Bell MiFi units remotely deactivated as recall takes place

By on May 4, 2010 at 10:03 AM
Hardware May 4, 2010

Bell-Mifi

We were a bit taken back the other day when trying to locate the Novatel MiFi 2372 on Bell’s website to no avail, and now we know why — it’s been recalled. According to Bell, the MiFi’s battery is prone to swelling and, not surprisingly, this poses not only a safety risk but may also “[cause] the device to malfunction.” Bell is planning to get MiFi’s back in the hands of its customers just as soon as they can get them replaced by Novatel, but in the meantime every affected customer will be sent a U998 Turbo Stick to tide them over. Just in case you’re the type to throw caution to the wind and want to keep using your MiFi until the replacements are shipped out (which just so happens to be 6 to 8 weeks away), Bell has taken the precaution of remotely deactivating your kit.

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  • http://www.funys.net ben gillam

    its cool that they can do this for safety reasons to stop peoples mifi’s exploding but its worrying they have that amount of control over your devices.

    • El Doucho

      why don’t you cry about it!

  • Alain (borax99)

    Rogers is aware of the issue and has stopped selling, but no plans (right now, this minute) to deactivate units or trigger a mass recall. Somehow I suspect they moved fewer units than Bell…

  • http://www.novatelwireless.com Kevin Thornton

    Hi Michael,

    This is Kevin Thornton with the Novatel Wireless team, below is the official statement from Novatel Wireless regarding the Bell MiFi 2372:

    Novatel’s top priorities are to serve our customers and end-consumers and to provide for the safe use of our products. There have been two incidents reported from Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada, with battery overheating issues. While we can’t comment on specific consumer incidents, it has been reported that some customers have had difficulties opening the battery door thus utilizing sharp objects or excessive force to open it. While doing this, customers can inadvertently puncture the battery when trying to remove it and this can cause the battery to over-heat. To reduce the probability of user-induced damage to the battery, we have redesigned the battery door to make it easier to open.

    Any product or battery issue is considered a matter of utmost importance for Novatel Wireless. Consistent with that and as a preventive measure, the Company has communicated an exchange program for Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada customers to replace the MiFi 2372 battery and battery door.

    The MiFi 2200 — addressing the CDMA market — represents the majority of the MiFi units we have sold and has different design features and components, hence, it is not effected.

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