What do the flashing lights on a Verizon Mifi 2200 mean?

I'm borrowing a colleague's tiny little Verizon wireless cell modem gizmo, the MiFi 2200, and I'm totally impressed with it, except for one huge thing: what the heck do the lights mean?

Dave's Answer:

I've been evaluating the Verizon mifi 2200 too, and I'm with you. it's a great solution for getting online without having to worry about wireless passwords, signal strength or proximity to a cafe or open network. All you need is a cell signal and since Verizon seems to have very good coverage everywhere I travel, that's a no-brainer.

On the other hand, sometimes devices can be too small, and I am kind of starting to think that this is a case in point. For example, I really want some sort of battery level indicator. Is the device 90% charged or ten minutes away from being completely dead? It'd be nice to know.

There are two indicator lights on the mifi 2200: the button light (which is how you turn the device on and off) and the status light on the edge, adjacent to the micro-USB connector.

Each of these can have multiple different colors, as shown in this handy table:

LED Color	Meaning
LED not lit	No Power
LED BLUE - Solid	Device is Powered on and Roaming
LED GREEN - Solid	Device is powered on and fully charged
LED GREEN - Glowing	Device is in hibernate
LED RED - Blinking	Battery is Critically Low.
LED AMBER - Solid	Battery is Charging
LED AMBER - Blinking	Error, see Troubleshooting

Got it? Four colors, flashing or not flashing, they could actually have eight messages, so Verizon showed a bit of restraint, right? :-)

Now, the status light can also have a couple of messages for you:

LED Color	Meaning
LED not lit	No Power
LED GREEN - Solid	Device is powered but not transmitting or receiving
LED GREEN - Slow Blinking	Device is powered on but there is no service
LED GREEN - Intermittent Blinking	Transmitting/receiving data

And now, as they say, you know. Still, a tiny multi-light battery status wouldn't have added more than a few pennies to this gizmo...

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Categorized: Computer and Internet Basics , iPhone and Cell Phone Help (Article 9064, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: mobile internet, verizon mifi 2200, wireless base stations
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Reader Comments To Date: 3

Anonymous said, on December 8, 2010 9:33 AM:

There is a battery indicator if you plug in the mifi to your computer via the usb cord in the box in the vz access window!

Jim Hardwick (jgh if you use it on the screen) said, on April 24, 2012 4:49 PM:

May I suggest you add a date to each comment? That way readers are aware of how old the advice or question is. BTW the lack of a battery or actual signal strength meter on the 2200 is a lamebrain omission on VZ's part. Apparently the newer 4G version fixes that.

Nice site, no fluff!

rocketride said, on May 7, 2013 12:15 PM:

There is at least one other code in the blinking of the button light, which I have not been able to find documented.

It blinks in red with all the blinks of equal duration meaning that the battery is critically low as documented above.

But it blinks in red (short, short, short, short, long) to indicate the above and that a power source of insufficient amperage is being used. The battery will take an inordinately long time to charge. (Or maybe forever-- I gave up after 8 hours.) It was a new battery and I was starting to worry.

In the interest of consolidating USB-micro-compatible charging into as few chargers as possible for a trip, I got a multi port charger, tried to use it for my MiFi, and got the above. Fortunately I had my Nook Color charger along and it does supply enough current. (Warning-- don't use the Nook cable on other devices- it is apparently wired to deliver DC along the data connections as well as the "+" and "ground" wires and may fry other devices. Also, there's clearly something nonstandard going on with that glowing "n" on the micro end.)

There are two related things that I would like to know:

1) Who was the genius (presumably at Novatel) who decided that the MiFi2200's default behavior while it's plugged in, and the battery charge is anywhere above direly low, should be to be perpetually attempting to broadcast. (As in one CAN'T shut the broadcasting off-- it'll just turn itself back on.)

2) Relatedly, I'd also like to know who the genius was at Microsoft who decided that the default behavior for a Win7 Pro computer which is happily connected to a wired network should be for it to drop that connection and try to connect onto any random wireless connection that fires up in the vicinity-- without notifying the user. Who are those bozos working for, anyway?

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

What do the flashing lights on a Verizon Mifi 2200 mean?

Reader Comments To Date: 3

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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