MacGuffin Review – NETZERO 4G HOTSPOT

What is a MacGuffin?

Coined by Alfred Hitchcock, a MacGuffin is an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance.

Here at Forces of Geek, our MacGuffin reviews will cover odd, unusual or ephemeral products that occasionally pass across my desk.

NetZero 4G HotSpot
So, I’ve had the opportunity to play with this device over the past month or so.

The Pitch

NetZero’s new 4G mobile broadband access is equipped with disruptive pricing, fast 4G speeds, no contract-no commitment data plans, no activation fees and all via secure internet access. And unlike other services on the market consumers can even try the service for up to one year free (with the purchase of a device)!

Customers can choose from two affordable devices to access NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband. Users of iPads, and other tablets can purchase a NetZero 4G HotSpot, which supports up to eight simultaneous Wi-Fi-enabled devices within 150 feet. Laptop and netbook users can buy either a NetZero 4G HotSpot or a NetZero 4G Stick, which supports one user at a time via USB.

This new service is available to over 120 millions of Americans in over 80 cities nationwide, and lets them create their own personal Internet connections without being tied to unsecure public hotspots at places like coffee shops, airports and hotels. And unlike public Wi-Fi networks, where credit card numbers and other personal information may be exposed to hackers and data thieves, the NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband service delivers a protected, private Internet connection anytime, anywhere within its coverage area.

And completely unique to NetZero 4G mobile broadband, subscribers can set their service at either LightSpeed, which delivers download speeds of up to 1Mbps or WarpSpeed, which provides download speeds of up to 10Mbps. They can switch between LightSpeed and WarpSpeed at any time, allowing them to match the speed of their service to their current activity and maximize their data consumption.

Thoughts
A little bulky, but easy to set up, the NetZero 4G HotSpot is an affordable solution to on the go data plans.  There’s no contract or overage charges and is pretty flexible in terms of set-up and security.

If that sounds too good to be true, it’s not.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t deliver where it’s needed most: speed.

Although my area is within the 80 cities currently with service, I found the connectivity extremely sluggish, and switching the device to the WarpSpeed mode offered little improvement.  Load time was slow, and the ability to stream video almost non-existent.

But, it’s also a network.  Or so they claim.

I shared it with another user (the device supports up to 8) and for us, speeds became even slower.

The offer of free service for a year only covers 200 MB of data a month.  I go through that in a few days just dealing with my email.  There’s no way this could ever be a substitute for another service.  Assuming that you use the internet at this point for doing more than email (that includes going to webpages, watching Hulu or YouTube or using Facebook or chatting often), it’s unlikely that this would be a cheap alternative to anything.

As a matter of fact, compared to their competitors, NetZero is more expensive than anyone else in their 5GB data plans (other companies include T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T and Verizon and both Clear and Virgin Mobile offer unlimited data at the same price.)

Also, the 4G coverage works exclusively with 4G, meaning if there’s only 3G coverage, the device is impotent.

I love gadgets, and was really excited to use this.  Unfortunately, unless you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy the internet and only uses it to check out the occasional email they receive, it’s really something that I can’t recommend to a mild to hardcore web surfer.