Is the Huawei E586 the Smart Rocket WiFi Plus?

I have been told by a reliable source that the Huawei E586 could be the pocket WiFi used by Smart for the Rocket WiFi Plus. The press release says it’s going to ride on their HSPA+ network so this looks like it.

We borrowed this unlocked Huawei E586 from an independent seller to check if it’s going to be the one that will be offered when the Smart Rocket WiFi Plus finally arrives.

Huawei E586 HSPA+ Pocket WiFi:
HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS 21.1Mbps downlink, 5.76Mbps uplink
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Li-Ion battery 1500mAh
32GB storage via microSD card

I’ve only been testing it since yesterday and have not gone around to getting the speed tests like the one we did with the ZTE MF60.

Then again there’s that switch by Smart from UnliSurf to bucket-pricing (Php200USD 3INR 289EUR 3CNY 25 per 180MB data usage) starting October 1.

I will need to switch to that data plan to be able to check the full speed of the network using the device (using the prepaid Smart Bro SIM I bought from the Rocket Plug-It).

It’s still unclear how Smart is implementing this speeds on the devices so I’m not sure if the Rocket Plug-It SIM will get the up to 20Mbps speeds when I plug it into the Huawei E586.

Will post full review and speed test results next week. The Huawei E586 is being sold at Php7,500USD 128INR 10,835EUR 122CNY 931 for the unlocked version. Smart’s Php6,495USD 111INR 9,383EUR 105CNY 806 prepaid kit price is cheaper by Php1k but that ones probably locked though.

Disclosure: HotGadgets provided us with this review unit. You can find the item being sold in TipidPC here and in Sulit here.