- 14GB Included Data
- Activate before 4/2/19
- 28 Day Expiry
½ Price Optus E5577 4G Wi-Fi Modem + 14GB Data $29.50 @ Coles
600
nocure on 30/12/2018 - 19:29 files.ozbargain.com.au (3120 clicks)
Last edited 30/12/2018 - 20:34 by 1 other user
Last edited 30/12/2018 - 20:34 by 1 other user
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Has anyone unlocked this modem to work overseas or with other networks in Australia?
Bought one during the last special.
One problem I have with it is it periodically turns the wifi off.
Very annoying during game sessions.
You can turn that off in power saving with the relevant app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.huawei.mw&… and https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/huawei-hilink-mobile-wifi/id…), I'm pretty sure. May also be possible using the built in Web GUI.
Is this one unlocked like the previous Optus modem?
IS it locked to Optus?
Yes.
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No, Mobile Broadband isn't capped. I got rid of my ADSL connect as it gave me 1-5 Mbps. I'm not data sharing 410gb per month across 3 Optus connections including the one in my NetGear Nighthawk M1 hotspot which then feeds my home WiFi. I just ran a speed test and I'm getting 50 Mbps during peak traffic so no complaints there.
Cant go past the Nighthawk M1. ethernet connected to a google wifi mesh. I am getting an average of 130mbps at home. So easy to use we got a second one for when we travel with work or interstate at the mother in laws.
I was thinking of getting the Nighthawk M1 through Telstra as an alternate to ADSL. Are you with Telstra? Cheers
@jmal4580: Purchased nighthawks from gumtree. Sim from optus. Samsung S4 plan 200gb plan im paying $50 a month. Sold tablet.
@carleast @Shanp are you using the European Nighthawk M1 (MR1100-100EUS) to get all of the Australian bands or are you using the Telstra model?
It won't make any difference if you're in a band 3 / band 28 only coverage zone but if you're metro and Optus band 40 3CA is available you won't see it with the Telstra model. Same for 3+40+40 & 28+40+40, you'd just see the 3/28 band(s).
https://kb.netgear.com/000060410/What-cellular-bands-are-sup…@Tauroka: Mine are the telstra models so miss out on 2300mhz. But has not been a problem for me. I turn off the wifi and plug it into a Google Wifi Mesh. Latest speed test 167Mbps. Nighthawk M1 cost me $150 on gumtree.
I considered the nighthawk but it misses out on the 2300mhz band that Optus uses. I'm using the ac800s modem and I get 224 mbit downstream and 120mbit upstream. I've got it plugged into the Telstra airfare smart cradle since they added support for that recently, which does have amplified antennas to improve signal and also adds gigabits Ethernet ports.
I'm looking forward to next year when they release the nighthawk fusion m5. Full band support and 5g support with an 8 core cpu, speeds should be great once the 5g networks start rolling out
@DangerNoodle: @shanp @dangernoodle Any advice on which is the better product?? Appreciate the advice;
M1 Nighthawk
AC800s
AC810sThanks
@jmal4580: I have only used the Nighthawk M1. I get amazing speeds. For me I needed something with an ethernet out as i wanted to connect it to the cat6 data cables throughout my house.
@jmal4580: From my personal preference, I would avoid the M1 nighthawk and AC810s modems as they are telstra modems, they miss out on the 2300mhz band that optus uses for its 4g plus.
@Shanp - The AC800S modem docks into the telstra aircard smart cradle (recently firmware update on the modem adds support) which has given me four gigabit ethernet ports and 1 wan ethernet port. It also amplifies the 4g antennas and has wifi antennas to extend the range as well, but I would only recommend this method if you can pick up the dock for cheap on ebay like I did. I was meant to correct my last post, it is meant to say I get 224mbit downstream off peak and 120mbps downstream during peak, upstream is usually 40mbps.
@jmal4580 - honestly, at the moment I would suggest to wait a few months. As i mentioned, the Netgear Nighthawk Fusion M5 is meant to be available soon with 5g support as well as cat 18 4g support (up to 1200mbps downstream on 4g, and theoretically faster on 5g when that rolls out). This modem is also in the same shell as the nighthawk m1 so there is an ethernet port. My guess is the reason they are offloading these 4g modems for free on some of these new plans is to offload stock and empty their warehouses so they can order in the 5g modems in preparation for the rollouts in 2019.
I would avoid the M1 nighthawk and AC810s modems as they are telstra modems, they miss out on the 2300mhz band that optus uses for its 4g plus.
Um… Are you certain? When Optus and Telstra have sold the same model pocket wifi in the past, the devices run different firmware and frequency bands depending on which carrier it was purchased from.
@GregMonarch: At the modem, both providers do not offer the same modems in terms of mobile broadband devices. The only one that they probably have the same of would be the huawei home wireless modem.
The fastest spec modem offered by Optus presently is the ac800s (450mbps downstream).
In Australia, the M1 nighthawk (1000mbps downstream) and ac810s (600mbps downstream) are only available through Telstra, and the specs do not list the 2300mhz band. Not too sure about the ac810s but the M1 nighthawk does work with the Optus Sim, it just doesn't have the 2300mhz band supported.
@DangerNoodle: Thanks for all the advice so far.. I ended up settling on the AC800S as I needed a solution ASAP! It arrives tomorrow from eBay..
Last noob question.. Do I need a specific SIM card for the AC800S or will a phone 4g sim also work? I purchased a 45gb Optus prepaid starter pack for $15 from coles… just to test the modem before commenting to a month to month plan.
Cheers!!!!
@jmal4580: Phone Sims will work, they can end up a bit awkward if you get messages and calls though.
Thanks carleast. Sorry about the noob qn, any idea why this modem is not listed in the Optus 500GB deal?
500gb deal is home 4G. Optus segments the two products thru different APN and previously speed cap the home product. (I have both)
I haven't been able to interchange the SIM cards (have read here it's due to APN but I played around and still no luck yet). The APNs are preset in the configuration of each modem but you can add to it (can't delete the preset though)
The wireless broadband is not capped any more. Currently offering 200gb/m for $60 and 500gb/m for $80
From what I've seen recently, they are not offered as separate plan types anymore, it all falls under the same category now with no speed cap. However, they have removed the data pooling,
What's better one of these or a B315 vivid wireless modem
Vivid wireless modem if you care about ping. if you need a portable modem get this modem.
Just curious, how do you guys use this and what's the benefit with buying these modems that come with several gigs of data?
Use it for Internet, the included data is useful because without it you couldn't use it for Internet.
This is a compelling use case.
User name checks out.
Are you buying it just for the data? I've got WiFi at home and I got data on my phone.
Is the idea that this is a deal because you can buy 14GB of data for $29.50?
Just curious because I see these deals pop up and they get many upvotes.
A example use case is if you need extra data in excess of what your phone plan provides (eg. When on holidays or when moving house for example)… A portable hotspot WiFi modem makes it easier to use promotional data ($1 Kogan SIM cards with 20Gb+) than swapping your SIM to and from your current handset.
@bdl: Just to be clear.
Can you use a optus mobile handset sim in this wifi hotspot?
E.G I got a heap (50gb) of data on my mobile plan, and never can use it, so can put that into this 4g modem and run my plan dry!
Does the 4G wifi supplied sim have a number attached to it?
I am too far from NBN wireless> yet my previous E5573 modem shows it in "available connections"
I use it on 12 month $60 200 GB plan . My current 2nd E5573 only lasted 2 months, previous one lasted 2 years.
So I need this one to replace E5573. Will use the 14GB before I get home and then put in my post paid sim.
It took 4 attempts with Optus to activate the sim.
Can this be linked to another Optus service and share it's data?
No, For data sharing you will need a post paid service (
Data share simcard )You can get a monthly payment data simcard ( in Store only ) for $10 and 1GB montly data and share your Mobile data over it and you can Cancel your simcard whenever you don’t need extra service.
Thanks, good to know!
is this hard to unlock?
I have looked into this. Not as simple as buying a code (which was the case with the Telstra one), rather have to use DC unlocker on windows via USB, and purchase the code from DC unlocker. I figured I'd use up the included data before bothering to explore down this path so haven't pursued beyond googling.
For the Telstra one, where must a code be bought from? (I don't have one, just curious)
A commenter mentioned they got one on eBay, in the last thread on this modem when it was sold via post office
To arrange the unlocking, and payment of the fee, you'd need to speak to Telstra Pre-Paid team
some cases are Free
this thing seems to have a lot more network bands then the telstra one - could be good
Can you set data limits? I have both a Telstra and Optus 4g plus modems and cant set data limits on either. Really annoying especially when using a business data sim
device has no facility to track data
huwaei E5577It's crazy, I bet Optus would change hardware vendor if Huwaei did enable a data limit cut off
It does have an ability to track it - you can throw in your monthly quota and when it resets, and it counts MBs for you which displays on the screen as 34.6/200GB or some such
Don't think it is able to throttle you or stop though… (You can turn it off?)
Does anyone know the variant / version of this E5577 and the LTE bands that it supports?
There seems to be four variants here https://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-e5577-4g-lte-cat4-mobile-ho…
Thanks
Never mind it seems to be listed here https://offer.optus.com.au/shop/prepaid-device/wifi-e5577
3G - 850, 900, 2100
4G - 700, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600
Seems to be good for Optus and Telstra (provided you can unlock it), but it's lacking the 850Mhz 4G band for Vodafone
The 28 days expiry is a bummer. If id like to have a back up data plan for either my phone or home internet, what data palns are available that have a longer or no data expiry dates?
Telstra prepaid $50 for 5gb is valid for 1 year - but if it's just a back up id buy a couple of discounted starter packs and just use when needed.
Kogan $1 for 32gb (when available)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/428935
Or even Optus $30 starter pack 35gb for $9 at Coles isn't too bad.
Yeah I have that $50 for 5GB plan too but it's grandfathered now.
Oh! Didn't know that Telstra plan had been grandfathered (again!)
@danyool: Yeah, it's now $150/20GB + 30GB bonus.
https://www.telstra.com.au/broadband/mobile-broadband/prepai…
Not a ba dprice seems these modems pop up once a year and are prob so cheap as theu require activation by certain date
Just wondering, when travel-SIM card websites say their SIMs are for mobile phones only and require you to buy the more expensive Data-only SIMs for portable WiFi devices (like this E5577 or the E5573), they're lying right? Surely either type of SIM would work in both phones and WiFi devices?
Correct. I've used normal mobile SIMs (Kogan, Boost and amaysim) in a pocket wifi modem similar to this, all worked fine.
Just want to warn people here that internet speed with this E5577 is not that great. I bought it outright from Optus shop for $69 at the start of December and only received around 3 MB / s download. I went back to the Optus shop and ask if I can return it. They said they will only refund it if they found the device is faulty, which Optus call center told me "If the internet is above 1 MB / s, we don't call it faulty". Thank you very much Optus. The internet speed frustrated me so much that I bought a new Nighthawk M1. I am using the same sim card, but now receiving 30 MB / s at the moment.
Edit: This E5577 also has its pros. Its speed keeps my family from using too much internet, so we can keep the usage under our 200 GB / m quota.
Edit 2: I live in CBD on the 10+ floors. This could be the reason of slow internet speed. However, I tested it again in LV1 of Melbourne Central and also received around 5 MB / s internet
Sounds like location is the issue - you can but 150 Mbps down (max). I've got 60 in the Adelaide CBD with it.
Thank you! That's good to know. It concerned me though when it is also slow at the Optus shop I was testing.
Does this do both Wifi bands at the same time. (2.4 and 5GHz). And doesn't it allow lan traffic. I have a bunch of 2.4 modems but would love a single device tha I could take on holiday to create a WAN that's a little less prone to WIFI interference for devices that support 5GHz but could still server 2.4 only devices.
This one is only 2.5 GHz
Thanks. That completely kills it for me. On the plus side, my bank account is healthier for it.
more useless junk? Sorry but a cheaper android phone can do so much more like a compass or even do calls etc.
Beats me why anybody would buy a bike for the price of a car…Purchased one today from Coles , but anyone knows how to actitave the data sim? according to optus instruction they dont have 14GB option;
The SIM card is preloaded with credit:
(1) On step of plan option, choose 30gb, which allows you to go to next step (perhaps any other plan option will also work)
(2) On step of payment option, choose no credit card / no PayPal, and no auto-recharge
(3) I receive SMS confirmation indicating 4g + bonus 10g within 30 minutes after activating SIMTks mate all good, download speed 28MB, much faster than my shit ADSL
Hi. Sorry for noob question, but once the data runs out in the included sim, would there be anything stopping me using the SIM from a $40 optus prepaid SIM with 45gb data, also available from Coles for $15 as shown here
I am sure other Optus branded SIMs will work just fine.
The big question is hw to conveniently unlock it for all the sweet deals we have here with other companies.
Yep, don't forget this modem includes a SIM
Good Deal