Those popular Huawei 3G USB modems just got nearly twice as fast, even though most users are waiting for carriers to catch up.
The new E230 modem is no larger than a typical USB stick and includes an 8GB MicroSD card, will support a bunch of protocol standards including HSPA, UMTS, EDGE and GPRS. It will also be nearly double the speed of the previous model (E220) which had a max speed of 3.6 Mbps on HSDPA. This newer model sprints ahead of the pack with 7.2Mbps of download access on HSDPA and 4.5 Mbps on HSUPA.
Vodaphone announced last year they would push for 14.4 Mbps and Optus announced plans to reach 7.2 Mbps. Telstra offer 7.2 Mbps, but that’s only with Telstra branded modems. So for now, it's a case of waiting for the other providers to play catch up.