This was posted 8 years 4 months 12 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Officeworks - Optus Huawei E5573 4G Wi-Fi Modem Now $24.50

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I went to Officeworks to get the Optus 4G modem for $29 as posted here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/259024, and found the price has been reduced to $24.50. Got two. There were heaps in stock at Elizabeth Street (Melbourne), but none at Bourke Street. As confirmed by previous poster, they come unlocked.

The Optus Huawei E5573 4G WiFi Modem allows you to enjoy 4G speed Internet even when you're on the go. It allows you to connect up to 10 WiFi enabled devices so you can check your emails, surf the web, login to your social media and get your work done from almost anywhere in Australia. Comes with 4 GB of included data with 14 days expiry for use within Australia..
You can connect to the modem with up to 10 WiFi devices simultaneously.
It has an easy 1 touch setup button.
The battery has a large 1500 mAh capacity to last for up to 6 hours working time and up to 300 hours on stand by.
The design is light and thin so you can easily carry it with you.
It supports up to 4G speeds of 150 mps.
It also supports a mobile app with a barcode scan feature so you can quickly connect.

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  • +5

    Lowered so they don't have to PB Coles. :)

    • +1

      but the link gave says:
      "Optus Huawei E5573 4G Wi-Fi Modem & 4GB Data $24.40 (save $24.50)"
      So OfficeWorks is actually still 10c higher!
      Maybe Officeworks accidentally used the save $24.50 value?

      • +1

        Nicely spotted, but it appears to be a typo by TA as the catalogue shows $24.50

    • Could anyone please confirm the one from Coles unlocked or locked into Optus?

  • Great post, needs to grab 3

  • Can someone explain to me in simple terms how this will useful for the EPL with Optus? Somebody linked to one of these in the soccer thread on Whirlpool. Why would it be handy for me to pick one up?

    Edit - Will it only be useful if you don't have the mini fetch thing?

    • +3

      If you have an eligible Optus plan, you could watch unmetered on a device with WiFi.

      • Thanks. Just been reading up on it. However, there doesn't appear to be any available in Brisbane stores near me. It looks like the one in the city is the only one with stock.

        • +1

          You might have better luck at Coles (same price).

    • The 4G stream quality is noticeably worse than the broadband wifi stream, but I guess that goes without saying.

  • Was cheaper before but that doesn't really matter. What's interesting to know is the following in that post.

    If you're in the market for a modem that appears to be 4G Plus (Optus) and 4GX (Telstra) compatible (supports 4G Band 1, Band 3, Band 7, Band 28, and Band 40, as well as 3G Band 1, Band 5 and Band 8), then it's worth checking your local.

    Supposedly supports 4GX as well… definitely worth getting if we can unlock these on the cheap.

    Also, I wonder if these work with the OVO data sims pre unlock?

    • +5

      As confirmed by previous poster, they come unlocked.

      • haha didn't read that part.

        Thanks! definitely getting one then.

    • +1

      Can confirm it works with the OVO data sims — you just need to manually change the APN first.

      • Can you elaborate on changing apn? I have the ovo data sim in the Telstra 4Gx (unlocked). Set up hotspot and the iPhone connects okay but does not load anything.

        Thanks

        • +4

          You must configure your device to set the APN/Access Point Name to "yesinternet".

        • @ctd:

          Did you have to change any other settings or enter username / password etc into the device? I have an OVO sim and one of these devices that I'm trying to get to work. I may just be impatient, but it's been a couple of hours since activating and still shows disconnected. OVOs website is of little help.

        • @ctd: you sir, are a legend!

        • +2

          @Praeto:

          No other changes. I just activated the sim via the OVO website, a few minutes later put it in; after seeing it didn't work I checked the APN and created a new profile with the "yesinternet" APN. Although I don't think it should make any difference, I had used an Optus prepaid sim in the device before using the OVO one.

          Screenshot of my settings: http://d.pr/i/SdKg/5CL0duYI

        • @ctd:

          Appreciate the reply, thanks!

        • @ctd:
          As per this, connect to device, go to 192.168.8.1 in your browswer. Use default username and password: admin//admin. Go to settings, create new profile and change APN to yesinternet

  • -6

    So this is a single use electronic device that becomes a landfill after the data is used up?

    • +4

      No. You put a SIM in these. You could use it for years.

    • Well, you can reuse the device itself since it is already unlocked.

  • +1

    top up the sim card comes with it and you are goood to go again.

  • Perfect I have an old 3g modem and 4g r215 (locked to Vodafone). I've been looking for an unlocked one.

  • +2

    I purchased one last week at $29 and can confirm (as others have) it was unlocked and works with a Telstra data share SIM.

    The exact model number is Huawei E5573s-606, which based on a Google search supports the following bands.

    Operating Frequency:
    (4G): LTE-FDD 2600/2100/1800/700(B28)MHZ
    (4G): LTE-TDD 2300
    (3G): DC-HSPA+/HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS 2100/900/850 MHz
    (2G): EDGE/GPRS/GSM 1900/1800/900/850 MHz

  • +1

    Yea make sure it works after you get it.
    Last thread had heaps of duds… I've got one that's sitting here and I've been chasing Optus for the last 2wks as they were totally and utterly hopeless.
    By dud, even after you activate, keeps telling you to activate and not work still.

    1st person told me I had to top up $10 to use my 4gb. Did that and still didn't work.
    2nd person told me didnt need to, but couldn't refund me my $10 because I don't have an account with them
    Ended up going into Optus store and the guy was super helpful and told off his back office and now I 'might' get my $10 back…. still waiting.

    • +1

      Had the same issue here. It is not a error with the modem but with the activation process. You need to call Optus and escalate it.

    • Bargain4U is right, not the modem's issue, it's the activation process.

    • My woes about Optus activation here.
      Notes
      Optus has serious activation issues.

  • Does this send at 2.4 or 5ghz?

    • +1

      Configurable as either (but not both).

  • +2

    These any good to take to Japan?

    • I will let you know I leaving next month and got this from OW ($29) I also got the docomo sim from a post here and will try them together.

      • Was thinking of going with the exact same combo!
        Let me know :)

        • BRO!

        • +1

          I took one to Japan for a work trip.. it worked really well. I was using a comst sim.

        • @bsod: awesome thank you ! So my docomo will work on this? Thx

        • @limucat: Yes, it should work

        • @bsod: how do u do it? do u have to change the sim or can u just put in a SIM card like a telstra one and itll work? thanks

  • Will this work if I rip out or disconnect the battery? Need one for my car powered by USB.

    • Doesn't appear to. Plugging it in without the battery, it will blink lights but not power on.

  • Thanks Op, bought one

  • +1

    Unlocked. Tried with my telstra and it worked. However tried my other prepaid optus sim with 5gb but it would not let me use it "invalid profile activated????"

    • Was the prepaid one set up for 3G? Might need to call optus if it was. At least for Virgin (optus reseller) they needed to change something at their end. From memory you can send a text to do the same thing if it's a mobile

  • Typical, just bought one last week from Officeworks at 29, great device though even at $29

  • Bought one 2 days ago for $29… hardly any stock around Brisbane.

    • There's still plenty at OW Adelaide street as of 30min ago…

      • As abcxyz said in the next comment down they appear to have restocked.

  • Can you plug one of those $2 Telstra sims into these and use Telstra air hotspots??

    • OW seems to have re-stocked. I checked earlier this week, there was no stock in Melbourne. They now show up in quite a few stores.

      Oops, replied to the wrong comment.

    • Follow this guide for Telstra Air access.

  • +1

    Can I use my Vodafone sim which is currently in my iPad 2 in this device to share wifi?

    • +1

      Yes but it will only run on Vodafones 4G 1800Mhz band. This modem does not support the 4G 850Mhz band.

      3G will work fine though

  • Got one, but only have Optus sims.

    Do these automatically set apn settings when entering a non Optus SIM? What about foreign sims overseas?

    Would love to get one for family member, but they have had issues with these in the past with manual setting of the apn overseas.

    • +1

      I've been able to swap between Optus, Telstra and Woolworths sims with no changes needed. Others have had the same with Virgin but others have needed to manually change APN on Vodafone, OVO and for Datago. (Japan)

      • Thanks! I might avoid for him - manual settings are no good!

      • Same here for me with a Telstra pre-paid sim. Opened modem, put in the sim and entered the default wifi key and all works!

  • Purchased … thanks OP. The 850 / 900 3g freq. make for a good fallback position when traveling.

  • +1

    Got the last one in Hornsby and confirmed with everyone else that it's unlocked. Works on my Vodafone no issues

  • Auburn(Sydney) might have some more. I have asked to layby a couple for me.

  • Does anyone know if their is a service like ovo but uses telstra towers? Im about to move to a new estate where the only available internet is telstra velocity, which i dont really want for now.

    so a wireless net is an okay substitute for now. But hoping for telstra as other networks appear low in this area.

    Cheers

  • Got the last one from Castle Hill, NSW this morning.

    • Thanks for the notice, wont have to go tonight =)

  • +1

    A minor annoyance with this device is that you can not configure it to connect to 4G networks only. Whilst generally this isn't a problem, in low-signal areas it can be useful to lock to a low-signal 4G connection than have the device change to a stronger 3G signal.

  • I got the last one from Officeworks North Sydney 10am this morning.

  • UPDATE: Using a full sized VirginMobile SIM - Works perfectly - Zero effort, just put it in and we have internet…

    Got one from South Yarra - Heaps left

    Are they really Unlocked ? Seems to be very heavily Optus branded - Especially within the internal management page with drop down connect options hard coded with Optus options only.

    Unfortunately I don't (yet) have a full sized SIM from a competitor to test it with. (see update above)

    GC

  • Picked one up last night from Office works Caroline Springs, they had about 10 left.

  • Just grabbed 3 of these from Milton QLD, they had 2 left.

  • I got one this afternoon from Coles Chirnside Park. They had a few on the shelf.

  • Comes with 4 GB of included data with 14 days expiry for use within Australia..

    Just activated mine, it says it last for a month… so should be 30 days expiry for the 4GB.

    Also, the one I got expires in 2018 so you have about another year before you're forced to activate it i think.

  • OW Taylors Lakes still have 1 in stock. I bought the other one :D

  • Not a bad modem, but not the best response time. When I click a link in a browser it takes about 2 seconds to start loading the page. I'm comparing this to tethering the same SIM using my 4G tablet which effectively acts like a fast LAN where everything is basically instantaneous. The download speed is fine (20Mbps, but only using 2.4Ghz band) and so is the ping (40ms), just the response time is a little slow.

  • For those that may have a SIM that comes with a PIN lock. The modem will not connect to the network until you point your browser to the modem admin page and enter the PIN code - even though you select "remember PIN", it still needs you to do it next time. Other than that, it's a reasonable travel modem

    I use Telstra SIM btw, it's unlocked and get's picked up without problems.

  • anyone know how to set this up with vaya?

  • Install the android App to provide more management functions and to track data use/stats/warnings.

  • Whoever still looking for this, Coles has it for the same price

    • .. if you can find stock. seems sold out most places

  • If you want to expand the wireless coverage, these seem to work fine with TPLINK WDS mode.

    (wireless settings (tested on 2.4Ghz with a TL-WR941ND) , WDS …scan and choose the HUAWEI device, enter password… leave everything auto but manually set channel to same as HUAWEI and manually set channel width to match the Huawei at 20 Mhz.

    Note that the lan ports on the TPLINK are not usable/connected to the HUAWEI network.

    However if you load a suitable router with GARGOYLE firmware then it all works (and easier to set up).

    WDS of course will reduce total wireless bandwidth however this may not be of any consequence when the total bandwidth limiting factor is the 4G connection anyway.

  • What are the two sockets under the plastic flap? External WiFi and 3/4G antennae? I'm wondering if one of these, with an antenna and another cheap data pooling SIM, could solve my shitty 4G Optus reception at home.

    • +1

      4G takes two antennae. They are both for 4G.

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