Verison. This is by far the worst. It is extremely unreliable as it continual disconnects and the speeds are all over the place ranging from less than 1 up to 13 (rarely) It is extremely easy to exceed the monthly data allowance ( 6 g ) and it generally is an overpriced piece of junk.

Worthless February 23, 2013

Reviewer:  James D. Dozier 

Had MIFI with AT&T and it didn't work and am still in legal matters with them about this worthless crap