Review : P1 MiFi on the go!

I mentioned in a previous post that I got a review unit of the P1 MiFi MX230. After plugging it in to charge (it comes precharged in the box but not to full battery capacity) I tested it while out and about in Selangor and KL.

There’s only one small button on the device and one microUSB port with a cover. I must comment that I like that it has a cover. Without the covering over the ports, the ports then to get dusty after a while and its almost near impossible to clean. So yes, the idea of a cover is very smart.

The MX230 comes with only one button and three indicator lights – battery, wifi signal and P1 signal. To switch on, just press the button continuously till the 3 lights blink green. Then the lights will blink and start searching for a signal.

The indicator light comes in three different colours (refer pic above) – Red, Green and Yellowish/whiteish. Like a traffic light, red means that the signal or battery is low, green means that its excellent speeds/connection and finally white/yellow is just moderate. So no fussy buttons, no weird instructions. Just simple – 1 button, 3 lights.

Testing on the go

I got a voucher for a free room in Tune Hotel Kota Damansara and since I had the the modem, I opted not to get any internet addon but use the modem instead. As you can see from the pic above, the battery was running low (this was after I was testing for signal in quite a few places) so I plugged it into my laptop. Now one thing good about this MiFi modem is that I can still switch on the wireless WHILE its charging.

One thing that truly impressed me was the speeds. The P1 ToGo packages come with speeds that reach up to 10Mbps and while this is highly dependent on the area, I was very happy with the speeds I got. I work with stuff online quite often and having a fast internet is a great tool. Even without it being ‘green’, it was still very decently fast and faster than my current mobile data. I forgot to speedtest it at the time though, sorry!

After the rather successful first usage, I also tested it out in a few other places like in KL. The pic below was taken while in Fahrenheit 88 (you can see KLCC in the background). Here you can see that its all green. Fully charged and great connection. My friend (whose prepaid data plan ran out) was very pleased.

In the photo above, you can also see its clearly small size inside my palm (I have medium sized hands) as well as the small button underneath it. Its so lightweight that I’ve actually been carrying it for the past week with it in my handbag without feeling the extra burden.

Since I’ve already brought it out for a test run, the next review post will be about what I liked about the product as well as more info on the plans and pricing!