Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi for Verizon Wireless Review

Introduction and Design:

Last week we reviewed the Samsung SCH-LC11, which was Verizon’s first 4G LTE HotSpot. Now some competition enters the market with the new Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi, that is actually a follow-up to the older Novatel 2200 3G MiFi from 2009.

The overall styling of the Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi has changed, with a shiny black surface on the top and chrome accents around the sides, all of which are fingerprint magnets, thought the lower edge and bottom of the device retain the familiar black soft-touch coating. The device is also fairly compact, at 2.36”H x 3.74” W x 0.53”D and with a weight of 3 oz, though this is still slightly larger and heavier than the Samsung 4G HotSpot. Included with the Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi is a brown fabric carrying pouch, 1500mAh battery, wall charger, user guides, and a microUSB PC cable that says it’s only to be used for device firmware upgrades.


The front of the Novatel 4510L closely resembles the Novatel 4082 for Sprint, as there is a small display, which uses eInk, that will show useful icons for the antenna reception (0-4 bars), roaming indicator (triangle), battery level (0-4 bars), and how many Wi-Fi devices are connected (1-5 dots). Below that on the lower side is a single LED indicator  light, that will change color depending on if you are connected to 4G (green), 3G or 1x (violet), have the unit off and charging (yellow/amber), receiving an over-the-air upgrade (white), or if there is no SIM card installed (red). We like having the display icons on the front and separate LED indicator, as you can easily tell at a glance what network (4G/3G) you are connected to, the signal strength, battery level, and the number of Wi-Fi devices connected, instead of the three limited LED lights on the Samsung 4G HotSpot that only show the network type and if Wi-Fi data is being transmitted.


Along the top edge is a small round port for connected an optional extended antenna (purchased separately) and a microUSB port. We were able to charge the Novatel 4510L via the wall charger while also keeping it powered on and with the Wi-Fi connection enabled to our phone. But when we connected the Novatel 4510L to a PC via a microUSB data cable, it would restart the MiFi and charge it and the Wi-Fi connection would be disabled, thus not allowing any devices to use it for data. We even pressed the power button, which did show the device turn on, and the display showed the signal strength, but it still would not transmit over Wi-Fi. This is a bit of a disappointment; as the Samsung 4G HotSpot can be charged via a microUSB cable when connect to a PC, while also transmitting data over Wi-Fi, thus allowing the device to be used. If you are the type of person who likes to have their HotSpot charging from their PC’s USB port, while also using the Wi-Fi on the HotSpot, then you might want to consider the Samsung 4G unit. But if you don’t mind using a microUSB wall charger, you can charge and use the Novatel unit simultaneously.

Performance:

The first device we connected to the Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi was a Verizon iPhone 4 and used the SpeedTest.net app. We ran tests connecting to three local servers (Miami Beach, Miami, and Naples), and got download speeds between 6.06-7.16 Mbps, upload speeds of 4.31-5.01 Mbps, and ping times between 299-402 ms. We then preformed the same tests using a Motorola DROID X and got similar results. Even though the download speeds on the iPhone 4 and DROID X when connected to the Novatel 4510L are about 1 Mbps slower than using the Samsung 4G HotSpot, the uploads are about twice as fast.

We then connected the Novatel 4510L to our HP netbook and used the web browser to load up the SpeedTest.net web site. Again when connecting to the three local servers, we got solid download speeds between 5.86-6.32 Mbps (though occasionally it would spike up to 10-12 Mbps), upload speeds between 4.22-6.19 Mbps, and ping times of 95-165 ms. When we connected to the Samsung 4G HotSpot, it would show downloads of 7-8 Mbps with spikes up to 13 Mbps. We also downloaded a 102MB file from the Nvidia web site, which took 6 minutes 50 seconds when using the Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi, though the Samsung 4G HotSpot was faster at 5 minutes 52 seconds. For web page browsing, we went to PhoneArena.com, and other graphically intense sites, and both units were able to fully load in under 12 seconds.

Regardless of any slight speed difference between the Novatel and Samsung units, here is the most important thing – the Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi does not suffer from the occasional “web page stalls” that we continue to experience on the Samsung 4G HotSpot. Since our review of the Samsung device last week, we have updated the device to newest firmware, and even tried different Wi-Fi setting, but we still occasionally will get “web page stalls” – which simply means if we are using a connected phone or PC, the web page will load half way, stop for about 20 seconds, and then continue to load. It also appears we are not alone, as other users of the Samsung 4G HotSpot have posted similar problems in on-line forums. Thankfully, the Novatel unit does not have this issue, which to us is the main reason to purchase this unit over the Samsung.

Battery life is rated at 5 hours when using the Novatel 4510L, but we got about 4.5 hours with continual 4G usage.

For additional functionality, you can access the settings page for the Novatel 4510L by going to 192.168.1.1 in your web browser. Within it, you can make numerous changes to settings, such as Wi-Fi modes and encryption, passwords, LAN, VPN, port forwarding, and auto power-down timer.



Conclusion:

There really is no comparison between the Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi and the Samsung 4G HotSpot. Even though they are priced the same at $99.99 after rebate with a 2-year contract, and have roughly the same 4G LTE connection speeds, the advantage with the Novatel is that it does not suffer from the “web page stall” issue, and you can easily check the signal strength and battery level by looking at the eInk display. The only thing we found missing on the Novatel 4510L is the microSD memory card slot that is on the Novatel 4082 for Sprint, which allows connected devices to use it as a network storage device. But other than that, the Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi for Verizon is the clear winner over the Samsung 4G HotSpot, though the Sprint Overdrive Pro is currently at $49 and the Novatel 4082 is at $79, so keep that in mind. Verizon’s 4G data plans start at $50 per month for 5GB of data and $80 per month for 10GB of data.

Novatel 4510L 4G MiFi for Verizon Wireless Video Review: