Telstra Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi modem

Telstra's Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi modem has a lot of hype to live up to — Telstra claims it's the world's first commercial, battery-powered dual channel HSPA+ Wi-Fi modem, and says it's the first 3G hotspot in Australia to support the Wi-Fi N standard. The telco also says it's up to four times faster than current competitors. After reviewing the Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi, it definitely ranks as the best device of its kind that we've tested, but you'll pay a small fortune for its excellent coverage and speed.

Check out our reviews of the best mobile broadband modems with Wi-Fi .

The Telstra Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi modem is a battery operated modem that allows up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect to it wirelessly for shared mobile Internet access. The Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi is the third wireless 3G modem that Telstra has released in Australia, but it's the first to theoretically support speeds of 42 megabits per second (Mbps). Telstra's Telstra Elite Mobile Wi-Fi modem , which launched in April, supported theoretical maximum speeds of 21Mbps. Of course, you'll never experience speeds of 42Mbps in real life use, though Telstra promises the Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi will deliver download speeds ranging from 1.1 to 20 Mbps.

The Telstra Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi modem is a larger and thicker device than its predecessors, but it's still small enough to fit into a pocket or bag. The best feature of its design is the large LED screen that shows signal strength, the number of devices connected, battery level, network type, whether Wi-Fi is switched on or off and when the device is roaming off the Telstra network. Conveniently, the LED screen also displays the default SSID network name, along with the password, meaning you don't have to remember your password every time you want to connect a new device. For security reasons, this can be hidden, and both the SSID name and password can be edited by configuring the straightforward web interface. The Ultimate Wi-Fi modem also sounds an audio alert when powered on or off, and will beep to notify users of changes to the connection status, though these annoying tones can thankfully be turned off by sliding the stubborn mute switch on top of the device.

The Telstra Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi modem is constructed from glossy black plastic but feels solidly built, though the rear battery cover is a little difficult to slide on once removed. An included microSD card slot means multiple devices can access the content of a microSD card in the Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi modem. The device charges via a standard micro-USB port through an included AC adapter or USB cable, and can still be used while it is charging. The Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi modem gets quite hot during both charging and regular use; you'll definitely notice this if you keep it in your pocket.

Beep Test Download

The beep test download can be found in many places online and is a critical component to running a beep test.

Originally the beep test audio program was on a cassette tape, however they were know to stretch over time. Of course we don’t have to worry about this anymore as it’s now in a digital recording.

As well as the beep test audio you will also need the following in order to conduct the beep test:

There are many places out there that will try and sell you the beep test audio program, however if you look hard enough you will find quite a few sources that offer it as a free download.

The one that we use as it’s the official one used by the Victoria Police is available as a free download from the Australian Defence Force recruitment website.

In order to play the audio file, you will need an mp3 player such as an iPod. You can easily listen to it through your iPod while you are doing the test, however if you are going to listen to it this way we do recommend that you attach the device to your body, maybe use one of the arm pouches you can buy. It might also pay to get some headphones that are more secure as we’ve found the standard iPod ones tend to fall out of your ears while running and turning.

The other option you might like to consider is to plug your iPod or MP3 player into an external speaker. There are speaker systems around that you can connect your device to and your local electronics store should be able to help you if required. We use an external speaker that we run a cable from the earphone jack directly into the stereo system which works really well.

If you can use an external speaker to play the beep test download, you will get a feel for what an actual test would be like, plus you won’t have to worry about your earphones falling out or how to attach your iPod comfortably to your body.

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