There’s no way to put this nicely, USB modems are some of the most boring pieces of hardware in the mobile industry, or at least that’s what I used to believe until I got one that can access a test LTE network in Helsinki, Finland. Two problems that these modems have is that they require the installation of software to actually function, and they can also take quite a while to connect to the network. Personally speaking, the thing I hate the most about my Huawei USB 4G LTE modem is the length of time it takes between plugging it into the side of computer to when I’ll finally be able to load up Facebook. While that may make me sound like an impatient asshole, note that before I began testing this modem I was using WiFi, which my laptop connected to before I was even done typing my password in to login to my machine.
ZTE is looking to solve both of these problems with what they’re calling CWID technology. CWID stands for CPC (continuous packet connectivity), Web UI (user interface), and driver-free technology. Know how you configure your wireless access point at home by going to 192.168.1.1 and fiddling with what’s basically a website? ZTE is applying the same idea to their modems. The CPC (continuous packet connectivity) bit is a feature of the HSPA+ standard that makes connecting to the network faster and easier.
The first products to get CWID will be the next generation MF 190, one of their most popular modems, along with the MF60 and MF80 portable hotspots. ZTE says it’ll only be a matter of time before everything they ship has CWID on board, and I’m extremely curious to see how well it’ll work on both my MacBook Pro work machine and my Lenovo ThinkPad X100e netbook that I tote around town. Then again I can also see everything I own in the future having connectivity built-in.
Why not?
[Via: Cellular News]