Three UK have just released (5th September 2011) their new HSPA+ MiFi, the E586. The device is made by the Chinese tech company Huawei.

The E586 can be unlocked for use with any mobile network operator.

The E586 has the same form and dimensions as Three’s current (old) E585 MiFi with an improved, glossier finish.

The device is fully pre-configured and ready for immediate use. For those who like to customise settings, this can be done by connecting to the E586’s web admin console using a web browser.

The admin console can be accessed by opening a web browser and entering http://192.168.1.1 in the address bar and using ‘Admin’ as both the username and password. This is the default configuration.

The web admin console has been improved, compared to the previous Three E585 MiFi. All essential stats are displayed, there’s a nice clear SMS dashboard and the configuration layout is straight forward and easy to use.

The OLED display on the front of the unit is bright and clear showing key information:

- Amount of data used
- Network  connection type
- Time spent browsing
- Signal strength
- Battery life
- Number of WiFi connections
- Roaming state
- New messages / No. of messages

By pressing the SSID button on the side of the device the Wi-Fi key and SSID are displayed allowing quick and easy configuration of WiFi enabled devices.

The device supports MicroSD cards (optional extra) up to 32GB which can only be accessed when the E586 is connected by USB. It doesn’t appear that WiFi clients can access the MicroSD card!

A charging cradle is included with the device which is nice extra. Although it does require a bit of effort to connect and remove the E586 from the cradle

Three claim the battery life to be about 4.5 hours when in use. Our real world experience has shown this to be more like 3.5 hours with light use (one laptop connected continuously downloading using HSPA).

It’s believed the Three E586 supports 2100\1900\850MHz frequencies which means the device will work in the USA at 3G speeds. No one at Three was able to confirm this.

The device supports wireless 802.11b/g/n. The inclusion of 802.11n improves performance and adds the option to use WiFi in the 5GHz signal range

Performance is in-line with Three’s other HSPA+ devices – the E353 and E367 dongle. Three claim a 40% performance improvement for HSPA+ (with theoretical top speeds of  21.1Mbps download and 5.76Mbps upload)

Three expect 80% of their network to support HSPA+ by the end of 2011.

The E586 can be reset to the default factory settings by removing the back cover, pressing and holding the reset button (next to the power button) until the screen turns off. The reset button is inset so a paper clip or something similar is required.

Resetting the device will often resolve any connection problems that are experience with the E586.

TIP: Connecting the device to the mains will considerably improve the WiFi range

 E586 HSPA+ Mobile Wi-Fi:

  - Connect up to 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices at once
  - EDGE/GPRS/GSM 1900/1800/900/850 MHz
  - HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS 2100 MHz (unconfirmed 1900\850)
  - Downlink speed 21.6Mbps and Uplink speed 5.76 Mbps
  - Built-in UMTS and WLAN high gain antenna
  - Wireless - 802.11b/g/n
  - 3.7V 1500mAh Li-ion Battery
  - Charging cradle
  - OLED Screen (bright and clear)
  - Standard Micro USB interface
  - WPS - WiFi Protected setup
  - SSID key managed through one button function
  - OS supported: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, MAC OS X 10.5, 10.6
  - MicroSD Slot (up to 32g)
  - 95.5mm× 48.5mm × 11.5mm, Weight: 90g

What's in the box:

- Battery
- Cradle
- Charger (Std. 3-pin)
- Micro USB 2.0 cable: 1 x 17cm and 1 x 1.2m
- Quick Start Guide
- Cradle User Guide
- Keep sake card with predefined SSID and Network key
- Three SIM Card