Fido Nokia CS-18 Internet Stick Review

I've been using a Fido Nokia CS-18 for a few months and I thought that I would take a few minutes to write about it. Previously I was using a Novatel Wireless MC950D and I thought that I would upgrade it even though there was nothing wrong with my Novatel Wireless device.

The Nokia CS-18 is an HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS device (850/1900/2100 MHz). It is also compatible on the GSM/EDGE network at 850/900/1800/1900 MHz.

As an HSPA+ device, it is rated for 21.6 Mbps download and an upload speed of 5.76 Mbps. In terms of real-life performance, I did get 10 Mbps download once. However, most of the time, I get performance that is only slightly better than what I would get with my older HSPA device (Novatel Wireless Ovation MC950D).

The Fido Nokia CS-18  comes with a USB Extension cable (CA-175) and a guide. You can view the online user's guide *HERE*. Excluding the obvious speed difference between my old Novatel Wireless MC950D device, another difference is that the CS-18 supports the insertion of a MicroSD card. According to the documentation, it supports a MicroSD card up to 32GB.

The device is nice. I prefer the SIM insertion of my older Novatel Wireless device over my Nokia CS-18 device. The MC950D allows for easy SIM insertion and removal whereas with the Nokia CS-18, you must lift a small lid/lip in order to insert the SIM card (and then close this small lid/lip). On the Nokia CS-18, I do like the fact that the USB cap/cover is attached to the internet stick via a small cable which prevents the cover from becoming lost.

In terms of speed, I do notice a slight speed improvement between my Novatel Wireless device and my newer Nokia CS-18 using the same SIM card in the same device and in the same location.

One of the reasons I decided to upgrade was because the CS-18 is compatible in my 3G/4G wireless router. I also expected a larger increase in performance but this didn't turn out to be true. However, I believe that the performance issue is due to my location since I get unreliable coverage where I'm located.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.