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Verizon to ship new Jetpack 890L mobile router

Verizon announces that its second Jetpack mobile router, the 890L, first introduced at CES 2012, will be available for purchase this Thursday.

Dong Ngo SF Labs Manager, Editor / Reviews
CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.
Dong Ngo
2 min read
The Verizon Jetpack 890L Mobile hot spot.
The Verizon Jetpack 890L Mobile hot spot. Verizon

Remember the cute, square Jetpack mobile router Verizon showed off at CES 2012?

Well, Verizon announced today that its new Jetpack 890L will be available on May 24.

This is the second router in the Jetpack line that the company introduced at the show, the first was the Jetpack 4620L that we reviewed just a few days ago.

Similar to the 4620L, the Jetpack 890L creates a personal Wi-Fi network that supports up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices. These devices can then share the mobile router's 4G LTE cellular Internet connection. According to Verizon, the Jetpack's Global Ready capability means customers can enjoy wireless data service on their Wi-Fi-enabled devices in more than 205 countries, including more than 125 with 3G speeds. It's also likely that the mobile router will support SIM cards of local providers, similar to the case of an unlocked GSM smartphone.

The new router comes with a good set of features, similar to those found in a full-size router, including VPN pass-through. For security it uses all variations of WEP and WPA encryption standards for its Wi-Fi network/WPA2 support. Similar to the Jetpack 4620L, the new Jetpack 890L also comes with an OLED screen and interactive keypad, which displays important information about the router and its wireless connections. The router is also expected to offer Internet speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps down and 2 to 5Mbps up, when in Verizon's 4G LTE coverage.

The device is slated to cost just $20 after a $50 mail-in rebate for those who're willing to sign a new two-year contract. It will likely share the same data plan as the Jetpack 4620L, which cost $50 and $80 per month for a data cap of 5GB and 10GB, respectively.