One of the most posts on Dignited is how to turn your USB dongle into a wireless Wi-Fi hotspot. It’s amazing how many people are stuck with the good old USB dongles but wish to share internet with family and friends. Jeff outlined some easy step-by-step instructions on how to do that. But you don’t want to go down that route unless you are nerd.
The easier option is to buy a Wingle. A Wingle you would say is a grown up version of the USB dongle. It’s a USB dongle but with abilities to share internet with 5 other users. It’s a little, light and sleek device that connects to and is powered by USB port of you PC.
Related post: The Mi-Fi is the new USB Internet dongle
Like the old USB dongle, Wingles require software installation and updates to work well. Wingles support 2/3/4G wireless mobile data standards. The important thing here to note is that Wingles don’t have battery like MiFis. You can take a look at the table below for complete comparison between Mifis, USB dongles and Wingles.
| USB Dongle | Wingle | Mi-Fi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical features | Light and sleek | Light and sleek | A little heavier, but sleek |
| Powering | USB powered | USB powered | USB/battery powered |
| WiFi(Wireless LAN) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Supported users | supports one user | supports 5 users | supports 5-10 users |
| Software | Requires software installation and updates | Requires software installation and updates | No software installation and updates needed |
| Technology | 2/3/4G LTE | 2/3/4G LTE | 2/3/4G LTE |
| Networks | All(Smile, MTN, Africell, Airtel, Vodafone, UTL) | MTN, Airtel | Smile, MTN, Africell, Airtel, Vodafone |
| Price range | From Ugx 69,000 | From Ugx 100,000 | From Ugx 149,000 |
Related post: Airtel Wingle Review: An awesome WiFi dongle that is a little late to the party
Both Airtel and MTN Uganda have Wingles. Airtel’s came first last year and you can read about it here. It goes for a price of Ugx 100,000. MTN Uganda has a 4G LTE wingle going for price of Ugx 169,000 and comes with 10GB free and a Car Charger, available in MTN Shops Country wide.