Although perhaps not a memorable product name, the E5832 is a very handy little device indeed - one of the first battery-powered 3G wireless routers on the market.

Taking a SIM card and providing 3G data service at up to 7.2Mbps, the device is also a WiFi access point, meaning that you can share the 3G connection between multiple WiFi enabled clients. Whilst these devices have been available for a while now, this device is battery-powered and measures only 93mm x 48mm!
Featuring a microSD card slot it can also be used as a USB file store.
When connected to a PC via the supplied USB cable, it can also be used as a USB 3G dongle modem.

Key Features

• Flexible WiFi Hotspot
• WiFi 802.11 b/g
• HSUPA/HSDPA/UMTS 2100/900 MHz
• EDGE/GPRS/GSM 1900/1800/900/850 MHz
• Equalizer and receive diversity (UMTS 2100/900 MHz)
• HSUPA data service of up to 5.76 Mbps
• HSDPA data service of up to 7.2 Mbps
• MicroSD card slot
• Li battery
• LED display
• Plug and play
• SMS service

System Requirements

• Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista
• MacOS X 10.4 and 10.5
• Display resolution 800x600 or above
• Standard USB interface

Installation

The E5832 can only be installed and configured via USB on a Windows PC. Although the device can be accessed via WiFi from a Mac once the device has been configured, it must be configured initially from a PC.

When the device is connected to the PC, it is detected as a USB storage device and the software installation wizard will launch automatically:

Once installed, an icon is added to the desktop and the Start menu for the WiFi Mobile Partner. When running the software for the first time you will be prompted to configure the wireless settings on the device:

Select Yes to continue:

Enter your desired SSID for the wireless network as well as the appropriate APN, username and password for your mobile operator:

Vodafone:

Username - web
Password - web
APN - internet

Orange:

Username - leave blank
Password - leave blank
APN - orangeinternet

O2:

Username - web
Password - web
APN - mobile.o2.co.uk

T-Mobile:

Username - leave blank
Password - leave blank
APN - general.t-mobile.uk

Three:

Username - leave blank
Password - leave blank
APN - three.co.uk

Click Save to apply the configuration.

The device will now connect to the 3G network automatically and will be accessible as a wireless network from your Windows PC or Mac, or any 802.11b/g-capable client.

To adjust the settings further, click on the Advanced Management button. Advanced wireless settings can be defined including security and channel details:

As with the larger 3G routers, the Huawei E5832 supports port forwarding, firewall and DMZ functionality:

DHCP lease details can also be configured for the wireless network:

Should you need to change the 3G connection settings, open the Tools menu and select Options, and then Profile Management:

When connected to a PC via USB, the Mobile Partner software can also be used to manage SMS messages and SIM contacts:

ADDENDUM

Please note the screenshots in this article were taken using a prototype sample of the unit and are now deprecated.

For information on installing the device as a USB modem on MacOS, read this article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/installing-huawei-e5832-imo-usb-3g-modem...

For information on installing the device as a USB modem on Windows, read this article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/installing-huawei-e5832-imo-usb-3g-modem...

For information on configuring the WiFi and advanced functionality of the unit, read this article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/configuring-huawei-e5832-e5830-imo