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I had the pleasure of obtaining the HTC Mogul from Sprint PCS/Nextel.  I have had the unit for a couple of weeks.  I must say I am well pleased with the unit.

My main purchase goal was to get mobile internet access.  I live in a rural area and neither cable nor DSL are available.  Until now, I had been using internet satellite providers (Wild Blue for the past couple of years, and DirecWay with dial return before that).

Sprint has rolled out its EV-DO network in many areas of the United States.  I was surprised to see it is also rolled out in my area, Buffalo, NY.  Other mobil providers have wireless networks, but they have not rolled out their higher speed options in my area as of this writing.  If EV-DO is not available in the area, the Mogul can also connect on the older tech (and slower) 1xRTT.

When I went to the Sprint store, my I was planning to get a wireless card for my laptop.  The PX-500 by Pantech Wireless was an appetizing thought as it is free after rebate at the time I was shopping.  However some online reviews indicated it might not be the best choice for ease of installation and setup.

Thus, I was considering the U595 from Sierra Wireless.  This unit supports the newer EV-DO rev A protocol for faster speeds than the rev 0.  Also it is a USB device so I could use it on my home computer and work computer.

While I was in the store, the sales person ('specialist' as I noted his business card said) showed me the HTC Mogul.  I had looked at the unit, but it cost more than I wanted to spend.  But after using it for a few minutes, I was sold.  I got the unit for $375 with a two year service agreement.  Unlimited Internet access for $39.95 per month, but I had to buy a $29.95 per month voice plan to get the rate.  Otherwise the data plan would have been $59.99 per month.  I didn't necessarily need a voice plan.  I already have a Motorola voice phone from Cingular, but would have to cancel the contract.

The Specialist told me there was a $100 rebate on the unit.  At first I thought he was mistaken because I did not see it listed on the Sprint Web site as having a rebate.  But about a week later, the Sprint Web site did list the $100 rebate with a $25/month or greater data plan.

The only thing I don't like about the HTC Mogul is that it is currently EV-DO rev 0, not rev A.  It is, however, software upgradeable to rev A.  Sprint has said in a news release that it will make a free rev A software upgrade later in 2007.  EV-DO rev. A speeds are quoted as 600 kbps - 1.4 Mbps and an average upload speeds of 350 - 500 kbps.

Getting the unit to work for Internet access on my computer took a few days to perfect.  I have posted those details in a different article on this page.

The HTC Mogul seems fairly sturdy.  I dropped it from hip height onto the concrete floor in my garage once so far, and it doesn't even have a scratch.  The unit fell out of its case.  The hip case is nice enough, but the snap is mainly held closed because it is magnetized.  It apparently opened up at some point while I was packing up the axle half shaft for my 2000 Subaru Outback core return.

The unit uses microSD cards.  It came with a 512MB microSD card by SanDisk.  I stopped at Best Buy and picked up a 2GB microSD card and it worked fine.  SanDisk has announced the released of a 4GB microSD, but as of this writing it was available only as a prototype to OEM's.  Also I am not sure if the HTC Mogul will support the 4GB microSD card.

The SanDisk 2GB microSD card included an adapter for use in a miniSD or regular SD slot.  I took the 512MB microSD card that came with the Mogul, installed it in the regular SD adapter, and put it in my digital camera (a fairly old Kodak which had been previously limited by the 64MB card I bought with it four years ago.)

The Mogul comes with earphones that will plug into its mini USB slot.  It also includes a splitter to permit connection of the headphones and connection to a computer at the same time.  The Mogul also recharges while connected to a computer via USB, which is very convenient if you use the Mogul for Internet Sharing.

The Mogul also has bluetooth, WiFi and wireless network support.  The Windows Mobile 6.0 seems to run smoothly, fairly fast, and has not caused me any problems yet.  back to top

I could not find documentation on how to connect my HTC Mogul to my desktop and laptop PC's with the unit.  A Sprint software CD was included, but it would not install on my desktop PC.  It kept saying it needed Adobe Flash Player 8 or later and gave a Web site to get it installed.  After repeating the Flash Player installation several times and getting the confirmation message that it was installed properly, the Sprint software still gave the same error message.

So I tried the installation on a different computer.  It worked.  Actually all that was on the CD was Microsoft ActiveSync and the HTC Mogul User's Guide.  After installing Microsoft ActiveSync, the computer would recognize the HTC Mogul and sync with it.  I had plugged in the Mogul to the computer before installing the software, and Windows XP said it was an unrecognized device.  So I deleted it in Device Manager and installed ActiveSync.  back to top

To use Internet access or Internet sharing with the Mogul, do not connect the HTC Mogul to the computer until after installing Microsoft ActiveSync.  Otherwise, delete the unit in Device Manager before proceeding.

Install Microsoft ActiveSync.  You can get this application from the Sprint CD included with the Mogul, or download it from the Microsoft Web site.

On the HTC Mogul, open the 'Internet Sharing' application.  It is found in 'Programs' off the Start Menu.  It is not in the start menu by default (though you can customize the start menu).  Click 'Connect' in the bottom left of the window.  The unit will say 'connecting'.  If you get any error messages about invalid username or password, then you need to get your Sprint Vision username and password setup on the Sprint website and enter that same information in the HTC Mogul connection setup.  Sprint stores might do this setup for you when you get the unit; mine did not.  (Though I think I bought from a Nextel reseller/dealer, not an actual Sprint store).

Here is my step by step guide to how to use the Mogul for Internet Access on a PC (I did this on Windows XP Professional)

Make sure your Web browser is not set to use a proxy.

After you get the HTC Mogul to connect in the Internet Sharing application, it should now say 'check USB cable' and the icon in the lower left of the screen should say 'disconnect'.

At this point, connect the included mini USB cable to the HTC Mogul and the computer.  (I purchased a spare 6 foot 5-pin mini USB cable from Best Buy which also works fine).

If you look in the Windows task bar, you should now see a new network connection icon with the 'acquiring address' animation cycling.  After a few seconds it will connect.  The HTC Mogul acts as a DHCP server, and the computer will receive an address of 192.168.0.nnn.

Now open your Internet browser and browse away.

At this point, you can put the HTC Mogul into power saver mode by pressing the button on the side of the unit.  I have found this is helpful to keep the Mogul cool.  If you leave the unit powered on with the screen on it gets warm after a while.

Sometimes the Mogul will drop/loose the Internet connection.  I have only had this happen maybe twice in two weeks.  Usually it then says the remote party ended the connection.  Then Microsoft ActiveSync will connect.  If this occurs, disconnect the USB cable and repeat this procedure from step 1.

Note: From what I can tell, ActiveSync and Internet Sharing are mutually exclusive.  They can't both connect the computer to the Mogul at the same time.  If the mini USB cable is connected between the Mogul and the computer before Internet Sharing application is running and connected to the Internet on the Mogul, then ActiveSync will connect and the Internet Sharing application will not work.

I am not sure if ActiveSync is really needed to be installed to make the Internet Sharing process work, but on my computers Internet Sharing did not work until after I installed ActiveSync.  It is possible there are drivers or some way to enable the RNDIS (Remote NDIS) (Remote Network Driver Interface Specification).  back to top

After getting the hang of making a connection with the DHCP, I switched my Windows XP network connection settings for the Mogul to a static address of 192.168.0.209 and manually entered the default gateway and DNS to 192.168.0.1.  This setup saves a second or two when connecting the Mogul since the computer does not have to acquire an IP address.

Also, I unchecked the 'File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks' box, since I don't plan to do any of that over the Internet.  I noticed when did this that IPconfig stopped reporting several additional IPv6 addresses.  I assume these IPv6 addresses had to do with the File and Printer Sharing. back to top

Previous to my Sprint HTC Mogul for Internet access, I had Wild Blue satellite.  The Wild Blue worked fine, but it's latency was upwards of 3000ms much of the time.  Download speeds were about 900kbps.  With the HTC Mogul on Sprint's EV-DO network (the mogul is running EV-DO rev 0 - I can't wait for the rev A software upgrade!) I was getting download speeds between 300kbps to 800kbps, but the latency was about 250ms.

The immediate thing I noticed was the several second wait before a page would start loading with the satellite internet was gone with the EV-DO connection.  Also, uploading large numbers of small files via FTP connections was much, much faster on the EV-DO. back to top