MiFi hacked and unlocked for free - ready for the iPad

Those of you looking to buy a new iPad but can't be bothered to fork out for the 3G version have got some good news - you can now hack a MiFi unit for free.

No, not a torture method designed for mythical garden creatures, but instead it's a way of streaming your 3G signal in the form of Wi-Fi.

MiFi units have been around for a while, but most have been locked to 3, which offers the Huawei E5830 device to customers to convert their mobile broadband signal to laptop-friendly Wi-Fi.

Hack, crack and unlock

But now hacker Zibri has managed to find a way to open up the device to other networks for free, with a simple connection to your PC, launching the program and typing in a specific code all that's needed.

This means you can plug whichever SIM you fancy into the device and stream its 3G signal - perfect for those that don't want to pay the 3G premium on the iPad.

Of course, this is a very much unofficial solution, so do so at your own risk - and make sure you've got the right data plan, as otherwise it might get very expensive.

From Zibri via Engadget

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief


Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.