Dick Smith is offering 50% off for the new Vodafone Pocket Wifi 2. Pocket Wifi 2 supports 2100, 900 and 850 mhz - all 3 UMTS bands used in Australia. Wireless N support according to the specs. It looks like DSE stores start to have them in stock. You can also buy one from DSE online store, but you need to pay for postage.
The modem appears to be a Huawei E585u-82. It most certainly uses a newer version of firmware than E585 and later versions of E585 (V1) are harder to unlock for free so E585u-82 will be even harder.
Official unlock from Vodafone - $50. After 6 months, the fee may drop to $25. Online unlock may get additional discount. However, unlock Web site does not seem to have the IMEIs and unlock codes yet.
Existing Vodafone postpaid mobile customers might want to consider the $10 per month offer (pointed out by kirynflare and thanks dy4me for the link):
http://www.vodafone.com.au/personal/plans/bundles/index.htm?…
For a postpaid pocket wifi, Vodafone generally unlock the device for free.
Pocket Wifi 2 uses the same battery as the Pocket Wifi 1. Even though the box says it supports wireless N, I am only able to get about 65Mbps connection (and it is 1T1R so it means it is 150Mbps at best in theory).
Excellent! No branding either, yay. Ordered one, thanks OP.