Huawei E355 usb 3G modem router (Part IV)

In this final part of writing about Huawei E355, I will be showing what people always love to read - the 3G connection performance testing and also wifi performance review (because E355 is also a 3G wifi router).

a) E355 3G connection performance
========================
I tested E355 at the exact same place of the earlier review of 4 HSPA+ 3G modem ( http://3ginside.blogspot.com/2012/06/hspa-3g-usb-modem-pk-review-contestants.html)

Weather: sunny day
Time: afternoon
Sim card: u-mobile (Malaysia), HSPA+ network, 3G band 2100MHz only.
Testing server: Yes Malaysia

but since this E355 is not tested at the same time with the other 4 HSPA+ modem last time. So it will be inaccurate or unfair to claim direct comparison with the earlier result. Just good to be a reference, enough.

Download speed: 6.04Mbps
Upload speed: 1.61Mbps
Ping latency: 67ms

The results quite promising! cheers!

b) E355 WiFi performance:
===================
I took a hybrid 3G router: Hame MPR-A1, put side by side with Huawei E355 for comparison.

Using an android phone, with wifi analyzer program to monitor the results.

i) around 3 meter away, barely got any obstruction.

Hame MPR-A1: -53dbm
Huawei E355: -58dbm

ii)  2 rooms away, 2 walls sit in between:

Hame MPR-A1: - 74dbm
Huawei E355: -79dbm

Conclusion:

1) Wifi capabilities of hybrid 3G router Hame MPR-A1 is better than Huawei E355.

However, since these 2 are different type of products, it is no surprising to see a dedicated hybrid 3G router (without 3G modem built-in) offering greater wifi results.

2) It is indeed good effort took by Huawei E355 to pack both 3G HSPA+ modem + wifi router functions into a small usb stick like this and yet still able to offer up to this level of performance whereby the 3G performance already surpass some pure HSPA+ modem already.


3) The sms system to send and receive messsage which still able working within router mode really a nice feature. Assuming this could only been done when the router function is embedded into 3G modem.

Huawei E355 usb 3G modem router (Part III)

More system configuration page will be showed in this part III of E355.

The Connection Status page is also gathering info of the WLAN status, traffic statistics, and connected wifi clients throughout the page, scroll down to view them all.

The SMS fucntion page:

To my surprise, the sms system (sending/receiving sms) still working while in 3G router wifi mode! This shouldn't be possible when using an external 3G router such as home 3G router TP-Link, Aztech so forth or hybrid 3G router.

The WLAN (WiFi) options page:

The DHCP options page:

The Security options page:

The System options page:

OK.

Now I try with android phone to log in, what a surprise that Huawei E355 is also offering a mobile version of their system configuration web accessing page, that's is really good!

Should you need to view the full version of system configuration web page, you can touch the 'classic' shortcut at bottom, anytime.

Huawei E355 usb 3G modem router (Part II)

In this part II writing of E355 I will show the software setup how-to.

E355 do not come with mobile partner which usually found in all huawei usb modem. Since E355 is dual mode device (different product), it come with new software called Mobile WiFi Smart.

Huawei Mobile Wifi Smart is accessed through web browser, not a standalone software installed in pc though.

Mobile Wifi Smart is auto run after E355 inserted into computer.

OK. Installation completed. Now double clicking the 'Mobile Wifi' icon appeared on your desktop screen OR run web browser and enter 192.168.1.1 into the url address.

Chinese language interface? No worry, the language interface is selectable: english or chinese. Move your mouse cursor to the right hand side of the grey bar, and click the reversed triangle icon to bring up the drop-down menu.

Select 'English', woo-haa the interface is in english now.

Now you are presented with the some brief info about the working status of E355. There are also several icon located at top right hand side which dictates that 'simcard validity', 'signal bar', 'roaming status', wan connection status', 'wlan working status'.

Next you can log into E355 configuration page by entering default password: admin

You are directed to Connection Status page after logging into system.

Notice that there is a profile existed. This is NOT SUGGESTING THIS IS A USED UNIT. Because Huawei is partnering with China Unicom to come out with this special E355 model, so they build in a profile of Unicom into E355 which permanently disallow user to delete this profile.

Now i show you how to setup your own profile, just ignore the Unicom profile. This modem is unlocked, so you are freely to setup your own profile.

 Go to Settings tab > Dial Up > Profile Management: click New Profile at bottom of the page.

Enter a profile name, select authentication method (if any). The most important part is to select 'Static' under APN, and enter your 3G plan correct APN name here, then click 'Save'.

Then go to 'Mobile Connection' option, you would notice the newly created profile name is appear in the drop down list. Select it, in my case, u-mobile. And select the 'Connection Mode: manual dial up or auto'. Then remember to click 'Apply'.

 Now back to 'Connection' tab, you can see your profile appear in the first page already and connected (if auto connection mode selected'. If selected manual mode, now you can click the 'Connect' button to dial up.

In part III I will show more configuration page.

Huawei E355 usb 3G modem router (Part I)

FIRST OF ITS KIND! Huawei E355 is a breakthough dual function usb device:

work as 3G usb modem + built in 3G wifi router !!! (save your money no need buy 3G router!)


What special about E355
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) Dual function usb device: HSPA+ 3G modem + built in 3G wifi router!
2) Support HSPA+ download speed up to 21.6Mbps!
3) Support using external 3G antenna!
4) Support usb extension cable of 5m, still working under stable condition!
5) The SMS system function is working even under 3G wifi router mode!

** Since there are a lots of E355 pictures available online, just posting some pictures here.

Huawei E355 specifications:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feature
•Connect up to 5 WiFi enabled devices at the same time
•Work with external power adapter, unlimited working time
•Friendly user interface

Product Spec
•WLAN: IEEE 802.11b/g/n
•HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS
•EDGE/GPRS/GSM
•HSPA+ data service of up to 21.6 Mbps*
•HSUPA data service of up to 5.76 Mbps*
•microSD Card Slot (up to 32GB)
•Equalizer and receive diversity
•Data and SMS Service
*Depending on the state of network and environment

System requirements
•Windows XP SP2/SP3, Windows Vista SP1/SP2, Windows 7
•Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 with latest upgrades
•Your computer’s hardware system should meet the recommended requirements for the installed version of OS
•Display resolution: 800 x 600 or above
•Standard USB interface



Illustration how E355 can perform dual function: 3G HSPA+ modem + 3G wifi router:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a) Plug in E355 to computer and connected to 3G network as usual. (3G modem function)

b) Now, the exiting moment come. While connected, you can turn on the wifi router function in E355, so it can perform as 3G router to enable up to 5 wifi devices sharing.




c) It is not just limited to computer connection, you can plug E355 to power socket by using AC to DC usb 5V 1A adapter, it will run independantly! (no need any home 3G router like tp-link, aztech any more...)

d) Also can connect to car usb port (if any) or by using car usb charger adapter.

e) And for the on-the-go, you can pair E355 with any high capacity mobile battery charger with usb port that serve as power source for E355. Those 4800mAh high capacity battery charger would enable long hours run of E355, enough for long trip.

HSPA+ 3G USB modem PK review

HSPA+ 3G USB modem PK review

(prepared and composed by 'coolstore' from lowyat.net forum)

link: 

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2378783

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2320709

* u can link to this page but don't pretend to be your own work*

The contestants are:

1. Huawei E182e
2. Huawei UMG1831
3. Huawei E367
4. Sierra 313u

To ensure a fair testing result, here are the predefined conditions:
a) Testing spot and time frame: same place, 1 done followed by another consequently.
b) Weather condition: sunny day
c) Time: daytime, morning (expected less users)
d) 3G provider: same simcard U-mobile (Malaysia). U-mobile use 2100MHz only, fair testing to all modem.
e) Location: indoor (best to test capabilities of modem instead of open space)
f) Environment brief info: within 5 storey buildings, surrounded by other 5 storey buildings. Test at 2nd floor. Base station unseen.

The procedure:
1) After successfully dial up into 3G HSPA+ network, wait 30 seconds to let the connection be stable first before doing speedtest (www.speedtest.net).
2) All speedtest will be choosing same testing server: Yes Server (Malaysia)
3) Every modem run speedtest 2 to 3 times at time interval of 5 seconds, then jot down the best showed result.

A) Starting with Huawei E182e

E182e Testing Results:
a) Signal level: -99dbm
b) Speedtest: 3.97Mbps downloads, 0.63Mbps uploads, 80ms latency.



2) Huawei UMG1831

Huawei UMG1831 Testing results:
1) signal level: -99dbm
2) speedtest: 4.08Mbps download, 0.85Mbps uploads, 66ms latency.



3) Huawei E367

E367 Testing Results:
1) signal level: -91dbm
2) speedtest: 5.15Mbps downloads, 1.42Mbps uploads, 65ms latency.



4) Sierra 313u

Sierra 313u Testing results:
1) signal level: -94dbm
2) speedtest: 6.59Mbps download, 1.68Mbps uploads, 56ms latency.

Apart from performance testing, also touching the modem casing to feel the reported heat matter of new generation HSPA+ modem:

The heat results:
(Hottest) E182e > E367 > UMG1831 > Sierra 313u (Least hot)

The winner is Sierra 313u.

Conclusion:
1) The most interesting part of this PK review is that 313u which showed a lower signal level (-94dbm) compared to E367 (-91dbm) but able to outperformed E367 in terms of speed and latency (ping).
Thus signal level alone is not a conclusive say how good a modem is.
THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE IS THE WAY TO LOOK INTO.

2) It suggest that we can rank Huawei modem based on their model number, ie newer number is better than earlier model. And E3xx series is better than E1xx series.