Despite the increasing popularity Wi-Fi of integrated tethering functionality across a variety of smartphone platforms, sales of dedicated portable hotspots continue to remain strong. Novatel Wireless, a pioneer in personal mobile hotspots, on Monday announced that lifetime shipments of its MiFi mobile hotspot line has now surpassed 3 million units globally. Beyond the tried and true reliability of Novatel’s MiFi devices — anyone who follows BGR’s live coverage of press conferences knows we re...

Sprint confirmed last month that beginning October 2nd, unlimited mobile hotspot plans would become limited mobile hotspot plans, affording users of the optional smartphone add-on 5GB of tethering data per month. Now, Sprint has added a second service to the unlimited data cemetery: mobile broadband. “If you have a mobile broadband device such as a tablet, netbook, notebook, USB card, connection card or Mobile Hotspot device, effective beginning with your next bill following notification, your on-netwo...

Verizon Wireless is seemingly following AT&T’s lead and taking action against subscribers who make use of unauthorized tethering apps. ReadWriteWeb reports that one of its writers was using a “jailbroken tethered Verizon Motorola X” with an unauthorized third-party app, rather than paying for Verizon Wireless’ mobile hotspot solution as its contract terms require. According to the report, the writer was blocked from accessing webpages on devices tethered to her DROID X on Friday,...

AT&T confirmed to BGR that it will soon begin revoking unlimited data plans from jailbroken iPhone users and other smartphone users who utilize unauthorized tethering and mobile hotspot solutions. Following reports from earlier this year, AT&T on Thursday confirmed that it will remove grandfathered unlimited data plans from accounts belonging to users who tether or use unsanctioned mobile hotspot apps without a tethering plan, which is expressly prohibited by AT&T according to its terms and condi...

Verizon has confirmed to FierceWireless that it will move to tiered data plans on July 7th, and the new plans are in line with earlier reports for the most part. If you’re worried about losing your existing unlimited plan, fear not; only new customers will be required to subscribe to one of three new data plans: $30 for 2GB of data per month, $50 for 5GB, or $80 for 10GB. Verizon Wireless will then charge $10 per GB of data past the monthly allotment. Mobile hotspot users will need to start paying a m...

We’re big fans of Verizon Wireless’ Novatel Mi-Fi 4510L 4G LTE hotspot, and now you can pick one up for just $49.99 with a new two-year contract — a $50 savings over the original launch price. If a hotspot isn’t quite your style, Verizon is also offering Novatel’s USB551L 4G LTE USB modem for just $19.99 with a new two-year contract. We’ve been blown away by Verizon’s 4G speeds, and we’re told the sale will only last until July 18th, so be sure to check these out if...

Here’s some good news for DROID Charge, LG Revolution, and HTC ThunderBolt owners: BGR has independently confirmed with Verizon Wireless that the carrier is extending its free 4G LTE mobile hotspot offer on those devices from June 15th to July 6th. Verizon Wireless will issue a software update on July 6th that deactivates the free promotion. Users will then need to pay for the service, and Verizon says 4G phone owners do not qualify for the 1GB $20 monthly option. While the carrier hasn’t yet conf...

While we’ve been testing out Samsung’s 4G LTE mobile hotspot for a couple weeks, there’s just something about Novatel that we can’t shake. After all, they were the first with a MiFi device. If you have been holding on to the thought of a 4G LTE MiFi ever since CES, today is the day. The Verizon Wireless MiFi 4510L 4G LTE mobile hotspot is now available for purchase from Verizon online, and will be available in stores on April 21st for $99 after a two year service agreement and rebate...

Intel gathered by blog TmoNews suggests that T-Mobile’s HSPA+, 4G mobile hotspot will be released this Wednesday, April 13th. First seen at CTIA last month, the hostspot will provide connectivity for up to five Wi-Fi enabled device’s on the company’s wireless network. While we don’t know which HSPA+ radio the device will be packing — 21Mbps or 42Mbps — we do know that it will have a built-in VPN client and “optional SMS” support. We snapped a few images of the little, p...

Recently, Sprint took to its community forums to let customers know that its new Novatel 3G/4G MiFi mobile hotspot is now available. “Sprint is the first carrier to launch a 4G MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot preloaded with MiFi OS™, widgets and application support, adding capabilities beyond just pure Internet connectivity and ensuring customers a reliable device that can easily be upgraded with the newest widgets and applications,” reads the press release. The device, which will allow up to fi...

Looking to lasso yourself some of those sweet, sweet LTE airwaves being emitted by Verizon Wireless towers? Don’t really need a new smartphone? You’re in luck. In a pair of press releases today, Verizon announced two, new LTE-enabled network devices, the Verizon USB551L modem (made by Novatel) and the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot. The USB551L is a standard USB data-stick modem capable of connecting your Windows or Mac-based machine to Verizon’s ultra-fast, LTE network. The Samsung 4G LTE...

Sprint announced the Overdrive Pro 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot from Sierra Wireless on Friday, its latest WiMAX device. The Overdrive Pro allows Sprint users to connect up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share a 3G/4G connection. Sprint boasts that the Overdrive Pro is smaller than the original, offers a 35 percent improvement in power up and down time, and has a larger LCD display. Double pressing the power button will also display more detailed information about the device and its connection. The Overdrive Pro w...

AT&T has started to issue warnings to customers unofficially tethering their smartphones to its network. In an email to unauthorized tetherers, the company writes, “Our records show that you use this capability, but are not subscribed to our tethering plan.” The correspondence goes on to note that users will be automatically enrolled in the $45 per month “DataPro for Smartphone Tethering” plan if they ignore the warning. “The new plan – whether you sign up on your own or we...

One of our sources has just let us know something pretty interesting. There has been a lot of talk surrounding Apple’s personal hotspot feature, specifically it’s capability of only supporting 3 wireless connections (as opposed to 5 like many other devices). Well, we have been told it’s all left to the carrier to decide. If a carrier requests it, five devices will be supported, but by default, it’s three.Oh, and we’ve also been told iOS 4.3 will be available for download publicly...