Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time with portable WiFi, CPE or an outdoor antenna, follow the two-step flow below to quickly decide what you need. For example: for fixed scenarios such as a rented room or school, choose a CPE; for portable scenarios where you carry it out, choose a portable WiFi — so you don't get overwhelmed by the full device list at the start.

The simplest way to choose (just 3 steps!):

1. First pick the device type by your usage scenario. (Prefer SIM-slot devices, so you can swap in other third-party data plans.)

2. Look at the higher Overall Scores first, then check whether the budget works for you.

3. Finally decide together with the data plan (a device's bundled plan is shown at the very bottom of its detail page).

Advanced approach below:

4. Open the details to check bands, signal, latency and packet loss (advanced choice).

5. Add 2 to 3 devices to the parameter comparison.

Common buying questions below (optional):

Q1: Why should I care about the Overall Score?

If you need a device, look at the Overall Score first. It is an index scored across price, signal performance, band support and more — great for beginners to quickly rule out bad options.

Q2: How do I tell the difference between sorting by price and sorting by Overall Score?

The Overall Score is better for beginners to quickly rule out bad options — prioritize high-scoring devices; the highest score represents the best value currently available. Sorting by price is better once you already have a clear budget.

Note: price sorting already moves devices below the recommended score to the back, because they often have inflated data claims, vendor speed limits, inflated prices and so on — so when starting out, don't just chase the lowest price!!!

Q3: How do I choose a data plan that suits me?

Just open Data Plans and pick from the ranking as needed. For a device's built-in plan, open its details — at the very bottom you'll find the device's bundled plan, or recommended plans that fit this device.

Advanced selection (beginners can skip)

If you already fully understand the above, or already know the products, and want a device that fits your needs more closely — for example: I chase low gaming latency, or want something both portable and usable as fixed, or my area only has XX band coverage, or I just want the device with the strongest signal — see the advanced guide below.

Advanced selection framework:

RSRP is signal strength; the smaller the value (closer to 0), the stronger and better the signal.

RSRQ is signal quality; the smaller the value (closer to 0), the better the quality.

SINR is signal link clarity; the higher the value, the more stable the connection.

Average game latency reflects how smooth the gaming network experience is; the smaller, the better.

Packet loss rate reflects connection stability; the smaller, the better.

Advanced summary: choose devices with better RSRP, RSRQ and SINR where possible — especially RSRP and RSRQ, which matter more, because they represent the signal and quality performance at your location and directly affect your network experience. Average game latency and packet loss are more for users with specific needs, e.g. gamers or remote work.

Note: see each item's explanation for what the values mean.

MIFIPK is a reference site focused on portable WiFi, CPE, outdoor antennas, data plans and organized, measured comparison data, to help you understand device specs, band support, network performance and real-world experience faster. It is developed, operated and maintained by an individual, fully self-funded for both purchases and testing. Because the test process is fairly involved — at least 3 hours of testing per device — I strive to make it the best, fairest and most impartial it can be. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

RSRP is Reference Signal Received Power, mainly reflecting how strong the base-station signal the device receives is. The closer RSRP is to 0 the better — that is, the smaller the value the better; for example, -75 dBm is usually better than -95 dBm.

RSRQ is Reference Signal Received Quality, mainly reflecting link quality and interference. RSRQ is also better the closer it is to 0 — the smaller the value the better; for example, -7 dB is usually better than -12 dB.

SINR is the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio, reflecting link clarity and stability. The higher the SINR the better — it usually means a more stable connection, with speed and latency easier to keep steady.

Bands are the frequency ranges a device uses to communicate with the carrier. Each frequency range represents a band. Bands affect whether the device works in your area, its signal coverage, network capacity and stability. The more complete the common bands it supports, the better the compatibility usually is.

'Full amount' means the plan's data is genuinely sufficient when measured; 'inflated' means the data falls short. For example: with a 100 GB plan, if measured usable data reaches around 100 GB with a fluctuation of no more than 1 GB, it is full amount. If measured usable data deviates from 100 GB by more than 10 GB, it is inflated.

A third-party plan is usually not bound to a single device vendor, but a data plan that multiple compatible devices can use (though you can't swap the device). It suits users who want to pair device and plan themselves for the best value.

Network speed is affected by time of day, base-station load, plan speed caps, the SIM card's contracted rate, the device itself and more — for example differences like 3GPP R17 vs R16 — and the protocol, region and environment have a big impact. This site prioritizes more stable, horizontally comparable parameters to reduce the misleading effect of random fluctuation.

PingTest is MIFIPK's in-house network testing tool, now open-sourced. Project: https://github.com/SlAlot/PingTest

Testing first measures RSRP, RSRQ and SINR in four directions at a fixed spot, then averages the four values (their sum divided by 4). Then, in the direction with the best signal (determined by the best RSRP), it tests one hour of game latency (using PingTest).

Data is measured for real. Testing only happens if the device includes a data plan; if measured data consumption differs too much from actual usage, it is marked as inflated.

Note: the latency test files can be made public; if any vendor feels it's unfair, they are welcome to come and retest in person.

Disclaimer: all test data only represents measurements at my fixed location, does not represent the device's capability or the vendor's claims, and is for reference only.

All data is real and measured at the same place and position, aiming to be as fair and impartial as possible. Actual experience will still vary by region and carrier environment. — Note: the test network environment may still contain various errors; data is for reference only!

The Overall Score is a value that emphasizes value for money. If a device doesn't inflate its data and has no serious packet loss or frequent latency swings, it gets a base of 6 points; the remaining 4 points are scored from the device's latency and signal performance and its price, for a maximum of 10 points!