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The Best Wireless Travel Routers of 2024

Pocket routers for Wi-Fi networking on the road

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

In This Article

• Our Top Picks

What to Look For in a Travel Router

• Frequently Asked Questions

Frequent travelers battling poor cell service, dubious security, and excessive hotel and airport Wi-Fi fees can benefit from a good travel router when working away from home.

The best wireless travel routers avoid these hassles by letting you set up a private bubble of Wi-Fi anywhere you happen to land, whether in a conference center, hotel room, or airport lounge. 

Most people should buy the TP-Link TL-WR902AC  - it's small enough to chuck in a backpack and can even double as a Wi-Fi range extender. If you also want a cellular connection as backup, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is for you, as it doubles as a mobile hotspot for your hotel room or car.

Best Overall - EASIEST ON THE BUDGET 2024

Tp-link tl-wr902ac travel router.

Compact size is ideal for frequent travelers

Doubles as a Wi-Fi extender

Included cables are short

TP-Link's TL-WR902AC is one of the fastest travel routers we've seen, which is especially impressive at this size and price. Measuring 2.64 x 2.91 x 0.9 inches and weighing in at only 8 ounces, it's small enough to carry in a pocket, briefcase, or backpack, so you'll be ready to set up your own Wi-Fi bubble anywhere.

For such a small device, the TL-WR902AC offers impressive dual-band Wi-Fi performance. It's also really versatile since it can be not only be used as a router or access point to create a wireless network but also as a range extender, private Wi-Fi hotspot, or even as a bridge to connect a wired device to a Wi-Fi network by using its built-in Ethernet port in the opposite direction. 

A built-in USB port lets you share files and media from a removable USB storage device, and it can also provide up to 2A of passthrough power to charge your smartphone or tablet. The only real downside is that the port layout can be awkward since the USB and micro USB power ports are on the opposite side of the Ethernet port. 

Wireless Spec: 802.11ac | Security: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: AC750 | Bands: Dual-band | MU-MIMO: No | Beamforming: No | Wired Ports: 1

Best Splurge

Netgear nighthawk m1.

Great choice for heavy internet users

Supports up to 20 Wi-Fi devices at once

Long battery life

Doubles as a mobile hotspot

Very expensive

Can occasionally overheat

While it's not the most affordable option on our list, it's well worth the splurge if you need to get several devices onto the internet anywhere at blazing-fast speeds.

With support for up to 20 simultaneous devices, Netgear's Nighthawk MR1100 can quickly handle your whole family or project team, and unlike most travel routers on this list, the one works as a 4G LTE mobile hotspot too. This means you'll be able to connect to its Wi-Fi network and get online even when there's no other Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection. It's also the first mobile hotspot to support Gigabit LTE , with 4X4 MIMO and four-band Carrier Aggregation. Hence, it can provide internet speeds rivaling your home broadband connection.

It's not just about LTE, though—the MR1100 also works as a traditional portable router. Just plug a standard internet connection into the Ethernet port to share access to your Wi-Fi devices. A large 2.4-inch color LCD screen also ensures that you can keep track of the router's status and how much data you're using. The rechargeable battery can keep you going for up to 24 hours before you need to charge it, and in a pinch, you can also use some of that capacity to charge your smartphone or other mobile devices. 

Wireless Spec: 802.11ac / 4G LTE | Security: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: AC750 | Bands: Dual-band | MU-MIMO: No | Beamforming: No | Wired Ports: 1 

TP-Link TL-WR802N N300 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router

Fast single-band Wi-Fi performance

No USB port

Not the fastest internet speeds when connected to multiple devices

TP-Link’s TL-WR802N is an older single-band router that offers a surprisingly great range in its small package. While the single-band N300 rating won’t break any speed records, it still provides enough performance for lag-free 4K Netflix streaming and uninterrupted video conferences on Zoom. 

Like most travel routers, the TL-WR802N is designed for use by one or two users when you’re on the go, and the 300Mbps 802.11n speeds will likely be faster than the internet connection at most hotels and conference centers you find yourself in. This little pocket-sized router offers exceptional coverage, so you won’t need to worry about staying connected while roaming the boardroom. 

The N300 draws its power via a micro USB port that can connect directly to a wall charger or laptop, so you won’t have to worry about how to power it. It can also function as a repeater, Wi-Fi client, or extender for a public WISP hotspot. The only downside is that, unlike its dual-band sibling, the TL-WR902AC, it lacks a USB port, so you won’t be able to use it for sharing files. 

Wireless Spec: 802.11n | Security: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: N300 | Bands: Single-band | MU-MIMO: No | Beamforming: No | Wired Ports: 1

Best for Road Warriors

Gl.inet mudi gl-e750.

Works as a 4G LTE mobile hotspot

Open source

Excellent VPN support

No external antenna

The GL.iNet GL-E750 router is an excellent choice for road warriors who must stay connected securely and reliably anywhere they land.

With WireGuard encryption, support for multiple Open Source VPN protocols, and even Tor anonymous network routing, this router ensures that you can always have a secure and private connection to the internet if you're a relatively advanced user. Whether that's over your hotel's shared network or your carrier's LTE network, all your traffic will be encrypted, and you can even have an always-on tunnel back into your home or office network. 

It's not just for mobile LTE access, however; it's also a capable Wi-Fi access point, with dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz support with 733Mbps throughput across both bands, along with a built-in battery that offers up to eight hours of use and a USB port and microSD card slots that can be used for sharing files with your connected devices. Since it's designed to be used from anywhere, it also features a built-in rechargeable battery that promises up to eight hours of use on a single charge. 

Lifewire / Andy Zahn

Most of the routers on the market are big and bulky devices. If you're parking them in a corner at home, this is a manageable problem, but they're not suited for taking the road with you.

This has given rise to a whole new category of travel routers: devices that are specifically designed to be highly portable—often small enough to be carried in a pocket—and run from internal batteries or a simple USB-powered connection that lets you plug them into a laptop or portable battery pack to create your own personal Wi-Fi network. 

Most importantly, since public Wi-Fi hotspots are usually insecure, a good travel router can also offer additional peace of mind by providing a private, encrypted Wi-Fi network for your traffic, securing the connections not only between your devices and the router but also making sure the traffic leaving the router is also encrypted. 

This means that you can take them just about anywhere you happen to land, whether it's between your home and the office, to a coffee shop where you might want to have more secure Wi-Fi, or on the road with you to use in hotels, conference centers, and airport lounges.

Bandwidth and Performance

When shopping for a router for your home, you're looking for enough range to blanket your home with the strong Wi-Fi signal you need to support streaming and gaming from multiple devices. 

Travel routers are different. You may find that even an entry level router—one that offers 802.11n support at 150Mbps speeds—is more than enough.

Wireless Frequencies: Single-Band vs Dual-Band

Like other wireless routers, travel routers come in single or multi-band versions, which refers to their frequencies. A single-band router works only on the 2.4GHz frequency, while a dual-band router offers both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies on two separate bands. 

Security and Privacy

As a bare minimum, every modern wireless travel router should include support for the Wireless Protected Access 2 (WPA2) encryption standard. This is even more important in a travel router you'll use in more public spaces.

While this probably isn't such a big deal if all you want to do is stream movies from Netflix, if confidentiality is essential, we strongly recommend using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when connecting through a travel router. While you can do this directly from your devices, you'll probably find it even simpler to pick up a travel router with built-in VPN support so that your connection is automatically encrypted as soon as you plug it in.

Connectivity

Almost all travel routers offer the same connectivity as your home router—turning a wired connection into a Wi-Fi network. However, as more hotels offer guest Wi-Fi networks instead of Ethernet jacks, you'll probably find getting a travel router that can also connect to a public Wi-Fi network is more beneficial.

There's also a category of travel routers that can act as mobile hotspots to offer internet access for your mobile devices over an LTE cellular network.

Even though most hotels already offer free Wi-Fi, it’s often struggling under the load of many people using it, so having a travel router can provide better performance, especially if you can plug it into a wired connection in your room. Plus, most public Wi-Fi hotspots are completely insecure, allowing your traffic to be easily intercepted by anybody else on the same Wi-Fi network. Using a router plugged into ethernet will also often save you money as you won't have to pay for the usable 'premium' internet package.

The best travel routers offer industry-standard WPA2 encryption—the same type of security used by your home router—which means that all of your wireless traffic is safe from prying eyes. Public Wi-Fi hotspots are open networks that use no encryption at all but keep in mind that if you’re using a travel router as a wireless extender for a public Wi-Fi hotspot, your traffic will still be unencrypted between your travel router and the hotspot. For the best security, use a wired connection or a VPN wherever possible.

Even if you use your travel router in your hotel room, internet traffic still travels over the hotel’s network. While most sensitive sites and services like email and online banking use SSL encryption, this won’t prevent the hotel or other public hotspot provider from seeing where you’re going; they just won’t be able to know what you’re doing. If you want to ensure your connection is as private and secure as possible, we recommend using a travel router with built-in VPN support.

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Savvy Travel Advice

Best Travel Routers for Internet while Traveling

Last updated: June 1, 2024 - Written by Jessica Norah 229 Comments

These days most travelers want to be able to get online regularly while traveling to check email, get directions, check hotel and restaurant reviews, upload photos, update social media, and stay in touch with those back home. Travel routers can help with this.

It is definitely easier to stay connected as wireless Internet is now widely available in most parts of the world but there are still a number of situations when it can be tricky (or expensive) to connect.

As travel bloggers who regularly have to manage our business on the go, it is often really important for us to be able to get online on a regular basis while traveling and it can be very frustrating when we are in a hotel with weak Wi-Fi, we are being restricted from using multiple devices on one Internet connection, or we would like more security when using an unsecured public hotspot.

A travel router is a compact little device which solves these common Internet issues and offers a number of features to the on-the-go traveler who wants to stay connected. In this post we’re going to go through some of the best travel router options available on the market today based on real-world testing and personal experiences, so you can pick the right option for you.

Table of Contents:

Basic Information on what a Travel Router Does

If you are new to travel routers, also known as portable WIFI routers, this section will help you understand what they do and whether they might be a good fit for your travels or not.

We understand that a lot of the terminology can be somewhat opaque, so Laurence has put his years of experience as a software engineer to use to help explain everything you need to know.

What is a Travel Router?

A travel router is a wireless range extender designed for people who are on the go and need to connect to the Internet when they are away from home. It also performs the functions of a wireless access point.

Just like you would use a home WiFi router to connect your devices to the Internet at home, you may also want to consider having a portable router to use when traveling.

What does a Travel Router do?

Different wireless travel routers have different features, but the main feature is that they increase the range of existing wireless Internet networks. So for example, if you are in a hotel with a weak wireless signal that you are having difficulty connecting to with your laptop or phone, the travel router will amplify the signal so you can connect more easily.

Here is an overview of the main features of a travel router:

• A travel router can extend the range of wireless networks , meaning you can connect to a network somewhere that you might not have been able to connect to with your device because the signal is too weak. The powerful antenna of a travel router can pick up this weak signal and amplify it so your devices can connect to it.
• The travel router also creates a secure wireless network at a public hotspot to better protect your devices . Often when traveling the networks we connect to are unsecured and unencrypted, which means anyone could in theory grab hold of passwords or other data that we send to and from the internet. Travel routers feature a firewall which protects your personal devices from known DoS attacks and port scans from the Internet, giving you a more secure internet connection. However, it is still not recommended that you share sensitive information over a public connection. 
• A travel router allows you to connect multiple devices to a network , even with a single login. The travel router is seen by networks as a single device, so if you are only given one login, you can still use multiple devices. You just login once from the travel router via a web browser (or in some cases a provided smartphone app), and then all your devices can be connected to the network created by the travel router.
• Some travel routers can also be used as a WiFi bridge . These have Ethernet ports so you can connect Ethernet-enabled devices wirelessly to an existing WiFi network. These can include Internet-ready TVs, Blu-ray players, and gaming consoles.
• Other features of travel routers may include the ability to connect to a wired network and turn that into a wireless network, to provide USB charging power to devices such as phones. to work without power, and even to act as an SD Card reader or media hub.
• Some travel routers (including one on our list) can also act as mobile hotspots, but this is not common. See our guide to mobile hotspots for more options in this area.

How much do travel routers cost?

Travel routers range in price from about $20 to $130, although more expensive models with more features are available. We’d recommend that most people look at ones in the $30 to $70 range, as these will work for most users.

If you have a small budget, you can get a decent travel router for around $30. See our recommended travel router list later in the article; they are listed in order by retail price. But beware of ones that are really cheap as they may not work well as advertised.

If you need a travel router that also acts as a mobile hotspot or has other specialized features, then you will pay extra. Some of these can be upwards of $200.

The Best Travel Routers 2024

There are a number of travel routers on the market today, which range in price and features. All the below models would make for a good choice, and the model you choose will depend on your budget and required features.

We currently use a GL.iNet GL-MT1300 which replaces our previous and now discontinued Netgear Trek N300 (PR2000).

We also use the Netgear Nighthawk M1 on some trips when we need access to the Internet as this functions primarily as a mobile hotspot, but it can also be used as a travel router.

Below are our current favorite recommendations:

1. GL.iNET GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango) Mini Travel Router

This is the first of a few GL.iNet routers that we recommend in this post. We like them for a number of reasons. First, they’re based on the OpenWRT software, which is a Linux based operating system that receives regular updates. GL.iNet keep on top of regular firmware updates, so the routers stay secure and get new features. This is unfortunately not as common as you might think, but it is super important to keep your devices safe.

As an example, the GL.iNet routers we list have all been upgraded to include support for WPA3, the latest wireless security standard. Regular updates and support for new features is definitely a benefit when it comes to a travel router, and means it will likely be more future proof.

Whilst this may all sound quite technical, the good news is that you don’t need to really worry about it if you’re not an advanced user. The devices have a simple interface and are easy to setup, and upgrades are just a single click option. If you want to dive into more advanced options you can, but the device works great out of the box, with setup via a simple web interface.

All the GL.iNet routers in our list also all support VPN credentials (see why you need a VPN for travel here ). This means that if you have a VPN account for more secure browsing like NordVPN , all your devices will connect through that when using this device.

The MT300N-V2 model, also known as Mango, is one of the more entry level options in terms of price and features, but if you’re looking for a small device that will do pretty much everything you are likely to need from a travel router, it’s a great option.

You get 300Mbps 2.4Ghz WiFi support, WPA2 and WPA3 support, and two 100 Mbps Ethernet ports for sharing a wired network. It’s also very privacy-focused. As well as the aforementioned VPN support, it also comes with built-in support for Cloudflare’s DNS over TLS. This basically means your internet connection is going to be pretty secure and hard for anyone to snoop on.

Another great feature is that if you have a smartphone with tethering support, or a 3G/4G data dongle, you can plug this smartphone into the USB 2 port on this router, and share the phone’s data over the router’s WiFi network.

The device is powered by USB, so any USB power source can power it, including a power bank or smartphone charger.

The reviews are positive and it’s available at a great price for a travel router that supports 300Mbps and only weighs 1.41oz. It is not as fully featured as some of the other options, in particular it only operates on the 2.4GHz band and the ethernet ports are 100Mbit rather than gigabit. However for most users this likely won’t make a significant difference.

If you are after a lightweight great value travel router with VPN support, this is a solid option.

Price: Check latest price on Amazon here

2. TP-Link TL-WR1502X Router

Released in 2024, the TP-Link TL-WR1502X wireless travel router offers impressive specifications in a small and relatively affordable package.

This weighs just 5.4oz, is powered by USB and supports up to the Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax standard. On the 2.4GHz channel you get up to 300Mbps, whilst the 5Ghz channel offers speeds up to 1200 Mbps.

These network speeds are more than enough for your travel needs as most networks you connect to when traveling are going to be slower than this.

It also has a USB port that you can connect a smartphone too for tethering purposes. So you can share the internet connection from your smartphone across the network your travel router creates. However this USB port can’t be used to connect a hard drive for file sharing.

There’s also a 1000Mbps ethernet port. It doesn’t have a built-in battery, so it does need to be powered from either a USB battery pack or a wall adaptor.

You also get VPN support, so if you have a subscription to a supported VPN service then you can put the details into the router and it will route all traffic through the VPN.

We think this travel router is an excellent option, as you get more future proof WiFi 6 support and gigabit LAN, as well as VPN credential support, in a well-priced package. It doesn’t have all the features of pricier models, but it’s certainly a compelling option.

Note, TP-Link also makes an older travel router, the TL-WR902AC Router . We wouldn’t recommend that one as it’s now quite an old model, but it is certainly a low cost option.

Price: Check the latest price on Amazon here

3. NewQ Filehub AC 750

If you’re after a travel router with a few more features and great functionality, then the NeqQ Filehub AC750 is a good choice. It may also allow you to replace some of the other devices you typically travel with to pack less.

As well as offering a fast 433Mbps network with support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, this device features a 6700mah battery so it works without needing power, and can also be used to charge your devices.

It also features an SD Card reader and a USB port, so you can transfer files from memory cards to your hard drives or computer. It also has DLNA compatible media serving capabilities, although it is missing built in VPN support.

The latter means you can plug in a hard drive or memory card with your movies on, and stream them directly to your TV, laptop, or mobile phone. There’s a lot of functionality for the price and it weighs under 7 ounces!

Price: Check the latest price on Amazon here .

4. GL.iNet GL-A1300 (Slate Plus) Travel Router

The GL-A1300 from Gl.iNet is the latest version of the travel router we currently use. The GL-A1300 supports 400Mbps on the 2.4Ghz channel, and up to 867Mbps on the 5Ghz channel. It also supports up to 40 devices simultaneously, thanks to a relatively fast processor and lots of RAM.

Like the other GL.iNet routers it also gets regular updates and includes support for features like IPv6 and WPA3, as well as lots of other advanced features that make this perfect for both travel and at home use.

Now, to be honest, most WiFi networks you connect to aren’t going to offer internet speeds which this router can take advantage of. However, if you happen to connect to one that is that fast, this device will let you take full advantage of it! It also means when you’re not travelling you can use it at home as a fast network option to extend an existing network.

You also get three gigabit ethernet ports, a faster USB 3.0 port with media server capabilities, a micro SD slot for storage, and a USB-C port for power. As with the other GL.iNet devices in this list, If you have a smartphone that supports tethering, you can plug it into the USB port and share your smartphone data as well. Or, if you have a USB 3G/4G modem, you can plug that into the USB slot and share that data.

This router is also specifically designed to provide good support for a wide range of VPN services as well as support for IPv6, making this one of the most future proof travel routers we’re aware of on the market. It weighs 6.3oz, so it’s not the smallest option, but it’s still very compact and offers a lot of functionality for the price.

5. GL.iNet GL-MT3000 (Beryl AX)

Launched in December 2022, at the time of its launch this travel router took the speed crown from our previous fastest travel router, the GL.iNet GL-MT1300 (Beryl) . As the name suggests, it is an upgrade over the 1300 Beryl model.

If you want one of the fastest and most future proof travel routers on the market, this is the model to go for. With WiFi 6 support, you can get speeds of up to 574Mbps on the 2.4GHz channel and a blazing fast 2402Mbps on the 5Ghz channel.

It also has an incredibly fast dual-core CPU and double the RAM of the previous Beryl model, meaning it can support up to 70 connected devices simultaneously.

You also get a USB 3 port for tethering support and 2 LAN ports. One of those LAN ports offers gigabit speeds whilst the other is 2.5 gigabits, which is about as fast as you can get, and ideal if you also want to use this at home with a fibre connection.

It otherwise has the same features as the other GL.iNet products, so you get regular updates and support for VPN connectivity if you have a VPN account. If you do have a VPN, this router offers WireGuard speeds of up to 300Mbps, which is incredibly fast compared to other travel routers on the market.

To be honest, this router is probably a bit much for most general travel needs. However, If you have a lot of devices to connect, or just want the fastest option with all the features, and support for USB 3, this is the one to go for. At 7oz, it’s not the lightest option out there but you do get incredible performance.

Price : Check latest price on Amazon here .

6. Asus RT-AX57 Go

Launched in early 2024, the Asus RT-AX57 Go is another high end travel router offering very fast WiFi 6 speeds, up to 574Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 2402Mbps on the 5Ghz channel. That puts it on par with the GT-3000.

In terms of features, this travel router is packed. You get USB-C charging, a USB 3 port which supports tethering as well as file sharing from a portable drive, and 2 gigabit ethernet ports.

It also supports inputing your VPN credentials so you can secure your whole network, rather than having to run VPN software on each client device seperately.

It comes with a fast CPU and plenty of RAM so you will be able to connect multiple devices with no problem.  It’s not the smallest device out there, weighing in at 7.1oz (200g), but it’s still compact enough for travel.

In our opinion, this travel router makes the most sense for those of you who already have a home network WiFi router made by Asus. That’s because this little travel router has the same AiMesh features as its larger siblings, meaning you can use it when not traveling to extend and improve your home WiFi easily.

7. Netgear Nighthawk Range

If you are looking for a product that is both a mobile hotspot and a travel router, the Netgear Nighthawk range of devices, including the Netgear Nighthawk M1 (MR1100) which we discuss below, are an option to consider.

These are specifically for people who know they are going to be traveling in places without WiFi internet access.

As well as offering travel router capabilities like extending an ethernet or wireless network, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 also lets you put a 4G LTE SIM card into it, and use it as a mobile hotspot when you are away from wireless or ethernet.

It has a 5040mAH built in battery which you can use to charge your phone, media streaming support, can connect up to 20 devices, and supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11ac wireless networks.

Note that this can work on multiple bands around the world, but it doesn’t support all bands around the world. Check to make sure it will work where you need it to work before purchasing. The device should come unlocked and be able to work with any compatible SIM card.

This is definitely a more premium product, but may be a good option for more frequent travelers, those who work remotely, and those who need to get online in more remote locations like RVs or rural settings. For more convenient travel, there are cases you can purchase for it to keep the router and cords, such as this one .

If you are looking for an even faster mobile hotspot that also doubles as a travel router, then you might consider the newer versions which support 5G, including the Netgear Nighthawk M5 (MR5200) and the Nighthawk M6 (MR6150 & MR6500).

These offer 5G compatibility, a touchscreen interface, and can support up to 32 devices. They are significantly more expensive than the M1, but worth considering if you have a larger budget and want a more future-proof router that supports 5G. The M6 series additionally supports WiFi 6.

Note that there is also a M2 version of the router available in certain markets like the United Kingdom and Europe. This one also offers more features like a touchscreen interface but it doesn’t include 5G support.

Price: Check latest price here

You can see and compare most of the travel routers above in one place on Amazon here .

What We Like about Travel Routers

Our primary use for our travel router has been to extend existing Wi-Fi connections. We have often encountered the situation when we are happy to learn that a wireless Internet connection exists in a hotel, bus, cafe, or airport but are then disappointed that the connection is too weak to connect to or is very slow.

Our travel router can then be pulled out to help strengthen the signal so that we can get online using our phone, tablet, and/or laptops. Although not always possible, it is also great in those situations where you can extend a Wi-Fi range from a hotel lobby to your room or from an indoor space to a patio.

The device also partially helps with the security issue of using public Wi-Fi hotspots by providing a firewall and some protection from common Internet threats; however, you should still be cautious about providing sensitive personal information over a public connection.

Travel Routers are also great in other traveling situations beyond just extending an existing wireless connection. There are situations where you might only be given a password to connect one device at a time on a wireless network or may have to pay for additional devices. Obviously, since we are traveling as a couple with two cell phones, two laptops, and two Wi-Fi enabled cameras between us, one Internet connection is not enough and we hate to pay for Internet!

So by whipping out this device, it will allow you to connect multiple devices to a wireless network using a single login. You just login once from the travel router via a web browser or the provided smartphone app, and then all your devices can be connected to the travel routers network, where they should all work simultaneously.

Also, if you are in a hotel or other location that only offers wired Internet access in your room, you can plug the Ethernet cable into the travel router and create a wireless connection that can be used for all of your WiFi-enabled devices.     

Interestingly we have ended up using our travel router as much, if not more, at our apartment verses while traveling.  When we lived in California, we had a good wireless Internet connection in our apartment but it became weaker when trying to use a laptop or phone outside on the deck.

We’ve set up the travel router to extend the range of our home wireless network to be able to blog more efficiently on the deck which was one of my favorite spots to blog . We have also used the USB ports on our router to charge cell phones and other devices and to plug in our USB hard drive for use as a network attached storage device to be shared on our home network.

We also like that most of these travel routers are powered through a micro-USB port, so you can actually power them from a laptop or USB power bank if you don’t have easy access to a power point.

Limitations of Travel Routers

Most travel routers are not a mobile hotspot, so they cannot create an Internet connection if one does not already exist.

So if you are wanting to actually use the Internet in place where there is no or very poor WiFi internet, you’ll probably want to consider something like a mobile hotspot rather than a router or range extender product. However, some travel routers allow you to connect your smartphone via USB and share your mobile data over WiFi, which is a good option. 

The Netgear Nighthawk M1 is a combo router and mobile hotspot, and so this could be an option as well if you need a hotspot.

For those wondering how to get online or how to find an Internet connection while traveling, see our travel guide to getting online when traveling . It also covers things like mobile hotspots, SIM cards, international data plans, VPNs, etc.

Sometimes despite the power of a travel router’s antenna, the signal will still be too weak to connect. In a few situations we have spent too much time trying to get a connection to work when the signal is simply just too weak.  Some routers can also take a few minutes to connect to a network which can leave you wondering if it is just taking awhile or if it isn’t working. 

Be sure to check before you buy to make sure the travel router is compatible with your devices! This should not be an issue for most newer devices but some may not work as well with older devices or those using older operating systems.

Do you Need a Travel Router?

Overall, we have found travel routers to be a benefit to our travels. They are generally easy to use once configured, and are compact and easy to travel with.

Given that many hotels only allow you to join a network using one device at a time (or charge extra for multiple devices), having a travel router makes it possible for us to use all our WiFi enabled devices at once without extra fees.

We currently use ours both at home to extend the range of our own home Internet and while traveling to extend wireless Internet connections, to login multiple devices using one password, and to add a little security while using public WiFi hotspots.

What issues do you have related to using the Internet while traveling? Have you used or would you consider using a travel router? As always, we’d love to hear any advice, tips, or questions you may have!

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Andrew Scott Post author

April 13, 2024 at 6:37 am

I’m so overloaded with reviews and information that I decided I’m going to get something you use or recommend. Best review is one where someone recommends something they actually use. Now, you use the GL.iNet GL-MT1300 but Amazon says it’s no longer available. I think it said “try this instead” but I’m wondering if you’d recommend its apparent replace, whose model I can’t remember, or if you’d switch up/to one of the others you recommend/reviewed. Thanks in advance.

Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author

April 14, 2024 at 1:44 am

Yes, it looks like our Beryl router (MT1300) is showing as unavailable, so it looks like it is either out of stock or has been recently discontinued. GL.iNet has been updating and making new routers pretty regularly over the past several years. So based on that one, we would recommned the GL.iNet GL-A1300 (Slate Plus) router . It’s offers pretty much the same feature set as the MT1300, but with improved VPN support. It’s also at roughly the same price point as the one we bought.

If you want support for more recent network technology, then the MT3000 (Beryl AX) would be the option to go for. The Beryl AX (MT3000) is the same model as we have with more advanced technology but at a higher price point. For most travel needs though, the A1300 should work fine.

Either of the above models should work fine for you. We have had good luck with our GL.iNet travel routers and they offer free customer support as well as free returns on Amazon. I would say they are the most reliable brand out on the market right now for regular travel routers. You can, of course, also ask us any questions you may have about routers and we are happy to try to help.

Hope this helps and wishing you happy travels!

Best, Jessica

April 28, 2024 at 7:15 am

Thank you for the full and helpful reply!! Had missed your reply before now.

Regarding “This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links it means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.” can you clarify if it’s any links you include in your webpages (e.g. the links in your blog text and those in comment replies)? I’m ready to purchase a router based on your blog and comment replies and I’d like you to profit from the help and guidance you provide so I want to follow the correct Amazon link. 🙂

Laurence Post author

May 2, 2024 at 4:56 am

You’re very welcome!

Most of our Amazon links included in our post are affiliate links. So if you click on one of those links and purchase the same day, then we get a small commission from that purchase as members of their affiliate program. I definitely appreciate you wanting to help support us!

Hope you enjoy your new travel router!

March 24, 2024 at 1:16 pm

This is a follow-up to my first comment but unable to reply to unapproved comments hence this one.

Just realised that since they are invariably powered via USB, rather than buying one with a built-in battery, you could just use a power bank to power them. The trick would be knowing what size of power bank you’d need for a given travel router.

March 25, 2024 at 4:25 am

Yes, Internet on cruises can be challenging. I think it will depend on the Wifi signal (if it is only available in the cruise cabins) if it will reach to other public areas or not.

The majority of the travel routers we recommend accept a USB input for power so many can be charged/powered by battery. The main thing is to check that the battery bank puts out an output that matches the input of the travel router. Most travel routers accept a 5V 2amp, 3amp or 4amp input, which should work with most battery banks. However, some higher powered routers require a higher voltage, so just check the specifications to be sure.

In terms of size, a 15,000 to 25,000 mah battery bank such as this one by INIU should provide many hours of operation.

Hope that helps and hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Best, Jessica & Laurence

May 5, 2024 at 8:50 am

Ended up purchasing the recommended one by INIU. Thought I’d come back to leave the comment that the GL.iNet Beryl AX router, which I also purchased, required 5V 3A power input. Looking at routers reviewed by Which? magazine, who also recommended the INIU router, it was the only that could provide the necessary power. “All” others were 2A and I didn’t want to risk wasting my time (sending it back) with an underpowered one. Anyway, sitting here quite happily connected to router powered by the powerbank. 😊

May 7, 2024 at 8:58 am

Great to hear your found a solution and that our advice was helpful. Just to clarify, I assume you mean that you got the GL.iNet Beryl AX travel router and a INJU powerbank (not a router from INIU?)? Glad to hear that the recommended INUI powerbank put out the correct amperage for the Gl.Inet travel router.

Yes, we have INIU powerbanks ourselves and have purchased them as gifts for friends so definitely recommend them!

May 7, 2024 at 11:17 am

Yes, gl.inet router and iniu powerbank.

March 24, 2024 at 1:06 pm

We’re looking at one for use on cruises since we learned we can’t hot-spot the WiFi each of phones will have access to. Thought we’d only be able to use it in our room until I read about the one that is battery powered. That would allow us to use it beside the pool or in some other public area. THAT would be extroflexible.

March 25, 2024 at 4:16 am

See our response to both of your comments above to your second comment.

Kelly Post author

December 28, 2023 at 9:24 am

Hi – we sure appreciate the great info!

I was hoping to learn if you thought a travel router would be a good choice to replace our router in Mexico so that we are able to access US streaming through our VPN? It would become our new permanent router there. And/or would we able to use 2 routers with the same VPN, one for other travel and one for our Mexico residence?

December 28, 2023 at 1:54 pm

Happy to try to help with your travel router and VPN questions. So it sounds like a permanent router would be best for your Mexico home and most home routers by GLiNet, Netgear, and many other brands will support a VPN. So for example, this one by GL.iNet should work find as a home router with a VPN service. A home router is going to be larger (so not ideal for travel) but is going to generally perform better overall than a small travel router and have more features, so best to stick to that for home use.

It sounds like you also want a more portable travel router for when you travel internationally to other locations outside of Mexico and the USA? And in that case, most of the midrange and above travel routers support VPN services. You just want to avoid the really cheap ones. Any of the GLiNet travel router options we recommend above such as the Slate or Beryl models should work fine with most VPN services and they are really good travel routers as well. Just see our recommended list above.

And yes, you should be able to use the same VPN service across your home and travel routers. If you stick to the same brand across your routers, it might be a bit easier with configuration but it probably doesn’t make too much difference.

It sounds like you probably already have a VPN service for traveling, but if not, Laurence made a guide and a list of VPNs for traveling here that might be useful.

Hope that helps but just let us know if you have any further questions!

December 28, 2023 at 4:49 pm

Big thanks, Jessica – all VERY helpful information to make my learning curve more bearable.

I will look further into supporting your sites.

Much appreciation,

December 29, 2023 at 6:32 pm

You’re very welcome, and just let us know if you have further questions as you do any further research on routers and VPNs!

Patricia Post author

September 18, 2023 at 9:00 am

Do I need any cabling to use these travel routers with an iPad Pro. Looking at the photos they seem to have Lan connectors and usb sockets , but at the moment at least iPads don’t have either of these. Please advise. I need the router to connect to Wi-Fi when the signal is weak but I would also like it to be as secure as possible thank you. Great reviews

September 18, 2023 at 9:55 pm

Hi Patricia,

No, you don’t need any cables to be able to use any of the recommended travel routers with your iPad Pro, they all can be used with WiFi with your devices. However, most also allow for LAN Ethernet connectivity if you need a wired connection and many also have USB ports. But most people just use their devices over WiFi so you would be fine with any travel router if you are just needing to mainly connect your devices for security, easier connectivity, and extending existing WiFi.

Bob Simmons Post author

July 2, 2023 at 10:05 am

Thanks for the great article. My issue is with WiFi that requires payment after entering password. Also each device requires payment. On a cell phone, after logging in, it pops up a window (browser?) where you enter the credit card info. Do any of these travel routers have that capability, to enter payment information? Reading the user manuals it appears the answer is no. In your travels maybe you have encountered this issue.

July 4, 2023 at 9:34 am

It’s our pleasure, and we will do our best to try to help you.

So the window that pops up to take payment is called a captive portal, and it’s the same thing you often encounter even with free Wifi where it might ask you to enter your name or e-mail address to access the internet. All the travel routers on our list support this, so you can log in and pay if necessary for internet access. A window will pop up on the first device you connect with where you can pay. A pop-up blocker or ad blocker might stop it from happening but in our experience a browser window normally just appears to log in with.

Let us know if you have any more questions!

Laurence & Jessica

Luke Post author

May 25, 2023 at 5:08 am

Just want to say thanks for the sharing informative article, very helpful in choosing the best travel router for our next trip!

June 2, 2023 at 4:39 am

You’re very welcome and glad to hear you found the best travel router for your upcoming travels! And thanks for taking the time to comment.

B.Balakrishnan Post author

May 19, 2023 at 4:04 am

This blog post on the best travel routers for the internet while traveling in 2023 is a lifesaver! Staying connected on the go is crucial, and these router recommendations are just what I needed. Thank you for the helpful insights!

May 21, 2023 at 9:50 am

Hi there, So glad you found our travel router review helpful. Just let us know if you have any questions!

Arnold Machel Post author

April 23, 2023 at 9:08 am

Thanks for the great article. I’ve used a travel router for years and found them super helpful, especially in situations where I want to use a portable Chromecast, but the hotel WiFi security settings won’t it allow to connect directly to the hotel WiFi.

I am now using a laptop that needs a high wattage charger (ideally 65 watts) and would love to finde a travel router with that kind of charging capability, but I can’t seem to find the technical stats on most of them. Any thoughts?

April 24, 2023 at 1:28 am

Glad to hear you have found a travel router useful on your travels. So it sounds like you are looking for a travel router that doubles up as a powerbank that you can use to charge your laptop? Unfortunately, we aren’t aware of any travel routers on the market which offer that level of output, most travel routers which have the facility to charge devices have fairly small batteries and don’t offer high wattage outputs. The ones that offer the ability to charge a device, are more designed to top up a smartphone rather than to power a laptop.

So if you want a portable device to help charge your laptop on the go, I would look at powerbanks like this one that are speciically designed to charge laptops.

Hope that helps! Jessica

April 24, 2023 at 6:34 am

Thanks Jessica. Too bad. Was just hoping to get one device to do both. Good luck with the blog.

April 26, 2023 at 2:19 am

You’re very welcome. Yes, unfortunately I don’t think there is a device that would be able to do both those things well. Feel free to come back and let us know what travel router and charging device you decide to use on your next trip as it may be helpul to furture readers wanting to do the same thing.

Sherry Duvall Post author

March 6, 2023 at 6:46 am

Thanks for this great article! I have just discovered travel routers and am intrigued as to whether this would be something that would work for my family. I would like to know if any of these would work on a cruise ship? We have to pay for each device, or log off and login on them which is such a pain. Cruise ships are huge so will it work when you are far away from your room, and if so, which one would you recommend? Thank you for any help!

March 6, 2023 at 8:44 am

Our pleasure! So to the first part of your question, yes, this should work to allow you to use multiple devices with a single login. The travel router will appear as one device to the cruise ship network, and then you would be able to connect your devices to the travel router’s network without needing to keep logging in and out.

For the second part of the question, travel routers have a variable range but it won’t cover a whole cruise ship unfortunately. It would work in your room and then nearby, but all the walls etc would reduce the range. So it wouldn’t cover the whole ship sadly. But any of the travel routers on the list work in a very similar way in terms of login and would cover your room.

Hope this helps!

March 6, 2023 at 9:41 am

Thank you very much…guess I will save my money!

QBM Post author

March 1, 2023 at 9:21 pm

This article from Independent Travel Cats’ blog is a comparison and review of the top portable WiFi routers for travellers. This post does a good job of researching and comparing the features, benefits, and cons of each router. Personal anecdotes and experiences from the bloggers’ travels are also included in the article. In sum, if you are a frequent traveller in need of a dependable and transportable router, you will find this article to be a gold mine of information.

March 2, 2023 at 4:14 am

Thanks so much for the very kind summary and recommendation of our travel router review article!! If you have any questions about portable routers, feel free to ask!

Daniel W Post author

February 24, 2023 at 8:33 pm

I appreciate what you did with this blog post, especially the way you keep it updated. It is the best online resource for people looking for information on travel routers, thanks!

February 27, 2023 at 7:12 am

Thanks for the kind words and glad you found our travel routers review article useful! If you have any questions about choosing the best travel router for you, just let us know. Happy to try to help!

Karen Arnauld-Bakelaar Post author

January 20, 2023 at 10:21 pm

This i8s so incredibly useful – thank you! Can you help me sort out which might be the best option for me? I mainly work in South Africa, which means we have long spells without power, so anything that runs on battery would be nice to have. I’m in a rural area, so even while working from home I often have trouble getting a wifi signal, especially in bad weather.

I need the signal to be strong enough for Zoom meetings, etc – and often it’s not.

I also need a portable option for when I travel, but I don’t know if I need something to boost a signal or to hotspot – can you help me with this?

All internet here is wifi – I have a home plug-in router with a SIM card in it, and a small portable router as well, but they don’t always do the job!

January 23, 2023 at 7:22 am

It’s our pleasure. So it sounds like you need a mobile hotspot rather than a travel router. A travel router can only extend an existing WiFi signal.

A mobile hotspot works over cellular networks (like a mobile phone). However this can be affected by bad weather, so would basically be the same situation as you are in as your plug-in router likely works the same way. The only difference is that a mobile hotspot has a built-in battery.

So in bad weather situations, there may not be anything more you can do as strong weather can affect the overall signal which could affect the signal for any kind of devices using WiFi or mobile signals. But you might try a hotspot to see if that helps as it works with a different type of signal (cellular signal versus WiFi).

Monte Post author

December 23, 2022 at 3:10 pm

Is there a travel router best suited for offline multiplayer gaming? My wife and I often wind up in areas with no internet. A normal home router constantly nags us with the “you aren’t connected” screen. We know! That’s why we’re playing Minecraft!

December 24, 2022 at 6:48 am

Happy to try to help. So I am guessing the home routers you are referring to are ones that are not your own but ones you stay in while traveling?

So none of the travel router models we recommend are specifically designed for offline gaming. However, we think any of the Gl.iNet routers on the list would work in this scenario, allowing you to create a local WiFi network that your devices can connect to without needing to connect to another WiFi network. However, we have not tried this specific scenario so it is hard to say if one or another router on this list would be better suited to the task. But the more advanced ones offer more features and more future proofing.

Another option to try might be to see if one of your computers (or smartphones if playing on them) allows you to set up a WiFi hotspot. Some Windows 10 and Windows 11 laptops for example have the option to allow you to set up a local WiFi network, which you could then connect your other device too. This may be another possible solutation you could check out.

Anyway, hope that helps and we’d love to know what solution you come up with that solves your issue as it may be useful to future readers.

Virag Post author

November 28, 2022 at 8:22 am

Hi, Thank you for this amazing article. I travel quite a lot and work at the same time and I would need something that I can use to boost the available public wifi (like in hotels or coffee shops). Which one would you recommend in this case?

Thank you in advance, Virag

November 28, 2022 at 9:38 am

Glad you found our travel routers guide useful. So any of the routers listed in our guide would work for that purpose but the GL.iNet routers with the antennas, such as the Slate, Beryl, or the Slate AX models, would have the best performance. We personally use the Beryl model . So I’d recommend any of those three models or a similar travel router to those.

I believe Amazon has been offering discounts on most of the routers for the past week so I would definitely compare prices as you can sometimes get one of the newer models for a good price when they are running discounts.

Hope that helps, and just let us know if you have further questions.

Steve Brown Post author

October 31, 2022 at 11:45 pm

Thank you for sharing the list. I really needed one. I have dead wifi zones with which the travel routers could help.

November 1, 2022 at 9:19 am

It’s our pleasure, glad you found our list useful. So whilst a travel router can work to resolve dead zones, you might prefer to purchase a WiFi extender instead, especially if you plan to use this at home. They tend to be a little bit cheaper because they don’t need as much functionality.

Another option to solve dead zones would be to upgrade to a mesh WiFi network – see our guide to the best home WiFi routers for ideas in that area. The mesh system can help make it so that the WiFi is able to extend throughout your home.

Hope that helps and just let us know if you have any questions!

AJ Post author

October 21, 2022 at 5:01 pm

I purchased two of these items ( #1 and #3) but since I am not tech savvy at all, they were impossible to use. I tried reading and rereading the instructions. I tried the company websites. I tried many youtube videos. I sat between Carls Jr and Walmart, who both have free wifi. I was able to scan each one with a success response. BUT NO WIFI.

This sucks. When someone in an actual store can hook me up and show me how to use it, and provide an actual phone number I can call when I am on the road (which I always am), then I’ll buy one. But reading reviews and going to amazon, and returning said items to amazon, is not my cup of tea.

October 21, 2022 at 5:09 pm

Sorry to hear that you are having issues with using your travel router while traveling. So most travel routers require a little bit of setup.

Have you tried using them inside where you know the WiFi was a good strength and working properly? If you were sitting outside the stores, the public signal might not have been strong enough for instance to really work.

If you have already gotten the manufacturer’s instructions (GL.iNet has some really detailed ones online you can get), you can also try contacting their customer support. If you want in-person support, you could also try going to a local tech store near you (or a chain like Best Buy) that sells travel routers and might be able to troubleshoot with you and help you.

Hope you are able to get it to work!

David Post author

October 1, 2022 at 10:31 pm

For travelers who need access to the internet while traveling, this device sounds very useful. In our everyday life we cannot think of going a day without internet. Thanks for sharing for your valueable information.

October 3, 2022 at 6:55 am

Yes, travel routers can be very useful for those who need to be connected while traveling. If you have any questions about travel routers, just ask!

Chris Post author

September 7, 2022 at 1:54 am

I’m having trouble backup my extender settings, it takes saying that backup is done but can’t find the file??!!

September 7, 2022 at 5:08 am

Many travel routers do allow you to back up their settings, and save the settings to a file. But you will want to check the manual for your specific travel router model to see if it has that functionality and how to do that.

When you backup something as you did, it should give you the option to choose the file location when you do so. So if you check your browser downloads folder it should be there where you set it to save. Or check your manual for the default location.

Hope that helps, Jessica

Jason Post author

August 1, 2022 at 7:32 pm

Hello. Thanks for all the great info. I have been researching travel router setup, but am not sure if it’s possible to do what I’m attempting. I hope you can help me out.

I have an “older” ASUS Dual-Band router that was replaced when we upgraded our home to Eero Mesh router. What I’d like to do is set up the old ASUS router with the same SSID & password as my current home router (the Eero), so that I can take the ASUS on family vacations, connect it to the hotel/condo/house/etc. WiFi, and then all of our devices will automatically connect to it (since they have the same SSID/pswd already saved from our Eero router), without having to sign in all of our devices to the hotel/condo/house/etc. WiFi.

I’ve found some articles that explain how to set up 2 routers with the same SSID & pswd, but they all require connecting the router to a laptop for the initial setup/configuration. So, the real question/problem is: I don’t want to take my laptop on vacation, just to connect my old ASUS router to the vacation home’s WiFi. So, is it possible to set up my old ASUS router at home, and then plug it directly into the vacation hotel/condo/home router via ethernet cable, or will I need to bring my laptop to open a web browser and complete the setup?

August 2, 2022 at 12:10 am

It’s hard to really give specifics without knowing the type of router and equipment. But if the main step that is required is to connect to the Asus router via a web browser over the WiFi connection, then you shouldn’t need a laptop specifically to do that as you can just use the web browser on your smartphone to achieve the same thing. So that part of it should work.

I would definitely test this setup at home first to see if you can extend your existing network with your old Asus router to see if it works as you intend. If you can’t get it to work at home, I would not recommend taking it on vacation. If you can’t get it to work, I would just recommend getting a new travel router that will do what you need it to do for your trip.

Best, Laurence

David Paker Post author

July 4, 2022 at 1:34 pm

Wow! You guys are doing an amazing job. Following your tutorials, I learned so much !!

July 5, 2022 at 2:38 am

So glad you found our articles helpful. If you have any questions about travel routers, just ask!

May 12, 2022 at 10:42 pm

Thanks for the review. I’ll definitely look into it. It really is frustrating if the signal is slow. . I’ll be willing to carry extra weight if it would boost connection,.

May 13, 2022 at 2:07 am

Yes, a travel router may definitely be able to help with that. It does require packing something extra but travel routers are designed for travel and many of the models are pretty small and lightweight these days so won’t add a lot of extra weight! But I would recommend keeping the dimensions and weights of each model in mind when choosing the best travel router for you.

Ryan J Post author

May 11, 2022 at 6:19 am

Thank you for such a thorough and informative writeup! I also read your Best Mobile Hotpots review and was inspired to purchase the Nighthawk M1100, especially considering it’s added ability to be a travel router and boost a current wifi signal. Will be travelling to Europe and staying at many AirBnb’s. Just in case any of them have a weak wifi signal, I’ll be prepared! Now that I have the device, I can’t seem to find instructions on how to use it as a travel router specifically. I’ve searched everywhere online, and there seems to be different wording out there “turn the m1100 into a modem, use it with a modem, etc. Saw one video on how to use the nighthawk with another router (boosting that router’s signal), but it requires connecting an ethernet cable from the router to the Nighthawk. Is that the process of using it as a travel router? Ideally, I’d like to be able to avoid using the ethernet cable, especially if on a public network (i.e. train) that I need to connect to but is weak. Or staying somwhere that I don’t have access to the broadcasting router. Any specific instructions on using the Nighthawk M1100 as a travel router without using an ethernet cable? Thanks in advance.

May 11, 2022 at 9:28 am

So yes, the Nighthawk M1100 is mainly used as a mobile hotspot, but it can also be used as a travel router. So it is definitely possible to set up the MR1100 as a travel router to share a WiFi network, but the manual is not super helpful. We remember this ourselves when we set it up.

The section you are looking for calls it called WiFi data offloading. If you load the MR1100 manual on this page ( https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/MR1100/MR1100_UM_EN.pdf ) – you are looking for the instructions on page 30, titled “offload your mobile internet connection”. There are sections here on setting this up for either Wifi offloading or ethernet offloading. You are looking for the instructions on Wifi offloading.

Hope that helps, but just let us know if you have any further questions. We have used both the Nighthawk M1 and M2 and have set them up to work as a travel router ourselves so happy to help!

May 12, 2022 at 6:34 pm

Amazing. Would have never found that out on my own. Thank you! Will let you know how it goes. My wife and I are being “digital nomads” for the first time having worked remote in the States for the past 20 years. Will be travelling to Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, UK, and Ireland over the course of 5 1/2 months. Leaving next week and super excited!

May 13, 2022 at 2:06 am

Glad that helped and you should be able to test it out before you leave. Having the ability to use it both as both a travel router and a mobile hotspot (when you don’t have WiFi) is nice for a long trip like that.

Enjoy your time working as digital nomads in Europe!

Paul Post author

April 30, 2022 at 2:16 pm

Hi, we’re staying at a place that requires us to re-log in every 24 hours. Are there travel routers that will automatically take care of that for you?

May 1, 2022 at 5:33 am

So we aren’t aware of any travel routers that would be able to automatically do this out of the box. With a travel router there is the advantage that you only have to do this once, rather than once for each device you connect to the travel router. So you should be able to just do the necessary daily login once and then all the devices connected to your router should not have to do the log-in.

Depending on how technically minded you are, it is worth pointing out that the GL.iNet routers are based on the OpenWRT software, which allows technically-savvy users to install extra packages if they want and run custom code. However, this is beyond the scope of most users (and not necessary or recommended in most cases). However, if that does describe you though, then that’s an option as you may be able to write code (or find code written by someone else) that would be able to do the auto log-in each day.

Pasu Post author

April 28, 2022 at 9:24 pm

“A travel router allows you to connect multiple devices to a network, even with a single login. The travel router is seen by networks as a single device, so if you are only given one login, you can still use multiple devices. You just login once from the travel router via a web browser (or in some cases a provided smartphone app), and then all your devices can be connected to the network created by the travel router.”.

That’s exactly what I need. Connecting to a WiFi and giving the signal to other devices.

But sorry, which if the mentioned models can do this?

Thank you for your help

April 29, 2022 at 3:51 am

All of the travel routers we mention in our article can do this as this is one of the main features of most travel routers. The one we are personally currently using is the GL.iNet Beryl model above, but as noted, any of the above models can do this.

For instance, we often use it with the WiFi in a hotel to connect all our devices at once without having to log in each one. It can also help get around device limits imposed by some hotels as you just need to connect the travel router.

Travel routers can also make your connection more private and secure, and you can also use most of them in conjunction with most VPNs.

Hope that helps and just let us know if you have any further questions.

April 20, 2022 at 8:43 am

Thanks for this article, but it wasn’t clear to me if any of these support what I want to do: I want to be able to connect a baby monitor to a hotel network (for instance, so a babysitter can keep an eye on the kids from a living room), but my baby cams don’t support connections to captive networks. I’ve gathered that this is where the travel router comes in, allowing me to create my own network after connecting to the hotel’s wifi. What I am hoping to find though, is a travel router that does NOT require an Ethernet connection to make that initial connection to the hotel’s wifi, as not all hotel rooms come with Ethernet ports. It looks like the HooToo TM-02 does this, but I also note that that model is getting a bit long in the tooth at this point. Do any of your recommendations support what I am trying to do? Thanks!

April 20, 2022 at 10:03 am

So none of the travel routers on our list require an ethernet connection to make the first connection, they all work over WiFi (although some can work via ethernet as some have ethernet ports as we note). The way it works is that you turn on the travel router and connect your phone or laptop to the travel router’s WiFi network. Then you use a web browser to configure the travel router to connect to the hotel WiFi network, and if necessary login through the captive portal.

In our experience, the GL.iNet products are the currently the more reliable and most regularly updated options. So those would be our top recommendations, but any of these should work. But newer models are more future proof.

Just a note that setting up cameras or using surveillance devices in hotel rooms is illegal in many countries if any person filmed is unaware of their presence (so if the babysitter or other hotel staff were filmed without their knowledge). So just something to be aware of.

Shannon Post author

February 1, 2022 at 12:02 pm

Hello, I’m currently at a campground with about 4mbps Wi-Fi. I need 200 mbps to do my job and i need help finding the right option. I need something that works with any internet provider and will give me a minimum of 200mbps. Can you help?

February 2, 2022 at 2:39 am

Hi Shannon,

So 200 mbps is very very high and you are unlikely to get that unless you are able to access a 5G mobile network AND a very good cellular signal. The average download speed for 4G is 8-10 mbps. Do you possibly mean 20 mbps that you need for work?

A travel router can help increase a connection but it is not going to make it much faster in most cases. The connection speed at the campsite may be 4mbps at its max and if so, there is nothing you can do to increase that. Especially not 5X or 50X!

If the campsite does have a very fast connection but you are too far from the signal then a travel router can help, but it will likely not make a very big difference, it will generally just make the connection more reliable and secure. But if you travel a lot for work then a travel router like the Beryl one we list above is probably one you would want to have. But you still need to be in places that have a decent connection.

So your best option would be to look into mobile hotspots. These connect over a mobile network and can give you either 4G or 5G speeds depending on the type, and you would need a SIM card to go in them as they are similar to phones in that regard. Of course, you still would need a good cellular network reception for them to work. You can see our guide to mobile hotspots here .

So the best advice is to make sure to do some research before you head to a new place to see what its WiFi connection speed and mobile signal is so that you can see if it a place that you would be able to work from or not. If so, then if you have a travel router and/or mobile hotspot, it should help you work remotely when needed.

Looking to the future, a better option might be something like the Starlink satellite internet which can provide fast internet via low orbit satellites anywhere in the world.

Sage Post author

June 19, 2022 at 11:36 am

Hello! To follow up on this reply (and I am not a techie 🙂 ) I was planning on working from France through a hotel’s WiFi but maybe I should use my cellphone, which is verizon 4G LTE and can be a hotspot? In general, are cellular networks faster than a hotel wifi? I guess it depend on their carrier?

Also, do you recommend a VPN whichever way we access the internet – via cellphone hotspot or hotel wifi?

June 20, 2022 at 4:07 am

So the answer as to whether the hotel WiFi is faster than your cellphone 4G is a difficult one to answer. WiFi is definitely capable of being faster than 4G, but this depends on a number of factors, including the speed of the internet connection the hotel has, how far from the router your device is, and how many other people are using it. 4G also has similar issues, depending on factors like how far away the nearest mast is, if your room is near to a window (walls can weaken a signal), and so on.

In most cases, I’d say that hotel wifi is likely to be faster, but this is definitely not always going to be the case. In general, in your situation, I’d probably say to go with the less expensive option. This is likely to be to get a travel router and use the hotel WiFi (the travel router can then be used on future trips as well). But it depends on the cost of your international data plan.

If you decide to get a travel router (and use hotel WiFi), just be sure to read the instructions and test it out locally before your trip so you know how to set it up and use it before you get to France. Any of the routers we list should work for your situation, our favorites are the ones by GL.iNet.

When it comes to a VPN, VPNs can definitely provide more protection. However, if you are going to use a travel router or cellphone hotspot to connect, it is probably not necessary. Cellphone hotspots or a travel router are going to be more secure because it’s just you connecting to your connection, and mobile networks are a lot harder to hack.

The security concerns over public WiFi networks are not as great as they used to be now that the majority of the web has moved to https. That means the data that is sent from your device to the web and back again is encrypted end to end, so it’s a lot harder for people to snoop on it. In the old days of unencrypted websites and public hotspots, it was fairly easy for someone to hack into someone’s connection, but this is much harder today, especially if you stick to secured websites.

There are still advantages to using a VPN though. Obviously, there is the additional peace of mind, but also some websites block users from specific countries and some countries may block access to certain websites. So a VPN can usually get around that for travelers who need to access websites from their home country. One of the advantages to surfing the web with a VPN in France we’ve found is that it keeps all the websites from constantly redirecting you to the French versions.

Note that some jobs require employees doing remote work to use a VPN or only sign into accounts using some sort of secure connection. This is especially the case if you deal with client data or other sensitive information. So be sure to check your job’s remote work policy regarding security.

We have a post that reviews VPNs for travel here , if you decide you want to use a VPN.

Hope that helps, and feel free to follow-up if you have further questions. Wishing you a great trip to France.

Will Pearce Post author

December 17, 2021 at 8:28 am

I’ve had a HooToo HT-TM05 for about 5 years, and was initially very happy with it. Increasingly, though, I’m encountering web logins on hotel wifi–a situation that I’ve not been able to handle with the HooToo.

I’m aware that some travel routers can be configured with the web login credentials so that they’re able to establish the wifi connection, but it’s not clear from your review which of your recommended devices can do that.

Could you clarify that, please. Also, if you know of some way to get the HooToo to handle this situation, I’d be glad to hear it.

December 17, 2021 at 1:15 pm

Sorry you are having issues with your travel router. Hotel log-ins can be tricky. So the HooToo HT-TM05 should be able to handle the situation you describe (and HooToo noted this in their old FAQ section), as that’s a common scenario for using a travel router. You would normally connect to the Hootoo network with your smartphone or laptop, login to the Hootoo and select the hotel network, and then open up a new browser page from your phone or laptop and try to use the web. This should launch the hotel login page.

Sometimes though this might not work, and it’s possibly because the Hootoo is an older device as that model is now several years old. There are various reasons that it could fail, including a custom DNS setup on your device, use of a VPN, or trying to navigate to some https pages. It’s hard to troubleshoot without seeing the error message you are getting. How far into the process are you getting? Are you getting any error messages?

If this occurs in more than one hotel, and you can’t get it working, I’d recommend contacting HooToo for support. They list the following info on their website: Tel: 1-888-456-8468 (Monday-Friday: 9:00 – 17:00 PST) and email [email protected]

It looks like the company has not updated information on HooToo HT-TMO5 for a couple of years now and it may be that the company is no longer supporting the device. We also just saw that it has been removed from Amazon.

If nothing is working, it is probably that you just need to upgrade the device. I’d recommend upgrading to one of the newer GL.inet, TP-Link, or Netgear travel router models. We’ve used both the GL.inet Beryl and Netgear M1 in hotels recently without incident.

Hope that helps and just let us know if you have any further questions!

Pipps Post author

November 18, 2021 at 2:45 am

Thanks for the great guide and clear recommendations👍

November 18, 2021 at 2:13 pm

Thanks Pipps for taking the time to leave a comment. Glad our travel router guide was helpful and just let us know if you have any questions!

November 19, 2021 at 2:18 am

My pleasure, you definitely got the Amazon referral 👍

Nikki Mag Post author

October 14, 2021 at 10:12 pm

Thank you for this wealth of information, greatly appreciate it. I am not tech savvy whatsoever and was hoping you had some information to share.

My employer requires an ethernet connection from a modem/router to the company laptop. We are unable to directly connect to wifi. As of today, is there a recommended travel router that I can connect via ethernet cable? I apologize if youve answered this already and I missed it.

October 15, 2021 at 6:35 am

No problem, and happy to try to help!

All the GL inet travel routers we recommend come with at least two ethernet ports. For instance, the Slate router has three Ethernet ports and a lot of other features. So you can connect to the router via an ethernet cable, and then configure the router to connect to either a WiFi network, or to another network with the other ethernet port on the router. This is fairly plug and play so shouldn’t be too tricky, and the instructions that come with the devices are quite easy to follow as well.

You may also want to talk to your company’s IT department as well about the issue since it sounds like they require a certain level of security to be in place for use. If you, for instance, need to use a VPN to connect to your work data, the Slate router is compatible with over 30+ VPNs but may not be compatible with all VPNs.

Hope that helps, and just let us know if you have any other questions!

jack Post author

October 9, 2021 at 7:48 pm

thanks for the awesome article I am looking for a mobile hotspot and a travel router, I need it very much. I found your article. Very beautiful and will come in handy for me.

October 10, 2021 at 4:53 am

Glad it was helpful and hope you found a travel router that works for you. If you are looking for a device that can be both a travel router or wireless hotspot, then the Netgear Nighthawk router is probably your best bet. If you are looking for two separate devices, then you can also check out this article about choosing a mobile hotspot .

But do let us know if you have any questions about travel routers or mobile hotspots.

Joao Post author

October 6, 2021 at 7:41 am

Thank you for this great article.

I’m looking for a travel router, just with the intention of better capturing public networks.

Which of these routers do you think provides a better increase in signal strength on public wireless networks?

October 7, 2021 at 1:31 am

So we’d recommend either the Gl.iNet AR750S ( https://amzn.to/2Quyhsb ) or the GL.iNet MT1300 would be our suggestions. These both have little external aerials which mean they are able to get improved range compared to other options in the round up.

October 7, 2021 at 3:10 am

Hi Jessica,

Thank you for the reply.

Do you think the gain in signal strength is worth it for the price difference for the GL.iNet GL-AR300M16 for example?

October 8, 2021 at 1:44 pm

The more powerful travel routers should be able to provide a stronger signal, but I think you would also be paying more for extra features (not just signal strength specs) as well on the more expensive routers. Whether it would improve the signal strength over some of the lower priced GL.iNet routers is probably going to depend on the particular situation and place in which you use it. You might consider buying the lower priced and test it out to see if it works as you need it to. If not, you could return it and purchase the more expensive router with the better signal strength.

For more technical questions about signal strength and the differences between models, you might want to reach out to the GL.iNet customer service and let them know how you specifically plan to use it and they can probably give you a more technical answer since we have not tested the two routers at the same time.

Alice Post author

August 9, 2021 at 7:50 am

Great information here on travel routers. Which of the Glinet routers would you recommend for a first time user? Interested in using it for working on laptop at coffee shops and for travel (domestic and international). Not super tech savvy so something that is pretty easy to use and will last.

August 9, 2021 at 8:35 am

Thanks very much! I appreciate we go into a bit of detail with the GL.iNet routers and their advanced features, but the good news is that you don’t need to be technical to use them, they work well out of the box with a simple web interface to set them up. Any of the ones listed should actually meet your needs.

So the MT300N-v2 (Mango) is a good option if size and budget are the key constraints. It is small, lightweight, and the least expensive. Its small size and weight make it perfect for travel.

For a more future-proof solution, then the two higher-priced GL.iNet models (Slate and Beryl) offer a faster WiFi network with support for the 5Ghz band, which tends to be less congested and therefore faster in public situations. The Beryl model (which we have), is the most powerful with the fastest processor inside, but it’s honestly not going to make a huge difference between that and the AR750 (Slate) unless you have a need for the USB 3 port or want to connect to very fast networks (which most public wifi networks in our experience are not!).

Hope that helps, and let us know if you have any further questions!

August 4, 2021 at 1:25 pm

First off, I say thank you for this information. I will say that I used to use the Netgear Trek N300 before I left it in a hotel (doh). So when I saw that you used to use it as well and saw the information on Juplink EC3-750, I was sold.

I haven’t been able to connect to hotels with it since most hotels have a login screen. I can’t seem to get the setup right on the Juplink to actually be able to pull up the screen to login. How do you set yours up to use in hotels so I can get my setup right. Thank you in advance.

August 5, 2021 at 4:59 am

Yes, the Netgear Treks were great and I wish they would have continued to make and update those. The Netgear Nighthawk M1 is good, but expensive if you are not using it for a mobile hotspot as well as a router.

So the interface for the Juplink can be a bit confusing as it has the different modes and functions. You should be able to get it set up as follows.

First, put the router in repeater mode, then plug it in (if you’ve set it up previously, hold down the reset button on the side for five seconds to start over).

Once the router is on, you should be able to connect your device to the Juplink WiFi network, which doesn’t have a password. You will then be able to login to the router via the url router.juplink.com, the default username and password is admin for both.

From the admin page, press the “repeater wizard” option. This should bring up a list of all the WiFi hotspots, and you would choose the hotel network option. Here you can also specify the network name, this will be your network name. If there is a security password on the network, the network you create will start off with the same password.

The router will restart, and when it comes back it should present you with the new wireless network to connect to. If you connect to this and then try to use the internet, you should be presented with the network login screen.

For added security, I’d recommend changing the password of the created network to a password of your own choosing. You can do this by going to router.juplink.com, logging in again with the username and password, and then going to the WiFi settings. Here you can change the name and password on the WiFi settings.

Hopefully that will work for you, but if not feel free to let us know!

August 6, 2021 at 3:15 pm

It doesn’t work. The hotel sign in page never comes up to sign in.

August 7, 2021 at 9:01 am

I am sorry to hear that isn’t working. I would reach out to Juplink’s customer service to see if they can help as that is the process that we have followed in the past.

If you can’t get it to work after reaching out to Juplink, I’d recommend returning it for one of the recommended GL.iNet or TP-Link travel routers. We have found that GL.inet keeps their software the most updated in recent years so can be the best for the kind of issues you are having.

Let us know what happens as it may be that it doesn’t work well (or is difficult to configure) at certain hotels and we will consider removing it from our list if that is the case.

August 9, 2021 at 6:37 am

We have done more testing with our Juplink and we were able to replicate the issue you are having with a network sign-in page. So for now, we are removing this router from our list and have reached out to Juplink’s customer service to see if Juplink has a solution to fix this issue. It is still working fine as an extender/router but it seems to have issues with log-in screens. Laurence is not sure if this is a hardware or software issue.

In the meantime, we would recommend returning the Juplink and getting a GL.iNET travel router or similar – we have not had the log-in page issues with the GL.iNet router (we have the Beryl one specifically) and are showing it able to load log-in pages when the Juplink one cannot when using them both at the same time. Sorry for the inconvenience as we have had the Juplink for over a year but our travels have been pretty limited due to Covid so we were not able to test it as much as we normally would and it worked fine in our initial uses.

Tiara Post author

May 3, 2021 at 6:42 am

Great, informative article! And it’s awesome that you guys are still making responses after two years.

I’m looking for a travel router that can help me for my remote contact center work. I’m interested in traveling to national parks or otherwise and am looking for routers to secure a good connection on the days I have to work. I know hotels and whatnot near parks can still be somewhat slow, and this is also for general travel. What would you recommend?

May 3, 2021 at 10:33 am

Yes, we aim to try to reply to all comments and email questions related to travel and photography – and have been trying to do so for 10 years now 😉

So a travel router can certainly help improve a connection by making it more consistent and secure. However, it can’t turn a really slow connection into a fast one. Any of the travel routers on this list can help with extending Wifi, making your connection more secure, and allowing you to use it with more devices more easily. So it just depends on if there are any features you’d need (e.g., Ethernet ports) and buying one that works with faster speeds will make it more future-proof.

However, the reality is that in and around many national parks and state parks, the WiFi speed is not great. This is especially the case in the Western and rural parts of the USA.

Now if you have a poor Wifi connection but good mobile phone signal strength, then a mobile hotspot will work. This will do the same things as the travel router but it will also help you extend the mobile signal to connect your other devices (e.g., laptop, tablet, etc.) that you need to use. So you might check out the Netgear Nighthawk M1 device we recommend above in the article which can act as both a travel router and a mobile hotspot – we have this one and have used it on places like boats and rural areas where we have phone signal but there was no Wifi access.

For those who work in remote areas with both poor Wifi access and poor mobile phone signals, they often need to rely on satellite access but these devices are not currently travel-friendly or budget-friendly. A mobile hotspot can only help where there is some mobile signal.

So I would investigate the places you are thinking of spending time and need a faster connection and see what the Wifi access and mobile signals (for your specific carrier) are in those areas. That can help you assess what type of device might be best for you and also if you should plan to work in certain places or just visit them when you don’t need to work.

Hope that helps, and let us know if you have any further questions! Jessica

Patti Hackney Post author

April 14, 2021 at 9:40 am

We are looking for a travel router that we can plug into a strong antenna that we wired outside our boat. Our paid for wifi is pretty far away, but the antenna works great to connect; however only on one device (our laptop) if the antenna is plugged into it. Do you know of any travel routers that have the ability to connect an external antenna to pick up the wifi signal? Thank you for any information you can give us. Patti

April 15, 2021 at 7:18 am

The Netgear M1 / M2 can support an external antenna but it’s only for improving a 4G LTE signal rather than a WiFi signal. So I don’t think that would work for you given your situation.

There are some travel routers that support external antennas. Some versions of the GL.iNET GL-AR300M , for example, have an external antenna which you can connect your own antenna to them. But you would want to check if it is the same connector type as your existing antenna so that they are compatible.

But a travel router may not be the best fit for you, given your situation, so you may want to ask a networking/router specialist at a Best Buy or similar to ask about options that would work with your boat Wifi signal/external antenna situation. An access point, standard router, or bridge may be a better option.

YL Hu Post author

March 30, 2021 at 10:14 am

Very practical and interesting topic. I am currently looking at a mobile router, Ryoko. Would hope to hear from anyone who has been using it. Thanks. YL

March 30, 2021 at 10:24 am

This more of a hotspot than an actual travel router which is what my post is about. The is a 4g router and requires a SIM card to use.

I have not heard of or used the Muama-Ryoko mobile routers before. They only have a 3.1/5.0 rating on TrustPilot and a lot of mixed and bad recent customer reviews. So I would really read the reviews there before making a decision.

If you are just looking for a travel router (not a mobile hotspot), I would consider one of the other ones we list above as they are actual travel routers. If you need something that also functions as a mobile hotspot, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 functions as a router and extender but you can also add a SIM card and use it as a mobile hotspot as well.

Jum Post author

April 8, 2021 at 5:37 am

It’s very difficult to find genuine reviews. Apart from Trust Pilot, the rest of the review websites on Google are extremely suspicious. They all 100% recommend and offer a link direct to Muama-Ryoko. The company seems to have a complete stranglehold on any info. I would avoid.

Melissa Post author

January 27, 2021 at 9:16 pm

I am not the most tech savvy person but I am looking for a way to use Chromecast in hotels when I travel overseas. The Wifi is usually horrible in these hotels so I’m not sure that Chromecast would work without some help. Can you recommend something easy to use that could help in this situation? Also, do I need a sim card or anything for these mobile routers or am I thinking of a hotspot?

Thanks so much!

January 30, 2021 at 5:13 am

Hi Melissa,

A travel router could definitely help in this situation, and it would also make setting it up each time easier. As you know the Chromecast needs a WiFi network to connect to, and if you use a travel router then you can setup the Chromecast to connect to the WiFi network that the travel router creates. This means you won’t need to reconfigure the Chromecast every time.

In addition, the travel router should be able to deal with spotty hotel wifi more reliably than the Chromecast. Being stuck behind the TV means it will get worse reception in general, whereas you can place the travel router in a better location.

You don’t need a sim card for these travel routers as they just extend an existing network – you are indeed thinking of a mobile hotspot. That is also an option, but for streaming it would work out quite expensive as streaming uses a lot of data. So a travel router that improves the WiFi reception is your best option. Any of the options we list should work well for your purposes.

Sparkles Post author

June 2, 2021 at 8:43 pm

The problem with chromecast on hotel wifi is the login access page since it doesn’t have a built in browser without a travel router logging in requires spoofing the mac address of a different device to match the mac address of the chromecast.

Pondorosa Post author

January 21, 2021 at 1:52 pm

Great insight on travel routers, VPN’s and other stuff I did not know of. Thank you!!!

January 23, 2021 at 8:34 am

You’re very welcome Pondorosa – if you have any further questions about travel routers just let us know!!

Thomas Bash Post author

December 21, 2020 at 3:46 am

Thanks for sharing this informative blog, I think the Tp-Link travel routers are best.

December 22, 2020 at 11:02 am

You’re very welcome, and thanks for taking the time to share your views on travel routers with us!

Julie Post author

December 3, 2020 at 11:21 am

Wow! This was exactly the article I needed. Thank you. I’m trying to convince my employer to let me take my remote, on-line job on the permanent road (RV). Their concern is that I occasionally need to take credit card information for orders. I also do video calls with customers, so speed is important. I go through a VPN at home with a wired, ethernet connection. I could easily create a mobile hotspot where needed with my phone, so is the GL-iNetGL-AR750S all I really need? Or is it necessary to go up to the NetGear Nighthawk?

December 4, 2020 at 4:56 am

Glad you found our article on travel routers helpful.

So if you are confident of phone reception, usually you would set up the VPN connection on your phone and then set it up as a mobile hotspot. The only reason you’d need a travel router in this case is to extend the range of the WiFi network that your phone creates. So a regular travel router (like the GL.iNet one ) is probably good to have for this purpose and it can also provide extra strength and extra security when you do use public WiFi networks. Since you need VPN, that is probably a good one for you.

Something like the NetGear Nighthawk (which is a router + mobile hotspot) is only necessary if you’re going to be connecting multiple devices at higher speeds than your phone can handle since you already are able to create a mobile hotspot with VPN on your phone. So you can test that out in advance to see if you would need a mobile hotspot or not, or if your phone connection is enough.

However, my main concern would be around cell reception, which will obviously depend on where you plan to be traveling. Remote and rural parts of the USA might not always have great cell reception and if you are an avid RV traveler, you’ll know there are some big dead zones for networks here and there. The only solution to this is to investigate satellite options – for example the Starlink system is coming online in the USA at the moment, which offers fast speeds at a reasonable price (compared the other offerings at least!). So it may take your subscribing to something like this to convince your boss if they are worried about you always being able to be online, or making sure you only travel to places with good phone signals. A mobile hotspot won’t work in places where there is no signal of some kind.

Anyway, hope that helps and just let us know if you have further questions!

Matt Post author

October 29, 2020 at 5:54 pm

Hi Jessica, your article was great. It was very helpful and much needed information. Your article was clear, consistent, and well-researched. Thanks.

October 30, 2020 at 5:01 am

Hi Matt, Glad you found it helpful. We have tried to keep it updated over the years as technology and manufacturers have changed for travel routers! Just let us know if you have any questions. Best, Jessica

Dwayne Post author

July 25, 2020 at 3:01 pm

I’m at a hotel and would like a secure connection the room does not have a ethernet port, I connect to the internet on a log in screen and most of the times the screen doesn’t come up and connects itself. I have theTP-LINK TL-WR902AC AC750 WI-FI TRAVEL ROUTER set at hotspot mode and plugged to my laptop. The power and wireless lights are lit, but the internet light blinks, the hardware is version 3. I have tried the range extender mode and could connect to internet at all. Is there something I’m not doing in the router setup page. I have not had any answers yet with the tplink support staff. This is a really good site. Thanks

July 26, 2020 at 4:05 am

Sorry to hear you are having issues logging into your router at the hotel.

So could you clarify, you are in a hotel and you are connecting to the TP-Link WiFi network, but the internet is not working? Normally what should happen is the first time you want to connect to a new network you have to visit http://tplinkwifi.net , login with the username and password (the default is admin for both), and then follow the quick setup instructions which will allow you to choose a network. Then, if you try to browser to another website, the hotel login page (if there is one) should come up.

The router should be in hotspot mode as you say, but it doesn’t need to be plugged into your laptop. Normally the internet light only blinks in access point or router mode so you might want to check the mode switch is in “share hotspot” mode.

Let us know if you were able to get it fixed or if not, happy to try to help further. But hopefully you got through to the Tp-Link staff as well.

July 27, 2020 at 12:43 pm

Hello Jessica, I got connected to internet with my router on saturday, I just kept playing around with the tplink setup page and got it work. I am also using the hotspot shield free vpn, I did a speed test my upload and download mbps is under 1 at 0.56mbps. and sometimes the download gets to 1.07 Is there something I can do to get the speed faster? Thanks

July 28, 2020 at 4:31 am

Glad you got connected. So if the Internet speed is just slow where you are, there is nothing really you can do to make it faster, unfortunately. But the travel router should not slow it down. Travel routers can help strengthen a signal but they don’t really affect speed.

However, VPNs can slow down speeds (particularly free services) so you might want to test the speed without the VPN to see if that is the case. If you do find it is the VPN, you might want to consider trying a different VPN or connecting without it. You can see our list of the recommended VPNs for travelers .

If you find that the Wifi speed where you are is just too slow to perform what you need, then your only other real choice might be to consider a mobile hotspot as these create an Internet connection. However, these are more expensive and rely on a mobile network, so best to see if you can get things to work with the travel router if you can since there is an existing connection where you are.

Evan Bell Post author

May 8, 2020 at 4:08 pm

I had a Netgear travel router but it recently broke and need a new one to connect to the internet when away. This is a great resource on travel routers, I appreciate!

May 8, 2020 at 4:28 pm

Great to hear you found our travel router review article helpful. We’ve had good experience with Netgear devices, it is too bad they never made an update to the Netgear Trek, but there are several good options out there by TP-Link, GL.iNet, and RavPower. Just let us know if you have any questions.

Tim Post author

April 27, 2020 at 7:45 am

Great info about the internet during travelling and using travel routers. Is there other things I should do to keep info and passwords secure while travelling and avoid hacking attacks? Thanks.

April 27, 2020 at 9:15 am

Yes, there are lots of other things you can do to further protect your data:

-Make sure all your devices (phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) are secure and protected with passwords and identify verification -Make sure your operating systems on your devices are updated with most recent updates and patches – you should also have firewall/virus protection -Use a VPN when traveling. For more info you can see our guide to choosing a VPN . You’ll want to make sure your travel router is compatible with a VPN -Avoid accessing sensitive accounts or data while on public Wifi – you should try to access important accounts (e.g., banking) as little as possible when traveling to avoid identify theft and people getting your password details. -Make sure you have backup copies of important data and info stored at home before your trip -Never give out your account passwords to anyone while traveling -Avoid providing any information on unsecured websites -Be cautious about downloading files, especially if you are not absolutely sure of their source

Hope that helps, and do let us know if you have any questions about choosing a travel router!

Sam Johnson Post author

March 24, 2020 at 6:16 am

I have Linksys WTR54GS Wireless-G Travel Router . This comes with a built-in access point and an Ethernet port used to connect to a wired network or to other computers. For a secured connection, this device has an encryption capability. This has its own power supply and an antenna. Included in the package is a case for easy safekeeping.

March 24, 2020 at 6:29 am

Thanks for sharing which travel router you use and glad that one has worked well for you. That is an older model which is why its not included on our list as it doesn’t support the latest WiFi standards, but should still work for most people!

Jeff Post author

February 12, 2020 at 6:15 pm

I have a tp-link nano travel router today. But the problem with it is that it does not play well with the captive portal system that hotels use. Every time I try to set up the router in a new hotel it takes multiple efforts to get the travel router to recognize the hotels wireless network. And then even after it does, it quite often will not show me the captive portal login page. It is very frustrating. What is your experience with these travel routers you recommend and their ability to play well with hotels captive portal?

February 13, 2020 at 6:50 am

Usually when we have this problem the issue is because the wifi network signal is so weak that even the travel router struggles to connect. However, normally we don’t have any problems with the captive portal – the routers are designed to be able to handle them, and should pass it through to your device so you can login. When you say it won’t show you the captive portal screen, do you mean after you have connected your travel router to the network, and connected your device to the travel router, that it’s just not loading the screen? Does it load anything at all?

If you are consistently having these problems, you might want to reach out to TP-Link for support as it’s possible the router has a fault, or it might need a firmware update.

Hope that helps! Laurence

February 13, 2020 at 10:12 am

>”When you say it won’t show you the captive portal screen, do you mean after you have connected your travel router to the network, and connected your device to the travel router, that it’s just not loading the screen?”

Correct. Most times (not always) the captive portal screen will never display. I repeat the setup process over and over to have the router scan for the hotel’s wifi signal and about half the time after several tries the captive portal login screen might appear.

>”Does it load anything at all?”

When it doesn’t show a screen, usually what happens is a message pops up stating something like “The network you are using may require you to visit it’s login page.” And that’s it. No login page appears.

I am done with this travel router. I’m tossing it. But I don’t want to purchase a different travel router only to have this same problem persist.

February 13, 2020 at 12:03 pm

It sounds like you know what you are doing and have tried a lot of things. Although it can take a little time to get to the captive login screen, you should be able to get there if the signal is strong enough and it is set up, so it is likely a hardware or firmware issue, so our only recommendation would be to ask TP-LInk about the issue and see if they have specific guidance on your model. We have not encountered this issue with the routers we have used.

Tlynnk Post author

July 15, 2020 at 11:06 am

I absolutely HATE my TP Link nano. Thank goodness it was cheap. It’s going straight to the trash. After two years of problems, I give up.

James Post author

January 8, 2020 at 2:45 am

I am using a travel router from one of the top-notch brands but its speed is far below the committed numbers. Which other routers do you suggest which can deliver at par speeds that we get at our homes/ offices? Thanks in advance.

January 8, 2020 at 10:13 am

So we usually find when we travel that the speed of the internet is often slower than at work or home (depending on your home connection speed). When I talk about the speed of the internet, I mean the connection speed that the hotel or guesthouse network offers. If there connection is slow, then the travel router won’t be able to improve upon that.

Most travel routers offer speeds in the region of 300Mbps, which is more than fast enough for streaming even very high definition content, and faster than most networks. So I think that no travel router will really improve that speed so any of them will pretty much give you the same speed. The only option would be to invest in a mobile hotspot, which bypasses the wifi entirely and connects over a 4G network which could deliver faster speeds. If these are available in the country you are traveling in, they can be faster than WiFi in some cases.

If you decide you’d prefer a mobile hotspot, you can read about them more in this article and it includes some of our suggestions if you decide you want to rent or buy a hotspot.

Tony Post author

January 16, 2020 at 11:18 am

My entire career has been designing digital networks all over the world, so I think I can help explain why what you’re asking for is currently impossible. First, don’t confuse network “speed” with network bandwidth. Public WiFi utilizes Broadband technology, which can be best visualized by comparing it to a regular pipe. No available technology can increase the size of a pipe in order to increase the rate of flow. Rather, a bigger pipe must be installed!

Likewise, no current technology can take a Public WiFi with a bandwidth (pipe) of 150mpbs and increase the bandwidth to 300mbps. What the best Travel Routers do is boost and extend a weak network signal into a much stronger network signal, which in turn decreases network latency, which improves the overall quality AND quantity of the flow of digital information to your laptop or tablet.

Steve Post author

January 5, 2020 at 11:37 pm

Everyone should choose a strong router at an affordable price especially while traveling. Many on this list of routers that will be a great choice. I use a TP-link router that is quite good while traveling.

January 6, 2020 at 1:16 pm

Hi Steve, Yes, the TP-Link ones are a great choice and well-priced. They also seem to keep updating the technology in them every couple of years which is good! Best, Jessica

O.G. Post author

September 23, 2019 at 2:33 pm

This was a great informative post about usig the internet during travelling and using travel routers. If you want to use the internet while travelling then you must buy a wireless mobile router because its signal range are large with the secure password nd also send a message to the user if someone try to hack a password, otherwise you feel trouble during travelling! I use them mostly because of the added security as I don’t feel safe using the internet in public places for private things and banking while traveling without having extra security. Thanks.

September 26, 2019 at 12:41 pm

Yes, travel routers are probably primarily used to increase signal strength, but yes, the extra level of security is definitely an additional featured added by travel routers. They can help make public WiFi networks a bit more secure.

Glad our article was helpful to you! Jessica

Brad Post author

September 16, 2019 at 2:34 am

Thanks for bringing our eye on this great device as we all know many hotels out their provides free internet service but the speed is ridiculously slow, show it could be of great use ( but the pricing can be a little lower in my opinion)

September 16, 2019 at 9:35 am

Hi Brad, Yes, a travel router can definitely help if you have a slow (or unsecured) connection at a hotel. If you are looking for the most budget-friendly option, the RAVPower Filehub Tripmate Nano is one to take a look at. Best, Jessica

Kimi Post author

September 11, 2019 at 1:34 am

Routers are great, as you can connect to the internet whenever you want. I mostly use it while I’m out on the beach, to listen to music or to watch some cool videos. But I’m still concerned about the safety and certain restrictions in certain countries, so I also use Nord VPN, so that my holiday would as comfortable as it can be. So, your own router and NordVPN are my best travel buds!

September 11, 2019 at 10:10 am

Hi Kimi, Yes, a VPN can be great, especially if you are traveling in lots of places with unsecure Internet (although a travel router can help secure your connection) and countries with lots of online restrictions. A VPN doesn’t work so great with some travel routers, but it sounds like you have found a good system for you! Best, Jessica

Sam Post author

August 27, 2019 at 9:03 pm

thanks @travelcats for the article. However, I am still a bit on the fence with these devices because I don’t find many hotels that use the Ethernet cable anymore in each room, so if I want to set up my own “room network”, I would need a device that acts as a Hotspot and the models mentioned in the article are Not that. Is this correct? If so, can you recommend some or have you already covered that subject in another article that you can post a link to?

August 28, 2019 at 7:25 am

Yes, so travel router devices can either extend an ethernet network into a WiFi network, or extend a weak WiFi signal into something your devices can connect to. Of course this only works if there is a wifi connection to extend.

If you want to connect when there is no WiFi connection, you would need a mobile hotspot, you can see some options here . Or you can get a device like this Netgear Nighthawk device that can function as both a travel router and mobile hotspot.

For more about mobile hotspots and getting online when traveling, this article may be useful: https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/how-to-get-online-when-travelling-away/

Hope that helps, and let us know if you have further questions!

Bob J Post author

July 8, 2019 at 8:17 pm

Can any of these routers act as a wireless Ethernet bridge? I want to connect net gear router to our resort WiFi and was wondering if a travel router would be reasonably priced way to do that

July 11, 2019 at 2:30 pm

That is a good question. Some of these routers may be able to do that but that is not really what they were designed to do. I would check the specs of the devices and contact the specific manufacturer of the one(s) you are interested in and ask them specifically if they can do this and how you would do this. If not, I would look for a device designed more to do this, I am sure Netgear could recommend one. Best, Jessica

Tex Post author

July 4, 2019 at 12:01 pm

It sounds like you can use either an app or a browser on a laptop to configure the Trek in case it needs a password to connect to the hotel’s wifi, am I understanding that correctly? Because if that is the case, then $35 for a way to boost the WiFi signal is a bargain. So many hotels advertise free WiFi but deliver very slow connections

July 6, 2019 at 2:30 pm

Hi Tex, Yes, that is correct, you can usually use them to get around hotel minimum device issues as well as to boost exisiting WiFi signals. They also add a bit more security. Netgear is not making the Trek any longer so they are hard to find, but you might be able to find one on Amazon or ebay or secondhand. But other routers work in a similar way and they pretty much all do the same thing so you can also check out the other devices. Best, Jessica

Jimmy Chang Post author

July 1, 2019 at 5:42 am

Ravpower Filehub Plus slow down internet speed more than 50% makes it unusable in most case. Although the device’s small size and has it’s own battery is a huge plus. I bought one, really like it, but I return the product due to the internet performance disappointment.

July 1, 2019 at 5:58 pm

Hi Jimmy, Yes there are pros and cons to all of the travel routers. Sorry to hear the Ravpower Filehub Plus was not a good fit for you, but there are several other options out there that you can try. Best, Jessica

Adam Post author

June 9, 2019 at 2:32 am

Alright so this list needs updated badly. No WiFi AC options = bad. Which there are enough of to warrant an update.

June 9, 2019 at 2:08 pm

Thanks for your input! We do keep this list as up to date as we can, and there are not that many travel routers on the market that support this speed.

Some of our recommendations support the 300Mbps speed, and AC is only 433Mps, so the difference is not that great. In addition, in our experience most networks when we travel don’t offer speeds anywhere near close to maxing out even a 150mbps travel router. So there are very few places where you would encounter public Wifi AC at this time, therefore, there is not much of a compelling reason for most people to need this feature.

However, we’ll certainly review the post and update this list to ensure the best options are still represented ????

Beri Post author

May 28, 2019 at 3:46 am

I found a list of some more routers suitable for a VPN setup, have you had any experience with setting it up? I’m subscribed to this VPN but I’m a little uneasy about the technical part of configuring a router.

May 28, 2019 at 11:50 am

Hi Beri, Yes, as you know, not all routers will work with a VPN. But if you have a travel router that does, you will just need to follow the directions of that router to use it. It should work the same as without a VPN unless otherwise indicated. Best, Jessica

Tobias Claren Post author

May 21, 2019 at 4:09 am

Is it possible to use such Wireless Travel Router with a Wifi with voucher code (entry in web browser)?

May 21, 2019 at 5:23 am

Hi Tobias, Yes, it is. Once you have connected the travel router to the network, you should be able to access the voucher page from your device as you normally would. Best, Laurence

John Stafford Post author

May 16, 2019 at 6:43 am

Could you advise how these travel routers deal with the invariable web page sign in that most Hotels require you to fill in before allowing you on their WiFi network?

May 16, 2019 at 7:01 am

Hello John,

All the routers we recommend support the sign-in page that some networks require – they usually just forward it to the device you first access the network from. So say you are using a smartphone, you first connect the travel router to the hotel network using the configuration tool on your smartphone, and then when you try to access the internet, you will be redirected to the web page to sign in.

The advantage of using a travel router is that you should only need to sign in once, then any other devices you connect to your travel router will not need to sign in again. It also carries the advantage that if the hotel restricts access to one device, you can circumvent that as the hotel sees the router as the one device, and you can connect as many of your devices to the router as it supports.

Hope that helps! Jessica & Laurence

Stanley Post author

May 17, 2019 at 8:59 am

I have purchased TP Link Nano and configured to hotel WiFi. Unfortunately, it is not opening up the sign in page automatically. Hence I am not able to use the internet for my devices. What could be the possible reason?

May 17, 2019 at 10:57 am

Hi Stanley,

This can happen sometimes if your device is configured in a certain way, for example if you have a VPN running. If you connect the same device to the hotel wifi directly (without the router), does the login page come up?

Do you have another device you can try? If so, I’d logout and disconnect and try a different device.

The TP Link definitely does support this when you connect a device to it, but specific configurations can cause issues with your client devices. It’s hard to troubleshoot though as there are different possible causes.

Mark Post author

May 12, 2019 at 10:38 pm

Thanks for writing a great article about travel routers! I wish more routers/extenders would include software to function in this way.

Question: I have a particular use-case and I was wondering if any router that you’ve come across has the necessary functionality. Do any of these or any >$100 devices save the credentials of the wireless networks that you have to before and auto connect when they are available?

My wife and I travel to the same places often for work. We used the Airport Express for this for a while but we’re looking for a new solution and Apple has sadly dropped the product(one of the best smart routers out there for a long time).

Also when the local WiFi is slow we use the hotspots on our iPhones/iPad. We even have different mobile providers for different areas so one of us always has signal.

If we always had a common WiFi for all our devices that used the best signal or just auto-joined the hotspot when it was turned on we would be ecstatic!

May 13, 2019 at 8:58 am

Thanks very much!

So in our experience the travel routers we have used for this purpose (originally the Netgear Trek, although this is sadly no longer on sale) did remember the networks it had previously connected to, and would automatically reconnect to these. So we would think this would be standard for most of these. However we aren’t 100% sure as we mostly use the Trek still – the best thing might be to either contact the manufacturer of the one that sounds the best. Or just try the router that has the features you need, and then see if it works. If not, you should be able to return it for a refund.

Sorry we couldn’t be of more help. If you find out more about this in researching these routers, please let us know and we can add that to our article.

Alan Smith Post author

May 9, 2019 at 2:19 am

Thanks for sharing.

May 12, 2019 at 11:44 am

Hi Alan, glad you enjoyed the post. Just let us know if you have any questions about travel routers. Best, Jessica

Emani Post author

April 23, 2019 at 7:07 pm

Since there is no “like” button, I just wanted to quickly leave a comment to say thank you for writing this article because it was extremely helpful to a computer layman like myself. I greatly appreciate it 🙂

April 24, 2019 at 6:55 am

Hi Emani, Glad you found our article helpful, and just let us know if you have any questions about travel routers or what they do. Best, Jessica

Jacqueline Post author

April 21, 2019 at 3:54 pm

Hello I have a quick question I’m just looking for something I can get for my teenaged girls to watch Netflix and play games while on the road we do a lot of traveling and they want to watch movies and play games on there tablet and laptops do u know which router fits my family best thanks for this article by the way

April 22, 2019 at 3:08 am

Hi Jacqueline,

So the main question would be whether or not you need internet access while out and about, or just looking to extend coverage and use multiple devices at hotels etc. A travel router like these in this post can only extend an existing wireless network, so won’t help if you are in a car for example that does not have WiFi access.

If the device is primarily for use in hotels or near existing wireless networks, then any of the devices on this list would be a good fit. I’d recommend looking at the TPlink N300 or the GL iNet AR300.

If you are also looking for WiFi, then in that sort of situation you would want a wireless hotspot type device like the TEP wireless or Glocalme hotspot . You can read more about Internet access solutions while traveling in this article .

Alternatively, if you are traveling domestically, your phone may also allow you to create a wireless hotspot and share the connection with the other devices around you.

The only thing about these options is that it will depend on your daughters usage – streaming movies for example uses quite a lot of data, and most wireless hotspot services tend to restrict speeds after around 1GB of data, which is less than your average film.

Hope that helps, but do let us know if you have further questions! Laurence

Todd Post author

March 23, 2019 at 9:13 am

I just returned my new TP-Link N300 Nano after a couple of very frustrating days trying to connect it to my iPhone 6. Their helpdesk agent was friendly but couldn’t find a solution. I found a resolution in their community forum and flashed new firmware onto the device to solve the issue. Sadly, the router would lock up after a few minutes of use. I let it hang twice before declaring it useless and boxed it back up to send to Amazon.

It’s such a shame because it probably could be a good router. But who can afford to be upgrading software while on the road 🙁

March 23, 2019 at 11:39 am

Hi Todd, Thanks for taking the time to comment. Sorry to hear that this did not work out well for you, although glad you had good customer service experience. I hope you are able to find something that works for you. Best, Jessica

March 2, 2019 at 7:39 pm

Thanks for a great article. I wish I could find a device that does everything the RAVPower FileHub does, along with VPN. I need a router that does wired, wireless bridge, USB port for external HDD, Video streaming, and hopefully VPN. Any suggestions?

March 3, 2019 at 5:37 am

Hi Chris – that would be a great device indeed! We’ve taken a look around though, and we can’t find one that does everything you need – either they have VPN and don’t have file sharing, or vice versa. The best solution we can offer is something like the RAVPower FileHub, with setting up a VPN on your laptop or mobile phone. We know this is an extra step for each device, but right now we don’t know of a product that has all 5 of those features. Hopefully one will be available soon! Best, Jessica

January 31, 2019 at 6:01 am

My company has production plants all over the world. As such, there has been and will continue to be the opportunity for me to spend extended time abroad. This past year alone, I spent four weeks in Italy which is the reason I’m now searching for some sort of wifi booster. The hotels in Italy had wifi that would operate a laptop, iPhone, et cetera, but the signal was not strong/reliable enough to use my Chromecast. This meant I spent a lot of evenings looking at my iPhone 7 to watch Netflix. Not optimal!

What I need to know is will a product like this allow me to stream Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, whatever, to my Chromecast in such an instance? There is a very good chance that I might be spending weeks-on-end abroad again very soon. I would like to be able to address this issue before I leave. Any thoughts on this?

January 31, 2019 at 10:32 am

So this is not a question we can 100% answer. A travel router can boost signal and provide more secure Internet browsing, but it depends ultimately on the speed of the hotel’s connection.

First, the Internet speed in general in the location you are visiting will need to be fast enough to support streaming. It sounds like this has generally been the case in hotels you’ve stayed in, as you were able to stream to your iPhone. In that case, if your iPhone is able to stream across the WiFi, then a travel router should strengthen the signal sufficiently for the Chromecast to also work. However, we can’t guarantee it will work in every instance, so this might not be a guaranteed fix.

If you are able to download any films or TV shows we’d recommend doing this. I know Netflix lets you download some shows to supported devices. You might then be able to stream these more easily.

Alternatively, with something like the RAVPower router we mention, that acts as a streaming hub that your Chromecast should be able to stream from, if you have a hard drive or memory card with some shows on.

We think a travel router should help, but we can’t guarantee it in every situation!

Sajjad Ahmad Post author

January 23, 2019 at 1:17 am

Thanks for sharing this is such a very nice post and review of available travel routers. thanks for spending time on it. i found it very useful.

January 23, 2019 at 2:46 am

Hi Sajjad, You are very welcome and just let us know if you have any questions as you check out the different travel routers. Best, Jessica

Business Traveler Post author

December 13, 2018 at 6:49 am

great article, very helpful as a business traveler!

December 13, 2018 at 7:34 am

Thanks, glad you found it helpful! Just let us know if you have any questions about choosing a travel router. Best, Jessica

Gary Post author

December 2, 2018 at 10:39 pm

This is a very good article and comparison of different travel routers, as so far I’ve read several articles. Thank you!

December 3, 2018 at 6:00 am

Hi Gary, Thanks for taking the time to comment and glad to hear you found our travel route article helpful. Do let us know if you have any questions. Best, Jessica

Shah Post author

September 28, 2018 at 2:03 pm

This was a great informative post you have shared on this page about the internet during travelling and using travel routers. If you want to use the internet while travelling then you must buy a wireless mobile router because its signal range are large with the secure password nd also send a message to the user if someone try to hack a password, otherwise you feel trouble during travelling! Thanks.

September 29, 2018 at 8:05 pm

Hi Shah, Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, and hope you choose the best travel router for you. Wireless routers can definitely help you get online while traveling and also help keep you more secure when away from home! Best, Jessica

Bella Johsan Post author

September 28, 2018 at 2:05 am

Many wireless routers available in the market which is helpful during the travel like np15 and so many. We always want a good speed router during our travels, regarding best router I found this post really helpful.

September 29, 2018 at 7:01 am

Hi Bella, Glad you found this helpful in choosing a travel router and wishing you the best on your future travels! Best, Jessica

Sam Billings Post author

September 6, 2018 at 12:00 am

Netgear Trek is a small router for those travel a lot or whose work is to travel. This device is easy to handle and it does not need a lot of space. I really like it!

September 6, 2018 at 12:13 pm

Hi Sam, Yes, we like the Netgear Trek as well and it is a great size for travel. It is just a shame that Netgear stopped making them now. I am hoping that will come out with an updated or new travel router product that is similar to that one. Best, Jessica

pamela Post author

September 4, 2018 at 10:02 pm

TP-Link Nano travel routers N150 and N300 are so aesthetically pleasing. I have N150 and don’t have anything bad to say about it, except the price could be lower. Btw, I use Nordvpn with it, and I’d say it’s a perfect match.

September 5, 2018 at 4:06 am

Hi Pamela, Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and for your experience with the N150 travel router. Glad that you have had a good experience with it. We recommend NordVPN as well for those that need a VPN service. Best, Jessica

Jean Post author

August 11, 2018 at 3:07 pm

Hi. I’m looking into purchasing the TP-Link N300 Nano Travel Router to use at a lakeside resort. The lodge at the resort has free wi-fi but the nearby cottages do not. They last time we were there, we were able to pick up in our cottage a weak signal from the lodge. Would the TP-Link N300 Nano server to strengthen that signal. We use Mac laptops, if that matters. Obviously, we don’t know much about travel routers. Any information you can provide will be very helpful. THANKS!

August 13, 2018 at 12:53 am

Hi Jean, Yes, that is the sort of situation that the router is designed for and it should strengthen your signal and make it stronger than what it would be with only your laptops. It may not be a “strong” connection, but it should certainly be stronger. As long as you have relatively recent model laptop (last several years) most routers will work fine with most modern laptops, tablets, and phones. Wishing you a wonderful vacation at the lake! Best, Jessica

Stive Smith Post author

July 27, 2018 at 4:42 am

What a helpful technical post on travel routers! I think Wireless Router is the best one to achieve uninterrupted WiFi while blogging. I had some issues with my router which I was unable to fix on my own. Then, I got Netgear Support which was truly helpful in fixing all my router issues.

July 27, 2018 at 4:44 am

Hi Stive, So glad you found our travel routers post helpful. And yes, if you need help with a Netgear product, Netgear Support is a great place to get help with your travel router! Best, Jessica

Christina Post author

January 19, 2017 at 11:13 am

It’s nice to have WiFI while traveling and I appreciate the design and functional features of the device. The Netgear Trek’s initial function, increasing the range of existing wireless networks, sounds great.

January 20, 2017 at 3:19 am

Hi Christina, Yes, we still take the Netgear Trek travel router with us on most of our travels as it often comes in handy when we need to connect while on the road. Just let us know if you have any specific questions about the device that are not answered in the review. Best, Jessica

January 13, 2017 at 9:47 am

It’s nice that the included antenna can amplify the weak signal. Many people would find this product useful.

Harry Post author

January 3, 2017 at 2:57 pm

Thanks for the response. I”m back at home now but will try this at the next hotel. Great review. If this pans out, this truly is something that has been needed for quite a while and it will become my “go-to” solution when traveling.

travelcats Post author

January 3, 2017 at 3:18 pm

Hi Harry, We find that sometimes it does take a bit of patience and fiddling but we have been successful in using it as we described. Best of luck and please let us know how it works on your next trip! Best, Jessica & Laurence

December 30, 2016 at 9:34 am

I was led to understand the netgear N300 would allow you to use the hotel “captive portal” wifi with multiple devices. It doesn’t look like that is the case as your commenter above states. I see no option in the http://www.routerlogin.net netgear page for this to happen. It requires you to put in an ssid for the hotel network and a password. The problem is, with “captive portal” pages, there is no “password”. They ask for your room number and you to accept the user agreement.

What is needed is to be able to sign in to the netgear n300 and then open a browser and try to get on the internet and then the hotel page pops up and you enter your room number and any other required info and you are on the web.

I don’t see that capability in the netgear N300

Also, I think you may need the ability to “clone” the mac address of your laptop so your mac address isn’t always telling the hotel that you are probably using a “router” type device to get around their “one or two device” rules. If the mac address says “I’m a netgear router”, it would be easy for the hotel to not allow such mac addresses.

December 31, 2016 at 3:07 am

Hi Harry, In our experience the N300 router has allowed us to do this. You can enter the hotel SSID without a password, and then the router will forward your browser to the hotel page to log in, after which point you can browse with multiple devices. We’ve definitely used it in this situation and not had any problems at several hotels.

For the MAC address spoofing, we’ve never encountered a hotel set up intelligent enough to do this, and we suspect we never will – the effort to do so isn’t really worth the rewards we suspect.

Hope this helps, and I would message or call Netgear Support if you are having further difficulties. Best, Jessica

John-Paul Post author

October 12, 2016 at 3:24 pm

NetGear has been horrible in trying to answer my question.

I was told that I can connect in places like Starbucks that require me to click on ACCEPT their terms or a location like a hotel that might require me to enter other information on a log in screen.

I have not been able to make that happen. I select the network (such as Starbucks) and the system spins for a couple minutes and then says it can’t connect. It doesn’t take me to the needed screen to accept terms.

Is the function I want available and, if so, how is it supposed to work.

October 12, 2016 at 5:46 pm

Hi John-Paul, I am sorry to hear you have not had a great response to your question from Netgear. Um, have you gotten the Netgear to first work at your home? We were normally able to connect in public places, and have used it in hotels and coffee shops. It should first connect to the Netgear and then you should be able to then sign into the store or public screen wi-fi. Are you able to sign into the public wifi screen once you turn of the Netgear Trek? ~ Jessica

October 12, 2016 at 8:10 pm

No trouble logging on to NetGear at home and retransmitting my home network.

I was at a hospital with a public network. I was able to log on to their network (after accepting their terms on a pop up page) on both my computer and my iphone. However, when I selected the hospital network in the NetGear menu it tried to connect a couple of times but said they could not connect. It never gave me the sign on screen from the hospital.

So. The normal process should be

1) Connect my laptop to the NetGear network created by my device. 2) Go through the netgear menu and select the desired network from the available list. 3) Hit the Go/Enter/Next button (don’t remember which it’s called) 4) Any signon screen from the network should automatically come up??

It’s step 4 that isn’t happening

October 12, 2016 at 8:45 pm

Hi John-Paul, Yes, it sounds like you are doing it correctly. I don’t know what may be happening – it could be something to do with the hospital network in combo with the Netgear. But if you have had this problem at other places, it is probably the Netgear. Have you had it working in any public places you have tried? If contacting Netgear support isn’t working the best, you might try contacting them via social media such as sending them a Tweet (@Netgear) and feel free to tag me on it (@TravelCatsBlog) and I can monitor to make sure you get a reply. Sorry I can’t be more helpful but I hope Netgear can help you out. Best, Jessica

October 13, 2016 at 12:11 pm

Good news. I finally got it to work.

I’m very happy as now that we are retired this is going to be extremely useful in all the timeshares we stay in.

October 13, 2016 at 1:25 pm

Great, glad you got the Netgear Trek working! ~ Jessica

Mary Tarris Post author

February 22, 2016 at 4:38 pm

I use it to bring wifi to my laptop in various parts of the house from my desk, where it sits cabled to a broadband modem that itself is cabled to the internet. The big problem is that very often it shows up as not connected to the internet, although I can usually get it to function OK after turning various bits of kit off and then on again. Has anyone else had this hassle?.

February 24, 2016 at 4:34 am

Hi Mary, We have generally not used the device on a daily basis, but we have had issues where it disconnects itself and we have to reconnect the connection to get it rebooted. Another issues may be that since you may be in areas of the desk where there is a weak connection, it may be losing the wifi signal at times. I am not sure if there is anything you can do other than what you are doing. Anyone else have advice? ~ Jessica

Gary Jackson Post author

February 4, 2016 at 3:24 am

I am also using NETGEAR TREK since December 14. It helps me to connect multiple devices and let me do my work on the fourth flour. Its an excellent device!

February 6, 2016 at 11:04 am

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Netgear Trek. I am glad that you have found it helpful!

Gil Hale Post author

October 21, 2015 at 1:02 am

We have begun to use a DropCam camera (now a Nest product) as in some hotels we have had some items taken from our room (not Marriott). But, I found the DropCam would not connect directly to the Marriott provided WiFi in our room. I tried to use our iPad as a hotspot, but the connection was not reliable. I ended up investing in a Netgear Trek N300 WiFi router and was able to log that unit onto the Marriott WiFi with no problems, then connect our devices to the N300. Perfect…

October 24, 2015 at 6:58 am

Hi Gil, Sorry to hear about the taken items, but I am glad that you have found the Netgear Wifi router helpful during your travels! We are actually using it right now in Rome!! ~Jessica

Tom Post author

August 8, 2015 at 12:30 pm

I’ve had spotty results with the Netgear Trek. The Internet connection is flaky and it resets itself a few times each day, even when it seems to pick up a strong signal from a hotel or RV park. Did you run into that problem, too?

August 11, 2015 at 11:59 am

Hi Tom, We have not experienced the flakiness so much but we have had it reset when we have it on for a long time, but not quite that often. Maybe contact Netgear and see if they have any tips? ~Jessica

July 13, 2015 at 2:08 pm

Great review! I, too, am in the market for a travel router. Thus, I have a question: Can this be powered via a USB-powered port on my laptop or by A/C only?

July 13, 2015 at 8:27 pm

Hi Todd, thanks! Yes, you can power this via a plugged in USB cable or via the AC cord. If you use the Netgear Trek, please feel free to share your experience!

Adelina Post author

February 26, 2015 at 12:08 pm

Interesting. I’ve thought of maybe getting one of these for my own home! There are corners that just have such weak connections. It does seem a bit bulky though to be carrying it when traveling. How heavy is it?

March 4, 2015 at 3:23 pm

Hi Adelina, yes we use it both at home to extend our wifi to our patio and also sometimes while traveling. Here are the size and weight specs from the Netgear website:

Dimensions: 3.39 in x 3.31 in x 1.30 in (86.5 mm x 86.2 mm x 32 mm) Net Weight: 0.355 lb (161 g).

So it is fairly compact and not that heavy but if you are like me, every little bit can matter when trying to squeeze more things into one’s luggage so we generally just travel with it when we know we’ll be experiencing bad wi-fi. Hope that helps and feel free to ask more questions if you are deciding to buy.

Marisol@TravelingSolemates Post author

February 23, 2015 at 1:35 pm

Thanks for the review. I’ll definitely look into it. It really is frustrating if the signal is slow. . I’ll be willing to carry extra weight if it would boost connection,.

March 9, 2015 at 12:29 pm

Yes, just let me know if you have any questions about the Netgear trek Marisol!

Em... Post author

February 23, 2015 at 11:35 am

Gone are the days of combing an area for a dodgy internet cafe in order to e-mail friends and family about travels. Now you can use gadgets like this and blog away… Big innovations in just even a decade!

March 9, 2015 at 12:25 pm

Isn’t it amazing how fast Internet availability and speeds have changed in just the past 5-7 years!

Jess Post author

February 22, 2015 at 5:52 pm

My greatest frustration when traveling is places that advertise wifi when it’s too slow or unreliable to be usable – I’m fine when they just don’t have it, but I hate spending so much time trying to make it work. I think I could use one of these.

March 9, 2015 at 12:21 pm

Hi Jess, yes I agree. Better to not advertise Internet than to have Internet that is impossible to use:) This can help when there are weak signals.

Corinne Post author

February 22, 2015 at 3:38 am

Great review…as we all know living without good Internet is a killer!

March 9, 2015 at 12:13 pm

Indeed Corinne:)

Lyn (aka) The Travelling Lindfields Post author

February 22, 2015 at 1:47 am

This sounds like a very useful device for people who need the internet when they travel.

March 9, 2015 at 12:12 pm

Indeed, we find it both useful for home and for traveling!

Paula McInerney Post author

February 22, 2015 at 1:21 am

Interesting, We use netgear at home and love it. Gordon will look into this.

March 9, 2015 at 12:10 pm

Great, and just let me know if you or Gordon have any questions!

Leah | KidBucketList Post author

February 21, 2015 at 11:32 pm

I love the idea of SECURE access to public hotspots when travelling. My only concern is it’s size. It seems so big!

March 9, 2015 at 12:06 pm

Yes, it is also a pro and con when adding something extra to one’s luggage. Here are the size and weight specs from the Netgear website:

AwesomelyOZ Post author

February 19, 2015 at 9:11 pm

That’s very cool – I haven’t used this but it’s good to know it’s a reliable product. My mobile phone is a hotspot so if anything, we can connect multiple devices to it as well. It’s REALLY handy to have that functionality because it also doesn’t require any extra gear, just my phone. 🙂 Have a great one Jessica! -Iva 🙂

February 20, 2015 at 8:44 am

That sounds great and I wish I could use my cell phone as a hotspot, but it is quite expensive. Mobile hotspots are definitely very cool. The great thing about the Trek is that it is a very low cost option ($35 one time cost) for locations that have WiFi (or Ethernet) and you’d just like to make a stronger, safer, and more reliable connection.

Anda Post author

February 19, 2015 at 2:03 pm

Looks like an excellent device, I’ll be glad to look into it. The only downside is that you still need to carry a router from what I understand, which is an extra weight in the luggage…

February 20, 2015 at 8:42 am

Hi Anda, yes the Netgear Trek is a very neat device. It is pretty compact, but you do need to have the device with you to connect and increase the wifi range so it is going to take up some precious luggage space unfortunately.

SUZAN FAWCETT Post author

February 19, 2015 at 5:39 am

i was very interested in your take on this product. However I use an android tab when i travel and there was no mention made of that possibility in the specs. I research further and found that is does work with android and ios operating systems too. I am seriously looking at purchase. Thanks for bringing this device to our attention!

February 19, 2015 at 9:14 am

Yes, for some reason Netgear does not list it under the written system requirements, but the Netgear Trek works well with our Android phones and devices. Let us know if you have any other questions! ~ Jessica

February 18, 2015 at 7:52 pm

It sounds like you can use either an app or a browser on a laptop to configure the Trek in case it needs a password to connect to the hotel’s wifi, am I understanding that correctly? Because if that is the case, then $35 for a way to boost the WiFi signal is a bargain. So many hotels advertise free WiFi but deliver very slow connections.

Thanks for a great review!

February 19, 2015 at 9:09 am

Yes, that is correct. Similar to going to a coffee shop, it will bring up the Netgear page and you will choose the network you want and then connect to it as needed (if there is a password or something to click). Yes, we think the $35 is a very good value which is why Laurence bought his own so we now own two of the devices:)

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Best Travel Router in 2023 (Portable WiFi On The Go)

Travel routers are designed to be light and portable and convert a Wifi or ethernet connection into your own Wifi. You’ll be able to connect all your devices and your friends and families too, to a private and secure connection no matter what is available in the airport or hotel.

In this review, we have chosen some of the best travel routers around, and there are a lot to choose from. We compared these portable wifi routers against each other and have highlighted their features, pros, and cons so you can make an informed decision and find the best travel router for you.

At A Glance: Our Top Travel Routers

• The Best Overall NETGEAR Nighthawk M1 Jump To Review
• Lightest GL.iNet GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango) Portable Travel Router Jump To Review
• Best Travel Router for Hotels TP Link AC750 Travel Wifi Router Jump To Review
• Best On A Budget GL.iNET GL-AR150 Mini Travel Wireless Router Jump To Review

Top Product Overview

Best travel router, netgear nighthawk m1.

If you’re into Wifi then you’ll have heard of Netgear. They make some of the best wireless travel routers on the market and have added a load of features to the NETGEAR Nighthawk M1 travel router. It is the largest and most expensive router in the review but it does do everything.

The M1 will turn an ethernet connection, modem, wireless network, and your SIM card into a super-fast personal Wifi network anywhere in the world. This is the first router in the review that can create a Wifi internet connection from a 3G or 4G SIM Card.

This means that no matter where in the world you are, you can slot in a local SIM card have Wifi where ever you are. From the beach to the jungle, if there is a 3/4G network available, you’ll be online.

The speed this travel router can deliver is also impressive and it will compete with your home broadband. They have put a four-band Carrier Aggregation and LTE in this router which is what helps it get speeds of up to 1Gbps.

Built into this travel router is a battery that holds up to 20 devices for 24 hours before you need to charge it.

That’s some incredible battery life and it does make the M1 very portable. There is a handy LCD display that shows you the number of devices connected, and internet connection strength, and keeps you up to date with how much data you’re using.

It’s not just a router, however, and it shouldn’t be at $690. It’s also a power bank, provides data sharing and media streaming. It’s also highly configurable to give you exactly the Wifi set up you want where ever you are in the world.

Overall it’s an amazing portable router, it just very expensive and a little bigger than most, but well worth it if it’s in your budget.

• Provides power
• Fast connection
• Data sharing
• Media streaming
• Dual-Band Wi-Fi
• Highly configurable
• Color display
• Long battery life
• Connect through a SIM card
• Very expensive

Product Information

• Size: 4.15 x 4.15 x 0.8"
• Weight: 8.5 oz
• Devices: Up to 20

GlocalMe G4 Pro 4G LTE Travel Router

The GlocalMe G4 is a different type of travel router. It’s an international 4G LTE mobile hotspot that works in 144 countries . You don’t even need a SIM card for this travel router. It does support SIM cards and you can insert one if you want, but the device doesn’t need one to work.

The best thing about this travel router is that the WiFi plans are flexible . You can choose from different international and local data plans, and pay as you go. Also, when you first start using the GlocalMe G4 mobile hotspot, you get 1GB of global data and 8GB of US data for free.

This travel router lets you share your wireless connection with up to 10 devices, so not only can you connect all your devices to the Internet, but you can also share it with your friends and family without needing to disconnect anything.

This mobile hotspot boasts a touchscreen that’s easy to use, as well as an intuitive user interface. It also doubles as a power bank (3,900 mAh), so you can use it to power other devices. The battery has enough power for some 12 hours of continuous use, but it won’t do much to charge your smartphone.

• SIM card supported but not required
• Works in 140+ countries
• Free global and US data included
• Touchscreen interface
• Battery capacity is quite small
• Customer support is not very helpful
• Big and heavy
• Size: 6.69“ x 4.37“ x 1.73“
• Weight: 13.7 ounces
• Devices: Up to 10

GL.iNet GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango) Portable Travel Router

The GL.iNet GL-MT300N is one of the lightest devices you can get your hands on. At 1.41 ounces, this is the lightest travel router available at the moment, so it’s certainly the best option if you need something ultra-portable. Also, it’s so small that you can easily carry it in your pocket.

The Mango router supports both WiFi and Ethernet, with two dedicated ethernet ports. It also has a USB 2.0 port for tethering and compatible 3G and 4G modems, as well as a micro USB port for charging. You can use any adapter to charge the Mango, and you can charge it with your laptop for ultimate convenience.

Additionally, this travel router boasts download speeds of up to 300 Mbp s! It also allows for advanced security encryption, and it comes with a pre-installed OpenVPN client. Don’t worry if that’s not your preferred virtual private network service because this little router is compatible with 30+ other VPN services.

Finally, you can use this portable router in four different ways. It can work as a standard network router if you plug it into an existing Ethernet network, and it also functions as a WiFi repeater when you connect it to an existing WiFi network.

The other two modes are hotspot and AP – the former requires you to connect the Mango to an existing access point in order to create a private hotspot, and the AP mode transforms a wired into a wireless signal, which is perfect for devices that only support wireless connections.

• Most compact device
• Extremely affordable
• Supports download speeds up to 300Mbps
• Works as a WiFi repeater, router, and hotspot
• Can transform the wired signal into a wireless one
• Two Ethernet ports (WAN and LAN)
• It does not detect 5Ghz networks
• No internal battery
• Size: 2.28” x 2.28” x 0.98”
• Weight: 1.41 ounces
• Devices: Not specified

TP Link AC750 Travel Wifi Router

The TP Link AC750 Wireless Travel Router gives you the highest speed for your money out of any of the travel routers in the review. It can give up to 733Mbps depending on the wired network and it does it for $40.

This TP-Link wireless router is not only fast but it’s also very versatile in terms of Wifi connectivity. It does everything you’d expect like creating a secure Wifi network from a direct ethernet connection, Wifi connection, modem connection, and a WISP hotspot.

The special bit is that it also works as a range extender and you can connect a device to the router using a wired connection. So if your TV, for example, needs a hardline ethernet cable to connect to the internet, you can run one from the Ac750 directly to it.

As well as being great at Wifi, you can also use it as a power bank and for file sharing. It’s pretty light and compact too making it a great all-rounder. The only downside is that the port layouts are quite annoying and the instructions aren’t clear and could get frustrating.

Overall, this is a fast, versatile travel router from TP Link that’s not going to break the bank. Plus it comes with a 2-year warranty. And given its versatility, it would make the perfect wifi travel router for hotels or cruiseships.

• Fast, light & compact
• File sharing
• 2-year warranty
• Bad instructions
• Annoying port layout
• Size: 2.64 x 2.91 x 0.87"
• Weight: 8 oz
• Devices: Quite a few (number not specified)

TP-Link N300 Wireless Travel Router

The TP-Link N300 Wireless Travel Router is the simplest travel router in the review. Simply put, it is just a travel router and doesn’t have any extra’s like file-sharing or being able to be used as a power bank.

Removing the extras makes it light, portable, and capable of getting a speed of up to 300Mbps .

The band connection also provides lag-free streaming. The travel router can be connected to a cable to create a wireless network, to a modem as an AP, used as a repeater, a booster, and as a hotspot.

It’s also compatible with Chromecast or Amazon FireStick so you can watch all your favorite movies on the go too. Being so light, it doesn’t have an inbuilt battery and you’ll need to connect it to a power source through the micro USB port.

This means you can charge it from the wall, your lightweight laptop , or a power bank, giving you Wifi internet connection where ever you are.

The setup for this travel router is incredibly easy and takes under a minute. Once set up it can be connected to by as many devices as you like but its performance does decrease noticeably with multiple devices.

Overall a simple, fast, portable, and easy-to-use router that also comes with 24/7 support and a 2-year warranty.

• A few wireless modes
• Simple to use
• No USB ports
• Struggles with multiple devices
• Size: 2.2 x 2.2 x 0.7"
• Weight: 7.2oz
• Devices: As many as you like

GL.iNET GL-AR150 Mini Travel Wireless Router

The GL.iNET GL-AR150 Travel Router is a great choice for anyone who wants a router that’s super-portable, simple, and just a router.

This little guy weighs just over 1 oz and is compact enough to slip into your pocket or purse with ease. It can create a Wifi network from just about anything except a SIM card. You can connect it to a modem, ethernet cable, or existing Wifi internet connection, or tether it to your phone or dongle via USB.

One of the best features of this travel router is its security. Traveling around the world means unsecured networks, but once you plug this baby in, you’re getting a Wifi network with a firewall, instantly.

It comes with Open VPN pre-installed and is compatible with over 20 providers, so where ever you connect, you’ll know you’re secure.

It comes without an internal battery but you can charge it from your laptop’s USB or from a wall socket. It comes with 2 ethernet ports, 64MB of RAM, and 16MB of flash. You can also increase this via USB. It’s also Open Source and programmable so you can have full control over everything.

This is an awesome travel router and for just $27, you can’t go wrong.

• 2x Ethernet port
• Tethers to your mobile phone
• Programmable
• Light & compact
• Tricky to set up
• Only supports 2.4GHz
• Size: 2.28 x 2.28 x 0.98"
• Weight: 1.59 oz

Huawei E5576-320 4G LTE Travel Router

The Huawei E5576-320 Travel Router is a good option if you need a compact but reliable device. It needs a SIM card to work, and then it turns into a mobile hotspot that can be used by up to 16 devices at the same time. With a battery of 1500 mAh, you can use this device for up to six hours at a time, before it needs to be recharged.

The battery life could certainly be improved, but at least you can use this device while it’s charging, so you can just keep it plugged into a power bank. Also, the Huawei router boasts a removable battery. Carrying an additional battery is always an option since it means you can just replace the original one when it runs out of juice, without needing to disconnect from the WiFi.

This travel router supports 3G and 4G mobile bands – it’s compatible with 4G LTE in Europe, Asia, and Africa, but only the 3G will work in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. You get download speeds up to 150Mbps on 4G, and up to 43.2Mbps on the 3G networks. Upload speeds are not that bad either – it’s up to 40Mbps on the 4G network, and up to 5.76Mbps on 3G.

In case you need something for travel in North and South America, you should check out Huawei E5576-508 mobile hotspot, which was made specifically for that market and has better compatibility with mobile phone carriers in the Americas.

• Compact and lightweight
• Great upload and download speeds on 4G LTE
• Not expensive
• Works while charging
• Supports connections to up to 16 devices simultaneously
• Small battery capacity
• Only 3G LTE works in the USA, Mexico, and Canada
• Does not double as a power bank
• Size: 3.94“ x 0.28“ x 2.28“
• Weight: 3.53 ounces
• Devices: Up to 16

GL.iNet GL-AR750S-Ext Gigabit Travel AC Router

If you’re a technical wiz and looking for a travel router that’s versatile and offers you a lot of programmabilities, then the GL.iNet GL-AR750S-Ext Gigabit Travel AC Router is a great choice.

This wireless router will create a highly secure Wifi network from a modem, ethernet connection, wifi connection, dongle, and from your phone. It works over a dual-band and it’s pretty fast offering speeds up to 733Mbps.

It comes with 3 ethernet ports to give wired devices internet access. It has a USB port to open up local fire sharing. There is also an SD card slot to provide you with built-in storage space.

It’s programmable and comes pre-installed with OpenVPN and WireGuard to act as a VPN client and server out of the box.

This means your connection will be very secure no matter where you are. It also arrives configured to use Cloudflare’s encrypted DNS servers for additional security. You will have to update it to the latest firmware when you get it though.

Overall a fast, secure, and technical, wireless travel router that’s got a lot of bang for its buck.

• 3 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
• Great VPN support
• Awesome security
• Programable
• SD card slot
• Can be tricky to set up
• Size: 3.90 x 2.70 x 0.90"
• Weight: 3.03 oz

What To Look For In A Travel Router

Here are some key factors to consider when buying a great travel router.

Size & Weight

When it comes to portability both the size and weight of a router are important considerations. You’ll want it to slip easily into your carry-on luggage and not take any valuable weight or space. All the travel routers in this review are light and portable but some are much lighter and compact than others.

Another thing to consider is your travel router power source. Some travel routers come without an inbuilt battery making them very light but they will need to be plugged in to use them.

This means having a power bank ready or plugging them into your laptop’s USB port. Wifi travel routers with an inbuilt battery will be easy to carry around but you’ll need to make sure to pack the right charging cables and plug for your trip.

Travel Router Connection Options

Every router in the review will turn an ethernet, modem, or Wifi connection into your own Wifi connection but not all of them connect to a dongle, phone, or SIM card. There are a few in the review that do connect to all of these, like the ETGEAR Nighthawk M1 or the GL.iNET GL-AR150 Mini Travel Router , so if you’re wanting to use your phone or a Sim card to give you Wifi anywhere, be sure to pick s router that can do it.

Security and Encryption

In order to keep your connection secure, you want a wireless router that offers WPA2 encryption or has a built-in VPN. All the portable routers in the review provide some security but if you want the maximum, go for one of the ones with a built-in VPN.

Overall Speed & Range

Faster portable routers usually mean spending a little more. Think about the speed and the range you’re likely to need on your travels. If you’re going to need to stream HD across 5 devices or have multiple conference calls across multiple devices, you’ll need a wireless router with some solid bandwidth.

If it’s just for you to do some work on, watch a movie, and call home, then you’ll be fine with a lower speed.

Consider Extra’s

Some of the routers in the review are plain routers while others are more multi-tools. Some can also be used as a power source, for file sharing, can have in-built storage, and connect to media streaming. If you want these added benefits, be sure to choose one with them.

Our Favourite Wifi Travel Routers

Here are our top choices from the review.

The lightest travel router of them all is the GL.iNet Mango at just 1.4 ounces. It’s so small and compact that you can carry it in your pocket, but it still does everything a good router should. With download speeds of up to 300Mbps and a price of just some $30, it’s hard to find flaws in this travel router!

• 【WIRELESS MOBILE MINI TRAVEL ROUTER】 Convert a public network (wired or wireless) to a private Wi-Fi for secure surfing. Tethering. Powered by any laptop USB, power banks or 5V/2A DC adapters (sold separately). 39g (1.41 Oz) only, portable and pocket friendly. 2.4GHz ONLY
• 【OPEN SOURCE & PROGRAMMABLE】 OpenWrt pre-installed, USB disk extendable.

The best travel router is the NETGEAR Nighthawk M1 . This is one of the fastest and best multi-use travel routers on the market. It can turn anything into a fast, secure network, even a SIM card. It’s also a power bank, data sharer, and media streamer. You can have up to 20 devices all working from the same router, sharing data, anywhere, even at the beach.

• Share WiFi internet access with up to 20 devices
• Connect to your existing home router using the Gigabit Ethernet port for fast, reliable primary or backup Internet connection. Ideal for homes with poor internet service or coverage

The best travel router on a budget is the GL.iNET GL-AR150 Travel Router . This router is tiny, light, compact, and very secure. It can turn anything into a secured VPN, even your phone’s 4G signal and it’s just $27.

• 【WIRELESS MOBILE MINI TRAVEL ROUTER】 Convert a public network(wired/wireless) to a private Wi-Fi for secure surfing. Create a secure Wi-Fi hotspot quickly. Tethering, 3G/4G USB Modem Compatible. Powered by any laptop USB, power banks or 5V DC adapters (sold separately). 39g (1.41 Oz) only, portable and pocket friendly.
• 【OPEN SOURCE & PROGRAMMABLE】 OpenWrt/LEDE pre-installed, backed by software repository. DDWrt supported. USB disk extendable.
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How to Get High-Speed Wi-Fi While Traveling

• Connectivity for multiple users
• High price for mobile data

• Affordable prices
• Flexible plan options
• Complicated setup

• Cheap prices (or free)
• Wide availability in big cities
• Slow speeds
• Working connection on the road
• Affordable prices for plans
• Safety risks (don’t Wi-Fi and drive!)

• Reliable connection in rural areas
• Unlimited data on most plans
• Extremely high prices

There are a bunch of ways you can get high-speed Wi-Fi while you’re traveling. A mobile hotspot is the easiest and most reliable option, giving you Wi-Fi access for multiple devices whether you’re on a long drive, staying at a vacation home, or even traveling abroad. Hotels and restaurants also often have free Wi-Fi for customers, while other ways to get portable Wi-Fi include built-in car hotspots and fixed wireless internet plans for RVs.

Below we take a deep dive into all your pocket Wi-Fi options for when you’re traveling. Take a look to find the best way to stay connected on your next trip.

Best ways to get Wi-Fi while traveling:

• Best for short trips — Phones and mobile hotspots
• Best for traveling internationally — Travel hotspots and SIM cards
• Best for budget travelers — Hotel or restaurant Wi-Fi
• Best for road trips — Your car’s built-in hotspot
• Best for RVs and digital nomads — Portable 4G or satellite internet

Best for short trips: Phones and mobile hotspots

A hotspot—whether it’s the one on your phone or a separate mobile device—is the easiest and quickest tool you can use to get Wi-Fi while traveling. As long as you have a data plan and network coverage where you’re traveling, all you need to do is switch on the Wi-Fi hotspot to provide internet access for multiple laptops, tablets, and phones.

Your phone’s hotspot works great for lots of situations, and most phone plans come with hotspot data, so using one doesn’t tax your wallet.

But we recommend investing in a standalone mobile hotspot if you need Wi-Fi for multiple users or extended periods—for example, if you’re taking a few hours to get work done at your vacation home. Mobile hotspots have longer range than a phone hotspot, they connect more devices, and they don’t strain your phone’s battery.

• Limited speeds depending on the hotspot
• Unreliable service in some places

Best mobile hotspots

Data as of 7/11/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Amazon.com Price as of 7/11/22 10:30 MST. See full disclaimer .

T-Mobile’s Inseego 5G MiFi M2000 is the most formidable mobile hotspot out there, delivering excellent speeds over T-Mobile’s 4G LTE and 5G networks. It can connect up to 30 devices—making it an excellent option for big groups—and comes with security features to set up guest networks and firewalls. T-Mobile also has the best prices on data plans, offering lots of flexibility for whenever you need it.

Keep in mind that you need a data plan to make your hotspot work. Look at our hotspot data plans guide for details on the best (and cheapest) monthly and prepaid options.

Best phone plans for hotspotting

*With AutoPay. Regularly $60/mo.

** 5G coverage not available everywhere. Requires compatible device/service. Other terms and restr’s apply. Data charges may apply.

Data as of 07/26/2024. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Almost any phone plan gives you hotspot data nowadays, and if you don’t have data, then you can likely add hotspotting for a modest fee. You don’t really need to pick out a cell phone plan just for the hotspot data.

But if you’re in the market, you can’t go wrong with AT&T’s flagship Unlimited Premium plan, which gives you the most hotspot data for your dollar. T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan also has a generous offer on hotspot data (albeit you get 10 GB less than the AT&T plan). Verizon’s 5G Do More plan comes with the least amount of data, but it includes a discount for a separate hotspot plan.

Best for traveling internationally: Travel hotspots and international SIM cards

The easiest and cheapest way to get internet abroad is to stick to hotel and restaurant Wi-Fi. But if you really need internet while abroad—for example, if you’re working remotely or need to make regular Zoom calls to family back home—we recommend getting a SIM card from a local phone carrier in the country you’re visiting.

Setup can be tricky, especially if you’re in a place where you don’t speak the language: you have to go to a phone store to buy a SIM card and set up an account, which usually requires you to show your passport and sign some paperwork. But these inconveniences are a small price to pay. Many countries have cheap options for phone plans and data, and getting a SIM card is often affordable.

• Affordable prices (many countries have low-cost cellular plans)
• Time-consuming and potentially stressful setup
• Limited connectivity if you’re traveling in multiple countries

Best travel hotspots

Amazon.com Price (as of 7/11/22 10:15 MST). See full disclaimer .

Huawei’s E5577Cs-321 may not have the prettiest name, but it’s a handy device. The 4G hotspot is compatible with providers across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, so you can swap in a SIM card and get the Wi-Fi flowing (almost) wherever you go.

GlocalMe G4 Pro is another interesting option. It doesn’t require a SIM card; instead, GlocalMe has its own data plans, which provide coverage in more than 140 countries, according to the manufacturer.

We’re hesitant to recommend devices in general like these because you have no way of knowing how well the hotspot actually works (if at all) until you’ve already bought the thing and gone on your trip. But the G4 Pro gets good reviews online, it’s easy to handle, and it comes with a pre-installed Google Maps app to help out in case you get lost.

Best for budget travelers: Hotel and restaurant Wi-Fi

Nothing beats hotel Wi-Fi, am I right? Most hotels and restaurants nowadays offer free Wi-Fi with their services, and anyone who’s ever spent a long layover in Paris or Istanbul knows how convenient free Wi-Fi can be.

Traveling on a budget? Go ahead and skip all the fancy stuff; don’t worry about adjusting your phone plan or buying a pricey hotspot. Just stick to the free Wi-Fi at your hotel or a nearby restaurant.

See below for a list of places where you can find public Wi-Fi (including lots of free options). And consider investing in a travel router and VPN to boost your signal range and increase browser security.

• Cheap price (included with a hotel room or drink)
• Limited availability in rural areas
• Higher security risk

Where to find free Wi-Fi

• Restaurants
• Coffee shops
• Public libraries
• Government buildings
• University campuses
• Airport terminals
• Public parks

Popular restaurant and retail chains with free Wi-Fi:

• Burger King
• Lowe’s Home Improvement
• Dunkin’ (formerly Dunkin’ Donuts)
• Peet’s Coffee
• Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
• Tim Hortons
• Panera Bread

Use a travel router to give your travel Wi-Fi a boost

A travel router is a small device that improves your connection and increases your security while you’re plugged into a public Wi-Fi network.

It lets you set up a private network using an Ethernet connection from a public hotspot. So if you’re at a hotel, you can plug the travel router into a hotel-provided internet access point like an Ethernet switch or hub. When you run the Wi-Fi through your travel router, it lets you bypass encryption and firewalls, connect more devices, and increase your signal range.

Best travel router

Best for road trips: car wi-fi and built-in hotspots.

Many newer vehicles—especially deluxe models and family sedans—have onboard Wi-Fi hotspots that give you internet access on the go.

We definitely don’t recommend using Wi-Fi while you’re driving a car. But so long as you’re safely paying attention to the road, an in-car hotspot is great because it lets your friends and family enjoy Wi-Fi access on long drives and road trips to watch movies, play games, and even get work done if necessary.

Take a look at our guide to car Wi-Fi for details on how to set up a hotspot in your vehicle.

Best car internet plans

Data as of 9/6/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Many cars with built-in Wi-Fi hotspots need a data plan from AT&T. Prices and features vary based on the make and model of your vehicle, but expect to pay around $15 to $25 per month for a data plan. Some cars let you get data through Verizon or T-Mobile—namely Volkswagens and vehicles that use T-Mobile’s SyncUP DRIVE system.

• Working connection even while driving
• Affordable prices for Wi-Fi plans
• Safety risk—don’t use Wi-Fi while driving!

Best for digital nomads: Portable 4G LTE or satellite internet

RVs and Sprinter vans typically have built-in systems for utilities like water and gas, but if you’re living on the road then you need to figure out a separate system for the Wi-Fi. Mobile hotspots and Wi-Fi extenders are excellent and affordable tools to get you internet in many places, but both come with technical limitations and aren’t adequate replacements for a proper home internet network.

A 4G LTE or satellite internet plan gives you a consistent connection for wherever you travel. 4G internet is already a popular choice for rural areas, and these plans work as mobile connections that can be set up anywhere. Setup and billing costs can really add up with these plans, but the benefits include sturdier equipment and unlimited data.

Best 4G LTE and satellite internet plans

Data as of 7/1/24. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Nomad Internet is one of the best choices for RVs because its portable 4G internet plan doesn’t have a data cap. Hotspots don’t give you enough data to let you stream movies, make video calls, or work remotely for more than just a weekend or two, so having unlimited data makes a huge difference when you’re living out of a vehicle full time.

• Great setup for RVs
• Challenging setup with potential technical issues
• Expensive price

Our verdict

When it comes down to it, a mobile hotspot is the best way to get pocket Wi-Fi on the road. Hotspots are affordable, easy to use, and compatible both in the United States and overseas (so long as you have one certified to do so). Even your phone’s hotspot and a SIM card with a data plan works wonders in many cases.

If you’re worried about costs, remember you can often find a restaurant or hotel with free Wi-Fi, especially in major cities and tourist areas. For living out of an RV, though, you’re better off with a portable 4G LTE or satellite internet plan, which offers you more consistent connections even in rural areas.

FAQ about getting Wi-Fi while traveling

Does portable wi-fi work with a sim card.

Yes, you can get a SIM card to get portable Wi-Fi. You can sign up for a data plan from a cellular carrier in the area where you’re traveling and install the SIM card into your phone or a mobile hotspot to get Wi-Fi access on multiple devices.

How much does portable Wi-Fi cost?

Portable Wi-Fi ranges in price but usually costs $25 to $60 per month. Your phone plan or hotspot plan gives you enough data to support portable Wi-Fi for a range of devices and usually comes at an affordable price—although you may have strict limits on data use.

Related content

• Best Ways to Get Portable Internet
• How to Get Wi-Fi While Camping
• Internet for RVs
• Best Unlimited Hotspot Plans

Amazon.com Prices as of 9/6/22 10:15 MST. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Highspeedinternet.com utilizes paid Amazon links.

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Author - Peter Holslin

Peter Holslin has more than a decade of experience working as a writer and freelance journalist. He graduated with a BA in liberal arts and journalism from New York City’s The New School University in 2008 and went on to contribute to publications like Rolling Stone, VICE, BuzzFeed, and countless others. At HighSpeedInternet.com, he focuses on covering 5G, nerding out about frequency bands and virtual RAN, and producing reviews on emerging services like 5G home internet. He also writes about internet providers and packages, hotspots, VPNs, and Wi-Fi troubleshooting.

Editor - Rebecca Lee Armstrong

Rebecca Lee Armstrong has more than six years of experience writing about tech and the internet, with a specialty in hands-on testing. She started writing tech product and service reviews while finishing her BFA in creative writing at the University of Evansville and has found her niche writing about home networking, routers, and internet access at HighSpeedInternet.com. Her work has also been featured on Top Ten Reviews, MacSources, Windows Central, Android Central, Best Company, TechnoFAQ, and iMore.

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4 Best Wireless Travel Routers (Updated Guide for 2023)

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When you go on the road, you may get stuck relying on a public network. This can expose you to all kinds of risks you don’t have to worry about at home.

For one thing, you have no idea who else is using the network. Hackers routinely connect to public networks and try to infiltrate people’s computers.

One minute you’re checking your email on the airport WiFi network. The next minute, a hacker is making unauthorized charges on your credit record.

You can solve this problem by using your own router. This puts an extra layer of protection between you and the other people on the network.

Having your own travel router could be useful in other situations, too.

You can use one in a hotel or a coffee shop. They can also come in handy for connecting other devices that require a WiFi connection. For example, a portable WiFi printer.

Today, we’re going to review four of the best wireless travel routers we could get our hands on. All of these are great for connecting your computer when you’re on the go. But which one has the features that you need?

To answer that question, we’ll have to look a lot closer at the details. After we’ve scrutinized all four of these options, we’ll have enough information to deliver our verdict. Let’s begin!

Best Overall: GL.iNet (Slate AX) WiFi 6 Travel Router

Key features:

• 1,800Mbps total bandwidth
• Two LAN ports
• Pre-installed VPN services and Cloudflare encryption
• Works as a WiFi repeater for captive networks
• Pre-installed AdGuard Home

The GL.iNet (Slate AX) WiFi 6 Travel Router is a pocket-sized WiFi router with a matte black plastic housing. It measures 4.92 inches wide, 3.22 inches deep, and 1.41 inches thick. And at 8.64 ounces, it’s lightweight enough that you’ll barely notice you’re carrying it.

The sides of the housing are vented, and a cooling fan draws air through them to maintain temperature. The fan is reasonably quiet, and it doesn’t run constantly. It only kicks in when the internal temperature reaches 167 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the left side, you’ll notice a Micro SD slot. This can be used to add network storage directly to the router. It’s like having an external hard drive and a router all in one.

Meanwhile, there’s a pair of antennas attached near the backs of both sides. They’re broad and flat, and can be swiveled up and down. When they’re down, they neatly cover the side vents, which is ideal for storage and transport.

The ports are located across the front of the housing. At the left is a USB Type-C port, which is used to deliver power. Next is a USB Type-A port with a blue internal tab that makes plug orientation simple.

This port can be used to connect a thumb drive or external USB hard drive. Next there are three Ethernet ports with grey frames. The two on the left are LAN ports for connecting your computer or other devices. The one on the right is a WAN port for connecting to your router.

Along with the router, you get a semi-rigid carrying case. It’s made from heavy-duty nylon, and is form-fitted to hug the router’s profile. The material provides a reasonable degree of scratch-resistance. And a black zipper makes it easy to access.

GL.iNet provides a 12-month manufacturer’s warranty. If it fails, you’ll be fully protected from any defects.

Networking Capabilities and Extras

The Slate AX is a WiFi 6 router, which means it supports the latest version of WiFi. Of course, it’s still compatible with older versions of WiFi like 802.11c/g/ac. With a WiFi 6 connection, you can take advantage of MU-MIMO support.

Without going too far into the weeds, this allows you to connect up to 120 devices at the same time. That’s more than you’d ever need on a travel router, but it beats running out of capacity.

In addition, this router offers impressive speeds. You get 600Mbps of bandwidth on the 2.4GHz channel and 1,200Mbps on the 5GHz channel. Combined, this amounts to 1,800Mbps of bandwidth. That’s pretty run of the mill as full-sized routers. But for a compact travel router, it’s insanely fast. The LAN ports, meanwhile, provide a standard 10/100/1000 rating.

The hardware isn’t all you’re getting. The Slate AX comes with OpenVPN and WireGuard already installed. These are popular VPN services that keep your personal information safe while you’re browsing. The OpenVPN speed is limited to 120Mbps, and WireGuard can support 550Mbps.

Alternatively, the router supports more than 30 other VPN services. Even better, all your connections are Cloudflare-encrypted. This gives them the same level of security as an “https” website.

In addition to using the Slate AX as a standalone router, it can also be used as a secure repeater. Connect it to a public WiFi network, then connect to the router behind your VPN. The router will even work with captive portals. These are the paid connections you use in hotels and other locations that charge for internet.

Finally, the router comes with AdGuard Home already installed. It will automatically remove ads and keep sites from secretly tracking you. And since it’s happening at the router level, it won’t hog your computer’s resources.

What we liked:

• Fast connection speeds
• Plenty of VPN support
• Built-in ad blocking
• Can support a large number of devices

What we didn’t like:

• A bit large

Best Runner-Up: GL.iNet (Beryl) VPN Wireless Little Travel Router

• 1,267Mbps total bandwidth
• Built-in VPN and TOR capability
• Can work as a WiFi repeater

The GL.iNet (Beryl) VPN Wireless Little Travel Router is similar in many ways to the Slate AX. It has a rectangular housing with antennas at the back corners that fold down to form solid sides. The sides are vented, with a Micro SD card slot in the right. On the left is a button to switch between different modes, including VPN and Tor modes.

Besides the mode button, there are a few other differences worth pointing out. To begin with, the ports across the front are reversed. The WAN port is on the left, and the USB power port is all the way to the right.

The housing is blue grey instead of black, although it has the same easy-to-clean matte finish. It’s also a tad smaller, at 4.64 inches wide, 3.34 inches deep, and 1.18 inches thick. The weight is correspondingly lower, at just 6.49 ounces.

There’s nothing smaller about the warranty, though. The Beryl is backed by the same 12-month warranty from GL.iNet.

The Beryl has somewhat more modest capabilities than the Slate AX. The total bandwidth works out to 1,267Mbps. That’s 400Mbps on the 2.4GHz channel, and 867Mbps on the 5GHz channel. The Ethernet ports are of the normal 10/100/1000 variety.

This router comes with some of the same features as the last one. OpenVPN and WireGuard are pre-installed. Keep in mind that you’re subject to speed caps with the VPNs, but that’s a necessary tradeoff.

The Beryl doesn’t come with AdGuard installed, which we admit was a bit disappointing. It also won’t work on captive portals. But it works fine as a repeater on other captive networks. And for the security conscious, you even get a pre-installed Tor app.

• VPN and TOR for secure browsing
• Dual LAN ports
• WiFi repeater function
• Repeater function won’t work with captive portals

Best Alternative: NewQ Filehub AC750 Wireless Travel Router

• 733Mbps total bandwidth
• 6,500mAh internal battery
• Access point, router, and bridge modes

The NewQ Filehub AC750 Travel Router has a more straightforward design, with no external antennas. It’s just a glossy black rectangle, with an ultra-smooth finish and rounded corners. The overall size is 4.44 inches wide, 3 inches deep, and 0.88-inch thick. At 9.6 ounces, it’s a hair heavier than the others. But even so, it’s light enough to carry with you anywhere you go.

On top, there’s a white NewQ logo, along with a series of LED indicators. The indicators let you know when you’re connected to the web, when the WiFi is active, and other important data.

On the front is a Micro SD slot for network storage. The ports are located on the left side of the housing. At the back is a USB Type-A port for storage, followed by a USB Type-C power port. Towards the front is a WAN port.

The AC750 has 300Mbps of bandwidth on the 2.4GHz channel, and 433Mbps on the 5GHz channel. That’s a total of 733Mbps, which is a bit slow but still fast enough to be useful. It can be used as an access point, router or bridge.

The NewQ Filehub also doubles as a power bank. The 6,500mAh internal battery can charge the average smartphone and still have juice to spare. It will also run your router for around four to eight hours without needing to be plugged in.

• Doubles as a power bank
• Works as a router, access point, or bridge
• Does not require a power supply
• Slow maximum bandwidth
• No LAN connection

Best Budget: TP-Link Nano Wireless Travel Router

• One dual-function Ethernet port
• Very affordable

The TP-Link Nano Travel Router has a compact white and grey housing. It measures just 2.64 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches, and tips the scales at a modest 8 ounces. On the front is a USB Type-A port at the right, with a USB Type-C port at the left for power. On the left side is a mode switch, along with a dual-function LAN/WAN port.

Be aware that this travel router is slightly outdated. Then again, it’s very affordable, and it’s hard to beat for the price. If you’re someone who only needs basic WiFi with acceptable speeds, this may be the ideal choice.

The Nano Travel Router has the same bandwidth as the AC750. However, it also supports an Ethernet connection. Keep in mind that there’s a trade-off here. If you plug your computer into the Ethernet port, you’ll have to connect the router to your network via WiFi. If you plug the router into a modem or wall socket, you can only connect your computer via WiFi.

• Versatile design
• Dual-function Ethernet port

What’s the Best Wireless Travel Router to Pick?

These are all good quality travel routers . But which one should be your next travel companion?

Here’s what we’ve learned about all of them, starting with the GL.iNet (Slate AX) WiFi 6 Travel Router . This was our top choice, and it isn’t even close. There are so many extra features, beginning with not one, but two built-in VPN services.

Pre-loaded AdBlock Home keeps advertisers from tracking you, and removes most ads from websites. The 1,800Mbps of bandwidth is very impressive for a travel router. And with support for captive portals, you can use the Slate AX just about anywhere.

The GL.iNet (Beryl) VPN Wireless Little Travel Router was our next favorite choice. This router is even smaller than the last, which is good news if you’re looking for the tiniest router possible.

It doesn’t come with AdGuard or captive portal support. But it makes up for that with a nifty Tor app. And while the maximum bandwidth isn’t mind-blowing, it’s still faster than the average travel router.

The NewQ Filehub AC750 Travel Router isn’t as fast as the other two. With 733Mbps of bandwidth, it will be noticeably slower than your home network. That said, it’s battery-powered, so you can use it without needing to find a power outlet. And the battery even doubles as a power bank.

The TP-Link Nano Travel Router is also a bit slower, but it’s very affordable. While it’s inexpensive, it would still make a great option for those who don’t need to absolute fastest speeds. And unlike the NewQ, you can connect to it via an Ethernet cord.

Meet Derek, “TechGuru,” a 34-year-old technology enthusiast with a deep passion for tech innovations. With extensive experience, he specializes in gaming hardware and software, and has expertise in gadgets, custom PCs, and audio.

Besides writing about tech and reviewing new products, Derek enjoys traveling, hiking, and photography. Committed to keeping up with the latest industry trends, he aims to guide readers in making informed tech decisions.

17 thoughts on “4 Best Wireless Travel Routers (Updated Guide for 2023)”

I found the WAP2102 travel device, and it shows it has a switch for 1) access point, 2) gateway router, and 3) client mode (wds : bridge/repeater)

nice list and big help.

Do you know if these require you to access the main router at a location to activate the wifi? Or can this be done without accessing the main router?

I’m hoping. I’m looking for a portable router that works by itself and gives wifi no matter where I am at, even the car. Hope they exist.

I hate to sound dumb but I do not understand the full picture here. Ok, I get the router and I travel; I logically connect my router and my laptop so I can get wifi at an airport or even in remote hotels that have crappy or no wifi.

But, where does the router get the signal from? I reckon you have to pay someone for that servie – who and where does that come from? Richard

Richard McCormick.

I have been researching buying one of these. They basically do two things.

1. If you are in a room with a wired internet connection you connect the router to it with a lan cable and it becomes a secure wireless hot spot that you can connect all your devices to This will be faster and more secure than the crappy hotel wifi. If the hotel charges for wi fi you avoid that cost as well.

2. If you are in a hotel with no wired connection and crappy wifi, you can use it as a repeater or extender to pick up the wifi signal and amplify it. This improves the wifi connection and also allows you to turn a public wifi into a secure one. If the hotel charges for every device that is connected to the wifi you can connect additional devices without additional charge. The extent to which this might make the hotel wifi faster is something I am unsure of.

So basically you do need an existing wifi signal or wired internet connection to use one of these. I am looking for one that can be used as a wifi extender/repeater at home and a travel router when on the road.

I use the D’link 510L, it’s supports hotel Wi-Fi’s where you first have to login via splash webpage.

Can I tether one of these to my iPhone, and then use it to connect other devices wirelessly?

Can I tether one of these to my iPhone, and then allow a wired-only device access to the internet?

Be careful when your intent is to use one of these mini routers with a phone. For example, my TP-Link WR-802n will NOT work with an iPhone 6S running iOS 11.2.1. What DOES work is the GL-iNet MT-300-V2 Mango.

Can these be used overseas? Europe, scandinivia?

I’m looking for a travel router that I can use to bridge the Type 3 NAT from my hotspot to a Type 2 or Type 1 NAT. Do any of these serve that purpose?

I am going to Central America soon and want to be able to use my laptop and phone. I know the home I will be in does not have internet. What do I need to purchase to receive service? I was thinking of buying a travel wifi device, can you suggest something. And how does it work once I get there. I am so “NOT” tech savvy. Any help will be appreciated.

If theirs no existing internet none of these will work you will need some sort of mobile wifi hotspot instead

Hi everybody..

I need som help, but i’m not sure if this is the right place – i’ll try 😉

I’m looking for a very small router like TP-link TL-MR3020 or TL-WR902AC or similar to built inside my POS and creditcard payment machine, but i need to find a router with DHCP lan, sim card built in, 1x RJ45 lan output for my POS, the POS does not work with wifi – only lan..

I’m aware that it’s possible to buy 1x TL-MR3020 or similar and 1x Huawei USB 4G modem or similar, put them together and everything is nice – but i don’t have that space inside my POS machine..

Does it make any sense?

Hit me with some hardware suggestions and have a nice day 😉

Similiar to Morton (Feb 16, 2018) I need dual WAN/LAN ports at Gigabit speeds, the ability to handle the hotel room spash/login pages, and optionally (i.e. where I can disable it) dualband wireless 2.4/5G. Over on NewEgg, I found “GL.iNet GL-B1300 Home AC Gigabit Router”, but it doesn’t have the best’est of reviews, yet seems to be the only player in the field I need to operate in.

I am looking for a wifi router, which is possible to run via USB battery and via USB power supply, which also has RJ45 / ethernet sockets were one could hook up a laptop or two laptops to also be able to connect to the internet on the laptop(s) via cable.

Does it exist?

Hi! I want to know which one is better for data transfer from a USB hard drive. Which one is faster? I’m looking for the better to share files from a hard drive to my oculus go.

Can anyone tell me if my wifi repeater can be used as a travel router? My goal is to use a chromecast from my Mac using hotel wifi. Thanks, Jim

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The 7 Best Portable and Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspots for Travel in 2024

Amar Hussain

Senior Content Contributor

823 Published Articles

Countries Visited: 63 U.S. States Visited: 9

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

41 Published Articles 3375 Edited Articles

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Table of Contents

What is a mobile wi-fi hotspot, things to look for in a mobile wi-fi hotspot, frequencies explained: the difference between gsm and cdma, the 7 best mobile wi-fi hotspots for travel, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

Key Takeaways

• Top mobile Wi-Fi hotspots for travelers include the GlocalMe DuoTurbo 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot and Huawei E5577Cs-321 4G LTE Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot, offering reliable global coverage with flexible data plans.
• Consider features like battery life, frequency, size, and weight when choosing a hotspot.

Whether you want to update your Insta on the go or need to keep in touch with the office, losing your internet signal can be very frustrating.

But it’s annoying (and can be unsafe) to rely on public Wi-Fi signals in every coffee shop you visit, and sometimes when traveling to remote locations, public connections are just not available.

Instead, you can invest in a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to ensure safe, secure, and reliable internet access anywhere you go. Here’s what you need to consider when choosing the best one for you.

A Wi-Fi hotspot is a battery-powered wireless router that travels with you. Designed to be compact and lightweight enough to slip into your purse or pocket, a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot device brings the internet to your phone, tablet, or laptop, no matter where in the world it finds you.

These gadgets are a big bonus for anyone traveling away from public Wi-Fi or those looking for a secure connection. A bit like a cellular device, your Wi-Fi hotspot provides access to invisible signals in the sky, all of which can help you to upload pics or receive your emails on the move.

You will need to pay for the data you use, which can be done in the form of packages or day passes that offer unlimited access for a set period of time.

Bottom Line: Using 3G or 4G (and maybe even 5G in the coming months), these smart little devices emit a reliable and incredibly useful Wi-Fi signal that you can hook your favorite gadgets and devices to while away from home.

Battery Life

Most batteries will run happily for between 5-6 hours at a time. If you are traveling somewhere with easy access to electricity, you should be able to charge overnight to ensure your hotspot works when you need it for your daily adventures. If you spend a disproportionately large amount of time online, you may want to look at a device that offers a longer battery life.

Size and Weight

Your Wi-Fi hotspot should be small enough to be carried everywhere with you. After all, if it’s not entirely portable, what exactly is the point? Slimline, lightweight, and often smaller than the smartphone you are trying to connect to, these devices are compact and clever.

Wi-Fi Support

Because some mobile internet providers are better than others, the coverage you receive from any Wi-Fi hotspot can also vary. For example, 2.4GHz gives coverage at a more extended range but will transmit the data at a much slower speed. A 5GHz band, on the other hand, will provide less range with data transmitted at a much faster speed.

Though they may be small, they are still mighty, and most hotspot devices will have a built-in display. At the very least, the display should indicate remaining battery life and current Wi-Fi signal strength. Others may offer bonus features like SMS messages or touch screen modes.

Card Reader

Some portable Wi-Fi hotspots come with the capability to read MicroSD memory cards, which can be used to store and access files from your laptop or home computer. You can also share your stored files with the people who use your network when you want them to have access.

MicroSD memory cards are not typically included with the purchase of a Wi-Fi hotspot, but they are a useful addition that allows you to send and receive SMS messages and save images, music, and other data-heavy files.

Mobile data is delivered using 1 of 2 types of cellular signals in different countries and regions around the world. These cellular standards allow for communication between individuals; without them, we would not be able to keep in touch on such a global scale.

Known as GSM and CDMA, each standard converts both incoming and outgoing radio waves in entirely different ways. Before you buy a hotspot, you need to understand its function and where you’ll be able to use it.

Global System for Mobile Communication is used in most countries around the world. In the U.S., only AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM. GSM uses Time Division Multiple Access (or TDMA), which allocates time slots to multiple conversation streams and alters how phones transmit their information. Doing this requires a SIM card (or “subscriber identification module” card).

It is the SIM card that holds all the information you need to make calls, use mobile internet, and store your contacts. The SIM card tells the device what services you have access to and is vital for GSM communications on the go.

CDMA is used in countries including Russia and the U.S. ( Sprint , Verizon , and US Cellular), and it grants users full access to a wide spectrum of bandwidth, meaning more users can connect at any one time. It also encodes each signal, meaning that every conversation remains protected and filtered.

CDMA does not rely on SIM cards as the device has the technology built into it from the carriers’ networks. This once meant that if you wanted to change carriers, you would need to buy a new device altogether. These days though, many CDMA devices offer the capability to use a SIM card too, especially for those on LTE networks.

Bottom Line: Different countries (and different carriers) use different technologies. In the U.S., Sprint, Verizon, and US Cellular use CDMA, while AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM. When it comes to purchasing a hotspot, make sure you understand what type you’re buying, what countries it will work in, and what providers it will function with.

1. Keep in Touch Wherever You Are Using the GlocalMe 4G LTE Network

GlocalMe DuoTurbo 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot

With a global SIM-free connection, you can quickly and easily access the internet without worrying about a local SIM card or roaming charges. The 4G LTE high-speed network connects up to 10 devices at a time. Enjoy an innovative GlocalMe app that uses a dedicated security protocol to ensure your Wi-Fi connection is always safe.

You can also easily manage your data usage from anywhere in the world. With an initial 1.1 GB of global data and 8 GB U.S. data included to see you on your way, you can easily top up your data using the GlocalMe app, which is specifically designed to work in a variety of different countries and regions.

Bottom Line: With 1 Nano SIM card slot and the ability to connect to unlocked Wi-Fi hotspots wherever you are, the G4 will provide you with up to 12 hours of nonstop usage from a single charge.

2. Rapid Download Speeds and Superfast Internet on the Go

Huawei E5577Cs-321 4G LTE Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot

Huawei’s Wi-FI hotspot is both affordable and reliable — and it’s good enough to give some of the more prominent brand alternatives a real run for their money.

This hotspot offers rapid download speeds of up to 150 Mbps 4G LTE and 43.2 Mbps 3G download , connection for up to 10 Wi-Fi enabled devices, 6 hours of working time, and a whopping 300 hours of standby time.

Bottom Line: The TFT-LCD screen with 2D Barcode secure connection is easy to use, and the device itself is unlocked for all networks — you can even choose your SIM card if you want to.

3. Best for Professionals Who Need To Keep Connected

Huawei  E5576-320  4G LTE Mobile Wi-Fi Router

This high-speed mobile router and multi-mode wireless terminal is for use in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

The hotspot offers 16 Wi-Fi connections at a time, and the unlocked carrier connection means you can use 3G signals from any provider. Controllable via the innovative Huawei Mobile Wi-Fi app, you can enjoy uploads and connectivity for up to 6 hours using the 1500 mAh battery.

Bottom Line: While this device model will not work in the Americas or the United States, it is an affordable solution for those traveling to other parts of the world.

4. A Powerful Global WI-Fi Hotspot for Use in Over 160 Countries

RoamWiFi 4G LTE WiFi Mobile Hotspot Router

The RoamWiFi Mobile Router is a powerful global Wi-Fi hotspot with super-fast 4G LTE speeds that can be used in over 160 different countries and shared to 5 connections. Sleek and stylish, the simple orange hotspot can be stored in your carry-on luggage and will be easy to find when you get there.

By far, the most impressive feature of this particular model is the whopping 18 hours of battery life . 500MB of data can be purchased for as little as $2.90 per day.

Bottom Line: All-in-all, this is a tremendous little Wi-Fi hotspot for your next adventure.

5. Compact and Capable Offering 18 Hours of Battery Life

Netgear Unite Explore AC815S Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot

This slim 4G LTE-capable device provides super-fast internet and as much as 18 hours of battery life on a single charge to as many as 15 Wi-Fi devices on the go.

Super easy to use, the color LCD screen shows you all the network info you need, as well as displaying battery life and connectivity levels.

Bottom Line: Made by one of the most trusted names in communications, the Unite Explore is a reliable Wi-Fi hotspot for travelers looking for longer battery life.

6. Superfast Connectivity in Over 135 Countries

SIMO Solis Lite 4G LTE WiFi Mobile Hotspot

With no contract or SIM card required, this convenient little device will ensure you’re always connected on the go. The virtual SIM technology is compatible with most major carriers, and you can control everything through the handy Solis WiFi app.

You can connect up to 10 different devices with up to 16 hours of battery life on a single charge. As well as keeping you connected, this mobile hotspot doubles up as a power bank, so you’ll never run out of charge.

Bottom Line: With SIMO Solis, users can enjoy day pass Wi-Fi, pay as you go access by gigabyte, or monthly and yearly subscriptions.

7. Connect 10 Wi-Fi Enabled Devices With This Verizon Jetpack

Verizon MiFi Jetpack 4620L

Brought to you by the communication experts at Verizon, this MiFi Jetpack offers superior connectivity and speedy internet access virtually anywhere in the world. With the ability to connect up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices in 4G and up to 5 devices in 3G, this is one of the most effective LTE hotspot devices on the market.

Compatible with all major operating systems including Windows, Mac OSX, Android, and iOS, you can quickly and easily connect your phone, tablet, or laptop. The interactive OLED display shows you when you are connected, as well as the connection status and how many users are connected. It can even alert you when you receive a new SMS message.

Bottom Line: With up to 5 hours of usage available from a single charge, this impressive MiFi mobile Wi-Fi device is one of the most effective LTE hotspot devices on the market.

With a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, you are no longer at the mercy of unsecured, cumbersome, and often super-slow public Wi-Fi signals when you take to the road. Your very own Wi-Fi allows you to download data, upload images, and keep in touch with civilization, no matter how far away you go.

Before you commit to a connection, look for a mobile Wi-Fi device that is compact and portable with a large enough battery to last you all day. Your new Wi-Fi hotspot should also be simple to use, easy to connect to, and ideally able to offer a connection to several different devices (especially if you’re traveling with friends).

Lastly, don’t miss these other tech-related product reviews to level up your travel game!

• The Best Portable Bluetooth Speakers for Travel
• What are the Best GoPro Alternatives? [10+ Options]
• The Best Portable Power Bank Chargers for Travel
• Travel Product Reviews – Tech & Photography Focus

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Best Wi-Fi Access Points (Updated for 2021)

• June 5, 2019
• 17 Comments

I talk to people every day about computers and electronics. From friends and family, to business colleagues, to vendors selling equipment. There is one statement I hear constantly and it drives me crazy. “The Wi-Fi [here/there/at home/at work] sucks!” This is so frustrating because in this day and age (it is now 2021 after all) Wi-Fi should just work. There is no excuse to not be using one of the best Wi-Fi access points on the market rather than the garbage most people install. Even the best Wi-Fi access points are affordable these days.

If you’re looking to upgrade the Wi-Fi experience in your home, office, or even at your friend’s house follow along as I list the top Wi-Fi access points available Feb 2021.

The Best Wi-Fi Access Points of 2021

If you want to skip straight to it our top pick for the best Wi-Fi access point of 2021 is still the Ubiquiti 802.11 DUAL AC PRO .  It’s still packed with all of the latest features, and Ubiquiti has continued to refine the firmware and software suite for them (and all of their products).

Even the Best Wi-Fi Access Points still Suck When Installed Incorrectly

Before we list them off , let’s talk about something very important! A bad install of a good Wi-Fi access point won’t solve connectivity issues, and might even make them worse. Yes, a bad install will make the best AP suck!

Direct Wiring vs Wireless Repeaters

The most common misconception we see is that “all you need to do is add another access point somewhere in your home” and let it wirelessly talk to the one your ISP installed at the other end of your home. This is a terrible idea, and often makes the situation even worse and resulting in even poorer connections for those connected to the wireless “repeater”.  Garbage in garbage out is true here too!

Consider this: If you’re laptop has trouble connecting to your main access point from the far end of your home, then why would you expect a wireless repeater to have better luck? All you’ve accomplished is adding a middle-man between your laptop and your main wireless AP. This adds additional latency and slowness.

“But my laptop now has four bars signal strength! Before it only had one bar!!!”  Of course it does! It has four bars to the repeater. You just moved the one bar connection to the repeater middleman!  Lipstick on a pig!

Always direct wire all of your access points. Yes, this means running a CAT5 Ethernet cable from your router to the second (or third) access point in your home. In some cases this might mean a wire up the wall and through the attic. A qualified cable installer will generally do this for less than $100.  This is the key element that most people are missing. Another fantastic option is to use my favorite powerline network kit . This kit will transmit an internet signal over your home’s electrical wiring.

List of the Best Wi-Fi Access Points of 2021

So now that you understand some basics of how not to make the best Wi-Fi access point into the worst performer, let’s list our top pics for wireless access points in 2021 (updated).  Note: None of these access points are WIFI6.  We’ve purposely not picked WIFI6 access points as the technology is still fairly new and all of the kinks have not been worked out.  Our pick for the best WIFI6 access point would be the Ubiquiti Unifi6 .  And as that market evolves will likely replace our top pick here.

#1 – The Ubiquiti Unifi Dual AC Pro

• Get it the Ubiquiti Unifi Dual AC Pro Here!
• 3 Dual-Band Antennas, 3 dBi each
• 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Max. Power Consumption: 9W
• Dual 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports (supports PoE)
• Controller Manageable or Standalone installs
• Weatherproof design allows for outdoor installs

If you choose to go with the Unifi and also like tinkering with the Raspberry Pi , check out our Raspberry Pi Unifi Controller tutorial .

#2 – Netgear R6700 Nighthawk AC1750

One of the best things to come out of this update is the App.  You can now configure your AP, check speed, troubleshoot connectivity and packet loss all from the screen of your smartphone.  You can even set parental controls, limit kids access to screen time, and more.  All at the tip of your fingers.

Additionally, all our speed tests have been rock solid and reliable with this device thanks to its dual band wireless capabilities.  This Linksys is a win folks!

• Get the Netgear R6700 Here!
• 1GHz Dual Core Processor
• AC1750 WiFi—450+1300 Mbps speeds
• Automatic prioritization of  bandwidth for gaming, streaming videos, or music
• Smart parental controls let you filter content, manage screen time, and monitor usage on any connected device, anytime, anywhere

#3 – TP-Link C1200 Archer AC1200

• Get the TP-Link AC1200 Here!
• Dual band 300Mbps for 2.4GHz + 900Mbps for 5GHz
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB Access – Share your USB drive content wirelessly!
• TP-Link Tether app – Easily set up and manage your home network at home or remotely.

#4 – TRENDnet N300 2T2R

• Get the TRENDnet N300 2T2R Here!
• 2.4Ghz 300Mbps
• 802.11a/b/g/n (dual band)
• Compact and versatile
• Reliable and affordable

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17 Responses

Agreed! The Ubiquit gear is the best in town!

I installed Unifi in my home when I built it last year. My network has been rock solid. I’d totally recommend them as well. The management console is pretty neat too. All kinds of info you can get out of it.

I decided to go with TP-Link gear because I have a TP link router.

Ewww.. UBNT is way better.

What about the Ruckus APs? The Home builder, Lennar, is using the Ruckus devices in all their new builds.

What about mesh wi-fi?

As many have attested, the Ubiquiti access points are the best on the market. Period! I like them better than Cisco, and many of the super high end professional aps. They work, and they work well. And at a price point that makes them a no-brainer!

Ruckus blows!

+1 for UBNT products. They just work.

the ubiquiti access points are now my new favorite. i had to come back and tell you thanks. they just work and are super easy to setup if you have any technical skills at all.

Netgear was never owned by Cisco. That would be Linksys..

Yep. You are correct. Thanks for that!

I’ve recently invested in Ubiquiti APs, and it is worth mentioning that the latest APs are the HD line (nano HD, In Wall HD). They are a bit more expensive but support Wave 2 and are higher performance in all regards in my testing. They are about $40 more. The Pro line preforms well, but is a bit older and slower.

Ubiquiti access points are the best on the market. Period! I like them better than Cisco, and many of the super high end professional aps.

What is the coverage range of the UBIQUITI UNIFI DUAL AC PRO?

I currently have a Google Nest setup with multiple (probably too many) points. But I have rock solid connection throughout both floors of my home and the basement. We just did an addition of 1800 sq ft and it is covered as well. But the network is constantly freezing/crashing in the last couple months and I’m looking into a PfSense box for routing/firewall and then Ubiquity for wifi. I have gigabit FIOS service.

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RouterFreak Reviews, Tips and Tools for Network Engineers

Best wireless access point in 2024 (home & business wap), daniele besana.

If you want to extend the coverage of your network at home or in your workplace, consider investing in a Wireless Access Point (WAP).

The best wireless access point operates using the WiFi 6 standard, offering coverage of at least 2,000 sq. ft, connecting to a minimum of 200 devices , and being compatible with a WAP ecosystem.

WAPs work similarly to WiFi extenders in that they provide a new local network for users to access , but crucially, they connect to the main router using a wired connection.

This improves local network performance , as the wired connection provides access to low-latency bandwidth.

WAPs are the optimal choice for network extension when you have a specific area in your home or workplace with weak or no access to the main network.

Our top choice for the best wireless access point is the Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD. It is a Wave 2 4x4 MU-MIMO AC1200 wireless access point that can be powered using an 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) source and comes with one Gigabit port. You can utilize the free UniFi Network Controller software (versions are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows) to manage the UniFi nanoHD, as Ubiquiti focuses on software-defined networks.

The Netgear WAX630E is equipped with the latest WiFi 6E technology that delivers ultrafast tri-band speeds of up to 7.8 Gbps. The new 6 GHz band offers more capacity for the latest high-performance WiFi 6E devices. It provides a coverage of up to 3000 sq. ft. and can support up to 456 client devices at the same time.

The TP-Link Omada EAP670 is an affordable access point that is equipped with the latest WiFi 6 technology which delivers up to 5.3 Gbps and uses both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands for demanding multi-user scenarios. Additionally, WiFi 6 features MU-MIMO and OFDMA which handles several clients across congested environments like hotels, office spaces, SMB businesses, and apartments.

As long as you can connect the WAP to the router via an Ethernet or network cable, you are good to go.

Our team of network engineers tested 21 different WAPs and narrowed down the choices to the top 7 products available in 2024.

Best Wireless Access Point (2024)

• Best Overall: Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD
• Best WiFi 6E Access Point: Netgear WAX630E
• Budget Friendly: TP-Link Omada EAP670
• Best For Home Use: Ubiquiti UniFi FlexHD
• Best For Outdoors: TP-Link Omada EAP610
• Easy Setup : EnGenius EWS377
• Basic Wireless Access Point: TRENDnet TEW-823DAP

The reviews come with an explanation of their design, performance, user recommendation, advantages, disadvantages, and specifications of the WAPs.

The right access point for your internet needs should be easy to install, and provide you with better signals, flexibility, management, speed, and enough coverage .

Each review is also put in categories such as budget-friendly, home use, WiFi 6E, outdoors, and easy to set up.

1. Ubiquiti UniFi Nano HD (Editor’s Choice)

The Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD is a Wave 2 4*4 MU-MIMO AC1200 wireless access point that can be powered using an 802.3af Power over Ethernet source and comes with one Gigabit port.

You can use the free UniFi Network Controller software (versions are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows) to manage the UniFi nanoHD as Ubiquiti focuses on software-defined networks.

Performance

The Ubiquiti UniFi Nano HD comes with the best performance and better coverage for your devices.

The UNC dashboard shows all connected guests and clients, APS, and an overall percentage score for client WiFi experience.

Also, you can add a variety of wireless analysis and performance widgets with UNC providing no less than 35 to choose from.

The Settings page gives you access to all wireless management where you can create guest networks and add SSIDs.

There are extensive Captive portal features such as customizing the landing page and implementing card payment, voucher, Google, or WeChat authorization using the Hotspot option.

You should consider the UniFi Security Gateway (USG) and Ubiquiti’s PoE switches to get the best UniFi experience. The Switch allows you to power your WAP and monitor power draw and port usage.

The USG enables the UNC console to report on provider, gateway, and internet usage.

You can configure the firewall using custom rules and also perform deep packet inspection, app usage reporting, and intrusion prevention.

Who It’s For

The Ubiquiti UniFi Nano HD is recommended for individuals looking for a WiFi access point that delivers stunning wireless performance, classy features, free management, and top value.

• Speed: 2100 Mbps
• Wireless Standard: 11ac
• Range: 3000 sq. ft.
• Number of Supported Devices: 200 + concurrent users
• Great speeds.
• Impressive cloud-based management software.
• Great value.
• Extensive coverage.
• Advanced security features
• You need additional hardware investment to get the best out of it.

2. Netgear WAX630E (Best WiFi 6E Access Point)

The Netgear WAX630E is equipped with the latest WiFi 6E technology that delivers ultrafast tri-band speeds of up to 7.8 Gbps.

The new 6 GHz band offers more capacity for the latest high-performance WiFi 6E devices.

The WAX630E provides coverage of up to 3000 sq. ft. and can support up to 456 client devices at the same time.

The Netgear WAX630E comes with a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port to achieve maximum speeds and create the fastest connections between the Netgear Switch and Access Point.

Additionally, you can use the 1G Ethernet port to connect wired devices for stable and strong connections.

The MU-MIMO and OFDMA technologies enable you to stream more devices at the same time without interruption while the Beamforming technology concentrates the strength of the signal for better connections.

You can power the WAX630E using the optional PAV12V35 power adapter which is sold separately or have a simplified deployment using the PoE++.

When we tested the Power over Ethernet (PoE) connection, it worked effectively and was easy to set up.

The Netgear Insight app helps you to easily set up, configure, and control the WAX630E. You can remotely manage your network from anywhere using the 1-year free NETGEAR Insight subscription.

It comes with flexible mounting hardware which enables you to securely install it on a suspended ceiling or the wall.

The enterprise-level security allows you to set up to 8 WiFi SSIDs, control VLAN separately for each SSID, and protect your network using the latest WPA3 security standard.

The Netgear WAX630E is ideal for users who own a router that operates WiFi 6E and are looking to extend the network at home or in the workplace.

• Speed: 7800 Mbps
• Wireless Standard: 11ax
• Number of Supported Devices: 456 client devices
• Reliable performance.
• Excellent coverage.
• WiFi 6E support.
• Great web local interface.
• Plenty of AP-related features.
• Bulky design.

3. TP-Link Omada EAP670 (Budget Friendly)

The TP-Link Omada EAP670 is equipped with the latest WiFi 6 technology which delivers up to 5.3 Gbps and uses both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands for demanding multi-user scenarios.

Additionally, WiFi 6 features MU-MIMO and OFDMA which handles several clients across congested environments like hotels, office spaces, SMB businesses, and apartments.

Since the EAP670 supports the 802.3at Power over Ethernet, you do not need to install extra wiring, just plug in the current Ethernet cables and you are ready to go.

The 2.5G Ethernet port with PoE makes installing the TP-Link EAP670 easy. Additionally, the port boosts the total internet throughput and delivers exceptional multi-gig performance for better, faster WiFi.

The EAP670 has a refined industrial design which makes installation easy with two easy steps: push up, rotate and it gets locked in place.

The Omada SDN controller allows you to use the Omada Mesh technology to expand the WiFi signal wirelessly instead of using redundant cabling. Additionally, the mesh technology optimizes the best path between WAPs.

Seamless roaming automatically switches your devices to the WAP with the best signal even when you are moving. This enables sensitive applications such as video conferences and VoIP to go uninterrupted.

The Omada app and Remote Cloud access create centralized management for your whole home network and allow you to control different sites using a single interface.

Omada SDN uses a Cloud-Based controller, Software controller, or Hardware controller to integrate various network devices like switches, gateways, and access points.

The EAP670 features advanced wireless tech including Load Balancing, Beamforming technologies, Airtime Fairness, and Band Steering.

The TP-Link Omada EAP670 is recommended for users who are looking for an access point that is affordable but still comes with high-end features and better performance.

• Speed: 5400 Mbps
• Range: Up to 3000 sq. ft.
• Number of Supported Devices: Up to 70
• Easy to install.
• Has QoS for device prioritization.
• Has a multi-gig port.
• Faster WiFi speeds.
• Handles more devices.
• Security issues.

4. Ubiquiti UniFi FlexHD (Best For Home Use)

The Ubiquiti UniFi FlexHD has a sleek, small design and compact form factor making it easy to be deployed outdoors or indoors.

The flexible mounting options enable it to be deployed on ceilings, poles, walls, and tabletops.

The UniFi AP FlexHD is equipped with the 802.11ac Wave 2 MU-MIMO technology which allows it to communicate with multiple clients simultaneously, hence significantly increasing the overall user experience and multi-user throughput.

The Ubiquiti UniFi FlexHD has a nondedicated software controller that can be deployed on a Linux machine, Mac, or an on-site PC: in a public cloud service or a private cloud.

Additionally, you have the option of using the built-in software to deploy the compact UniFi Cloud Key.

The intuitive UniFi controller software enables you to manage and configure your APs using a user interface that is easy to learn.

It only takes five minutes to install the UniFi FlexHD as there is a quick-start wizard that helps you to secure administrator access, create wireless networks, and provision APs.

We tested the UniFi interface and were impressed with its simplicity and capacity to easily manage the WAPs.

The free centralized cloud management allows you to add your UNC hosts to the online portal after you have created your account.

You can browse all your access points and access their respective web consoles with just one click.

The unlimited scalability of the UniFi FlexHD enables you to build a wireless network as small or as big as needed.

Begin with one (or upgrade to a three-pack) and expand to hundreds but still maintain one unified management system.

If you are looking for a wireless access point that is suitable for home use, the Ubiquiti UniFi FlexHD is the option for you as it offers lots of deployment options and has free wireless management services.

• Range: 1800 sq. ft.
• Number of Supported Devices: 250+ devices
• Supports multiple streaming.
• Increases the overall throughput.
• The user interface is easy to learn and use.
• Powerful hardware.
• Has flexible mounting options.
• Clever compact design.
• Issues when powering it.

5. TP-Link Omada EAP610 (Best For Outdoors)

The TP-Link Omada EAP610 is designed with the latest WiFi 6 technology featuring OFDMA, MU-MIMO, and 1024-QAM for improved, multi-device performance.

It can achieve internet speeds of up to 1800 Mbps and uses both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for demanding multi-user scenarios.

The EAP610 is designed for both indoor and outdoor use.

The IP67 weatherproof enclosure is durable to protect the EAP610 from harsh outdoor conditions and comes with dedicated high-gain antennas for higher performance, longer coverage, and lower interference.

Also, the discreet appearance makes it perfect to be used indoors.

You can use the TP-Link Omada EAP610 to extend the coverage of your current wireless by repeating the wireless signal using the WiFi Range Extender mode. This can be set up using the Omada app or standalone mode.

Omada’s SDN (Software Defined Networking) platform uses the various control options provided including Omada cloud-based controller, Omada software controller, or Omada hardware controller to integrate network devices such as gateways, switches, and access points.

Omada app and remote Cloud access allows for centralized cloud management of the entire network from different sites which can be controlled from one interface anytime, anywhere.

The EAP610 supports advanced wireless tech including seamless roaming, Mesh WiFi, load balancing, band steering, Beamforming technologies, and Airtime Fairness.

It supports both 802.3at PoE and 48V/0.5A Passive PoE power supply and can either be powered by the provided PoE adapter or a PoE+ switch, making deployment flexible and effortless.

The TP-Link Omada EAP610 is suitable for users looking for a wireless access point for the outdoors as it can be used in standalone mode to provide long-range coverage outside your home.

• Speed: 1800 Mbps
• Range: 2200 sq. ft.
• Number of Supported Devices: 150+ devices
• Low interference and higher performance.
• Long-range coverage.
• Ultra-fast internet speeds.
• Designed for the outdoors.
• Issues with the firmware.

6. EnGenius EWS377 (Easy Setup)

The EnGenius EWS377 features the dual concurrent 802.11ax architecture and is backward-compatible with 11ax/a/b/g/n client devices. It supports up to 1148 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band and 2400 Mbps in the 5 GHz band.

The 2.5 GbE supports 802.3at and 48V Power over Ethernet input for flexible installation over 100 meters and achieves greater throughput.

The EnGenius EW377 has a downlink and uplink of OFDMA which improves transmission to client devices and APs as well as a downlink and uplink MU-MIMO for reception reliability and optimal signal for up to 2 devices.

Beamforming technology concentrates signals for better performance and the 1024 QAM significantly increases the throughput of the access point.

The VLAN ensures that there is improved network segmentation for secure data isolation and transmission, resulting in protection against unauthorized access.

The WPA3 provides 192-bit key-based encryption for protection against brutal force attack, and offline attacks, and improve the security of your WiFi.

The Instant App Alert offers real-time notifications for network abnormalities, enabling proactive management and immediate response.

While testing the product, this feature proved very helpful in identifying network issues.

On-Prem management keeps the data within the physical infrastructure, ensuring security, compliance, control, and integration.

If you have a small business, FitXpress provides you with streamlined and essential cloud network management tools.

The visualized diagnostic tools enable non-tech-savvy users to easily manage and monitor their network.

The EW377 is easy to set up as you just need to power the device, connect to the router for internet connection, and scan the QR code of your smartphone to get onboard.

The EnGenius EW377 is suitable for users who are looking for a wireless access point that is easy to set using simple instructions. It is recommended for individuals who do not have much tech information.

• Speed: 3600 Mbps
• Range: 2000 sq. ft.
• Number of Supported Devices: 200+ devices
• Powerful and reliable connections.
• Has improved throughput.
• Better security features.
• Easy to set up, control, and manage.
• Allows for simultaneous streaming.
• The web interface is very basic.

7. TRENDnet TEW-823DAP (Basic Wireless Access Point)

The concurrent 400 Mbps WiFi N and 867 Mbps WiFi AC combined with Repeater and Access Point modes enable the TRENDnet TEW-823DAP to support multiple applications.

The 802.11k delivers a WiFi roaming environment that is more efficient by transferring mobile clients off to the next best access point and intelligently managing neighboring WAPs.

The 802.11r allows for seamless and fast transition by pre-authenticating the WiFi clients with neighboring WAPs.

The TRENDnet TEW-823DAP features MU-MIMO technology which enhances the WiFi performance when several devices are connected to the network by processing multiple streams of data at the same time.

The MU-MIMO antenna technology extends the wireless coverage of this access point.

The Gigabit Power over Ethernet LAN port ensures that your devices have high-performance connections to the wired network.

Additionally, the PoE support saves setup costs and installation time by delivering data and power over one set of cables.

To ensure that your network is safe and secure, the TEW-823DAP supports the latest WPA3 wireless encryption.

The band steering seamlessly transitions wireless devices between the 5 GHz band and 2.4 GHz bands to eliminate network congestion.

The low-profile design makes this access point blend easily into most environments.

It comes with ceiling and wall mounting plates which makes installation easy.

If you are looking for a basic wireless access point that can deliver better WiFi performance and extensive coverage, the TRENDnet TEW-823DAP is for you.  

• Speed: 1300 Mbps
• Range: 1500 sq. ft.
• Number of Supported Devices: 75+ devices
• Better performance.
• Good security features.
• Built for busy environments.
• Faster and reliable speed.
• Has Power over Ethernet support.
• Requires lots of rebooting to reconnect to clients.

Factors To Consider When Looking For The Best WiFi Access Point

WiFi Speed  

When scanning the market for the best WAP, the WiFi speed is a key consideration. WiFi speed is largely dictated by the WiFi standard built into the AP. The most common standards available for APs are WiFi 5, 6, 6E, and 7.

WiFi 5 (802.11ac) WAPs are universally compatible with client devices as the standard has been available since 2014. WiFi 5 WAPs are best valued on lower-speed internet plans of 500 Mbps and below.

WiFi 6 (802.11ax) WAPs offer faster speeds, technological advancements such as MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and Beamforming, and are equipped to handle gigabit internet plans.

This is due to the increased channel bandwidth of 320 MHz, which allows for faster data transmission.

WiFi 6E (802.11ax) offers a theoretical speed of up to 10 Gbps due to the addition of the 6 GHz frequency band which offers minimal interruption and vast data transfer capacity.

The downside is that WiFi 6E WAPs are only compatible with a WiFi 6E router and compatible client devices.

WiFi 7 is the latest and greatest WiFi standard with compatible WAPs now being released. WiFi 7 offers an incredible theoretical speed of up to 40 Gbps.

There are not many client devices currently compatible with this standard, but WiFi 7 WAPs are also backward compatible with WiFi 6 and WiFi 5.

Wireless Coverage & Range 

Possibly the main reason for purchasing a WAP is to improve the network coverage to reach all areas of your home.

Reviewing the coverage of individual WAPs is crucial to ensure you get the right product for your home setup.

The coverage advertised on a specific product is theoretical and does not factor in various nuances within the home that can impact the coverage.

Generally, WAPs should reach up to 2,000 sq. ft in coverage, provided they are installed in a location where there is minimal interference or obstructions.

We recommend installing the device on the ceiling to achieve the best possible coverage.

Coverage is also dependent on the frequency band available; the lower the frequency band the better the coverage. For example, the 2.4 GHz frequency offers the best coverage while the 6 GHz band offers the weakest coverage.

If you are having coverage issues, changing the frequency band you are connected to may improve the performance.

Number Of Access Points Needed  

For the majority of homes and workplaces, investing in one WAP will be sufficient to enable coverage to every corner of the location.

In these cases, simply choose the WiFi standard and features you prefer and ensure they align with your router.

Most WAPs require individual unit management which should be manageable if you only have a single unit.

For these cases, it is preferable to have a locally managed setup, rather than needing to log into a web portal to manage it remotely.

Managing individual WAPs from different brands can be a pain so try to avoid this setup if you want multiple WAPs.

Instead, you should opt for products that operate with an ecosystem so that you can centrally manage it. Good ecosystem WAP setups include the UniFi from Ubiquiti or Omada from TP-Link.

While other ecosystems are available, the advantage of these ecosystems is that no ongoing subscription is required.

WiFi Access Point vs Mesh System vs WiFi Extenders 

WAPs, mesh systems, and WiFi extenders are all options to improve network coverage at home.

WAPs create an isolated WiFi network to which users connect. The network is created by connecting the WAP to the router via an ethernet or network cable.

Through this wired connection, the WAP can access low-latency bandwidth and transmit fast and reliable signals.

However, establishing the wired connection can be a pain and users have to log in to the network separately from the main network.

Mesh systems create a seamless WiFi network throughout the home by connecting a main router to nodes (satellites) which are then strategically placed throughout the home.

The AI-mesh technology hands off connections between devices based on the user’s location to ensure are always accessing the nearest WiFi access point. The downside is that mesh systems are pricey and can be complex to set up.

WiFi extenders are the most affordable and simplest solution to extending WiFi coverage at home. These devices need to be plugged in and then connected to the main router.

Once connected, the extender creates a new local network for users to connect to. The downside of WiFi extenders is that extender can use up to 50% total network bandwidth per device, while users also need to log to a separate network.

Ultimately, the ideal choice out of the three options is dependent on your budget, property size, and number of internet users.

WAPs might be best for those who are hosting an Airbnb, Mesh systems are best for large properties with a big budget, while extenders may be best for smaller properties with multiple users.

Wireless Access Point FAQs

What is a wireless access point.

A wireless access point (WAP) is a device that extends your household network coverage and works similarly to a WiFi Extender with one key difference: the AP connects to the router through a network cable and not wirelessly.

This wired connection is significant as the WAP can access low-latency bandwidth compared to WiFi extenders which take up to 50% of network bandwidth per device.

What The Difference Between A Wireless Access Point And A Router? 

Routers offer wireless or wired connectivity for many end-users, while a WAP is designed to serve wireless users only.

The WAP offers additional wireless connection capacity to the existing router network.

When Should I Use A WiFi Access Point?  

A WAP is best deployed in a scenario where you have multiple users in a part of the home or workplace wanting access to the internet, which has weak or no access to the main router network.

Provided the wired connection is feasible, the WAP can be installed in that section of the property so that users can access the extended local network.

How To Setup A Wireless Access Point?  

To set up a WAP follow the steps below.

• Step One: Find the ideal location for the device. This should be in a spot that is accessible via a wired connection to the router but also has minimal obstacles.
• Step Two: If the device requires connection to a power source, plug it in. If it uses PoE connection proceed to step three.
• Step Three: Connect the WAP to the router via an ethernet or network cable via the LAN port.
• Step Four: Once the devices have acknowledged each other’s presence, the WAP should be ready to use. WAP settings can be altered on the computer using the IP address listed in the product manual.

Final Words

Hopefully, you can now decide which wireless access point to get for your home or workplace.

Our editor’s choice for the best wireless access point is the Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD. It is a Wave 2 4*4 MU-MIMO AC1200 wireless access point that can be powered using an 802.3af Power over Ethernet source and comes with one Gigabit port.

Refer to the buying guide for more information that will help you in the decision process.

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Best WAP of 2024

The best WAP (Wireless Access Points) for the office and home office

• 1. Best overall
• 2. Best Cisco
• 3. Best for reliability
• 4. Best on a budget
• 5. Best for remote access
• 6. Best for streaming
• 7. Best for outdoors
• 8. Best for speed
• 9. Best for WiFi 7
• 10. Best for powerlines

The best WAP devices are built to improve your Wi-Fi speeds and experience - if you're dreading yet another call to your ISP, a Wireless Access Point may be exactly what your office (or home office) needs. 

You might not be able to see those internet black spots and dead zones that infiltrate your business or home office, but you can certainly feel the constant frustration as the connection drops, with productivity grinding to a halt. A Wireless Access Point (WAP) means you'll get a great Wi-Fi connection everywhere you go. But which are the top units out there today?

Our team of experts have tested hundreds of networking devices, from the best small business routers to the best powerline adapters - so, when it comes to the best WAP devices, we know what you need to look out for and what to avoid. Going hands-on with each model, we compared speeds, size, as well as features such as remote access for IT professionals. 

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Best WAP overall

1. Netgear WAX214 WiFi 6 PoE+ Access Point

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Netgear has designed the WAX214 to be surprisingly simple to set up and install at your office or home. While it may not allow for as many concurrent users as more expensive options, it’s an affordable solution that supports Wi-Fi 6 and works just as well in a large home as in an office. 

The WAX214 includes mounting brackets on its underside, as it should be placed either high up on a wall or, ideally, on the ceiling. It’s worth noting that this unit doesn’t come with a power adapter as it supports Power over Ethernet (PoE). Using a LAN cable, you’ll need a PoE switch or injector to power the device. It features a dual-band WAP with support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and Netgear says it can handle up to 128 devices simultaneously.

Read our full Netgear WAX214 WiFi 6 PoE+ Access Point review

Get the best deal on Netgear products with our Netgear coupon codes .

• ^ Back to the top

Best Cisco WAP

2. Cisco CBW150AX Access Point

The Cisco CBW150AX Wi-Fi 6 access point does a good job at providing fast wireless Internet access across several rooms. Its processor is powerful enough to handle multiple connections over many WLANs while using additional mesh adapters helps increase the access point's range. Installation requires a few steps with clear instructions given on the mobile application.

Booting the access point can take a lot of time, but once the unit is up, it will stay operational without performance degradation for a long time. The CBW150AX offers features such as a firewall and an RF optimization mode for less than $130. It would have been great if it had been accessible from the cloud. Connected clients cannot be named or blocked off the network, which makes it less appealing if one wants to limit access to the Internet.

Read our full Cisco CBW150AX Access Point review

Best WAP for reliability

3. Zyxel WAX610D WiFi 6 PoE Access Point

The WAX610D WAP from Zyxel can be wall or ceiling-mounted to bring WiFi 6 to your home office or business reliably. The device itself is made from quality components. Zyxel has included extras like an anti-noise spreader, surge and ESD protection, and a 4G/5G filter to minimize interference from cellular networks. 

The WAX610D also packs a powerful quad-core CPU, two Ethernet ports (one at 2.5Gbps), and best-in-class internal antennas. While it may be slightly higher than the competition, the WAX610D can be managed remotely via an app and a free cloud service.

Read our full Zyxel WAX610D WiFi 6 PoE Access Point review

Best budget WAP

4. Cisco 240AC Wi-Fi 5 Access Point

Although Wi-Fi 6 may be the latest and greatest, Wi-Fi 5 still has a lot to offer, and the 240AC from Cisco is a well-built and affordable WAP to meet the needs of most users. The 240AC sports a Qualcomm quad-core CPU with 1GB of RAM and 256MB of Flash memory, and Cisco says that up to 400 clients can use this WAP simultaneously. 

Wall mounting holes can be found at the unit's base, and it also ships with a flat Ethernet cable to power it when connected to a PoE Ethernet switch. This WAP’s range can also be extended further when paired with the company’s 142AC mesh extender.

Read our full Cisco 240AC Wi-Fi 5 Access Point review

Best WAP for remote access

5. TP-Link EAP660HD Wi-Fi 6 Access Point

With the EAP660HD, TP-Link refreshes its small and home office product line with Wi-Fi 6 technology. The access point featuring remote management and high-gain antennas comes in an imposing plastic case. It feels solid and accommodates eight antennas for the two radio bands the EAP660HD serves. A quad-core Qualcomm CPU and a generous amount of memory guarantee good responsiveness. It supports up to 16 SSIDs and multiple concurrent connections streaming video content with very few packet drops.

But where the EAP660HD shines is with the software and tech support that TP-Link provides. First, it is very easy to access the AP remotely, even across the Internet, thanks to the Omada Cloud application. The AP software is regularly updated when potential vulnerabilities are found, and an easy-to-use mobile application is available both for Android and iPhone. Its main drawback is not using the Wi-Fi 6 to its full potential, as the EAP660HD uses an 80MHz bandwidth for the 5GHz band.

Read our full TP-Link EAP660HD Wi-Fi 6 Access Point review

Best WAP for streaming

6. Zyxel WAX630S WiFi 6 Access Point

For a Zyxel access point, the WAX630S isn’t the most expensive it makes, but it’s also not the cheapest either.

The attractive features of this design include support for six simultaneous streams, with four over 5GHz and another two using 2.4GHz, a 2.5GbE PoE LAN connection, and a sophisticated internal antenna array.

When combined with special hardware filters, the antenna design reduces the interference from 5G/4G masts and other wireless transmitters. This unit has also been configured to work equally well if it is wall or ceiling-mounted, enabling more flexibility for deployment.

Part of the range of hardware that works with Zyxel’s cloud-based Nebula management tools, the WAX630S is a sophisticated access point built for city office installation and other challenging wireless environments.

Unfortunately, it's priced accordingly and competes with similar or better specification hardware at a lower price point. If it were to become cheaper, many IT professionals might find the WAX630S an attractive proposition.

Read our full Zyxel WAX630S review

Best WAP for outdoors

7. EnGenius EWS850AP Outdoor Access Point

The EWS850AP is a mesh-enabled WAP from EnGenius that is ideal for businesses that operate outdoors, but it can also be used in your home if you want full wireless coverage in your backyard. As the device is powered over Ethernet, a 1Gbit PoE injector is included, so you don’t have to buy your own. 

As the EWS850AP is intended for outdoor use, EnGenius includes all the hardware needed to mount it directly on a wall or a metal pole. One downside, though is that it only has a 2x2 WiFi configuration which means that it only supports two channels on each frequency with its four antennas. Still, though, for a 2x2 WiFi 6 access point, the EWS850AP has excellent performance, and it can also connect via 2.5GbE, but you will need to purchase a separate PoE injector.

Read our full EnGenius EWS850AP Outdoor Access Point review

Best WAP for speed

8. Zyxel NWA220AX-6E

The Zyxel’s NWA220AX-6E provides an immediate speed uplift thanks to the 6GHz band brought by the new WiFi 6E standard. It easily outperforms wired 1Gb Ethernet with dedicated radio amplifiers and a great antenna. The limited drop in throughput, even at ten meters or more, makes the access point a piece of equipment central to any small office or during work-from-home periods.

The Nebula cloud system provides an exceptional view of the network and provides devices’ health data points and if any bottleneck is present. At just under $150, the new Zyxel’s access point is an affordable upgrade to a home or office infrastructure, which can also serve as an Ethernet extender thanks to a second Gigabit LAN port.

Read our full Zyxel NWA220AX-6E review

Best WAP for WiFi 7

9. EnGenius ECW536

Thanks to the new Wi-Fi 7 standard, the EnGenius ECW536 takes wireless networks to the next level by adding more range and bandwidth. The range should be as good as previous 5GHz access points. The increase in bandwidth results from using a better encoding algorithm, quadrupling the throughput compared to Wi-Fi 6. These gains come with higher power dissipation and a more expensive unit. A 10G LAN infrastructure supporting PoE is required to use the AP to its fullest potential.

EnGenius offers a 5-year warranty on the ECW536 and customer support via online chat, phone, or email. The AP has cloud access, allowing network inspection and problem resolution remotely.

Read our full EnGenius ECW536 review .

Best WAP for powerlines

10. Netgear Powerline 500 Wi-Fi Access Point

The final device on our list is an outlier since it’s technically a powerline adapter. Still, the Powerline 500 Wi-Fi Access Point from Netgear can help extend your network by using the power lines in your home or business to carry the network further before turning it into a wireless signal. While the adapters included in this package are quite small, they can only deliver 100 Mbps per second over Ethernet and 300 Mbps via the access point.

Read our full Netgear Powerline 500 Wi-Fi Access Point review

Best WAP: Frequently asked questions

What is a wap.

A Wireless Access Point (WAP) can be an excellent solution if the Wi-Fi signal from your router isn’t covering the entirety of your home or office.

As is often the case, a router’s Wi-Fi signal may not cover your whole property, and you’ll have dead spots as you move farther away from your router. Fortunately, a WAP can address these by boosting a router’s signal further.

At the same time, this connectivity boost can allow you to connect more devices to your Wi-Fi network, which can be especially useful if you have a lot of smart home or connected devices in your house or office.

We’ve also tested the best wireless routers and the best small business routers

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Steve is TechRadar Pro’s B2B Editor for Creative & Hardware. He explores the apps and devices for individuals and organizations that thrive on design and innovation. A former journalist at Web User magazine, he's covered software and hardware news, reviews, features, and guides. He's previously worked on content for Microsoft, Sony, and countless SaaS & product design firms. Once upon a time, he wrote commercials and movie trailers. Relentless champion of the Oxford comma.

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Specifications

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Omada Pro AX5400 Ceiling Mount WiFi 6 Access Point

• Blazing-Fast WiFi 6 Speeds: Simultaneous 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 4804 Mbps on 5 GHz totals 5378 Mbps WiFi speeds. †
• Intelligent Anomaly Detection and Analysis : Supports multi-dimensional anomaly detection and analysis for improved IT maintenance efficiency. △
• Centralized Cloud Management : Omada SDN integration manages the whole network locally or from the cloud via web UI or Omada app.
• 160 MHz Channel : Double the data at peak transmission times on a single stream with HE160. ‡
• Seamless Roaming : Video streams and voice calls are unaffected as users move between locations. △
• Omada Mesh: Enables wireless connectivity between access points for extended range and flexible deployment. △
• PoE+ Powered : Supports both 802.3at PoE+ and DC (adapter included) power supply for flexible installations.

What This Product Does

AP9670, the Omada Pro AX5400 Ceiling Mount WiFi 6 Access Point, provides overall 5378 Mbps speeds with WiFi 6 technologies, such as HE160, 1024 QAM, Long OFDM Symbol, and more. † A built-in 2.5G Ethernet port ensures high network throughput. PoE+ supported also provides flexible installations.

Integrated into the Omada Software Defined Networking (SDN) solution, AP9670 runs in an efficient management way. Centralized and remote management liberate managers and reduce maintenance costs.

Enterprise-Grade WiFi 6 Speed and Connectivity

· Blazing-Fast AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 Speeds High-end business WiFi 6 with speeds up to 5378 Mbps brings 2.6-time speeds than WiFi 5. 1024 QAM ensures 25% more data encoded at one time. Long OFDM Symbol helps 11% faster WiFi speed. HE160 doubles the data at peak transmission times on a single stream. †

· Higher Efficiency for More Devices Wi-Fi 6 features such as OFDMA and MU-MIMO handle multiple clients across congested environments like typical office spaces, lodging, and hospitals. Enjoy faster speeds on more devices with less lag. Enjoy faster speeds on more devices with less lag. ‡

Boosted Network Security and Efficiency

Customizable WIDS △ and adaptive WIPS △ assist in safeguarding critical data and network resources. Intelligent Anomaly Detection and Analysis △ guarantees 24/7 automatic network anomaly analysis to offer timely optimization advice. AP9670 also provides secure WiFi access along with multiple authentication options (SMS/Voucher/RADIUS) and abundant wireless security technologies, such as WPA3 for worry-free open public networks.

Auto Channel Selection and Power Adjustment * provides powerful wireless performance while significantly reducing WiFi interference by automatically adjusting the channel settings and transmission power levels of neighboring APs in the same network. Band Steering automatically moves dual band devices onto the wider 5GHz band for faster connections. Load Balance ensures large numbers of users have smooth network experiences in high-density business networks. Airtime Fairness increases average network throughput in heavily congested environments.

Cloud Centralized Management

The Omada Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform provides 100% centralized cloud management and creates a highly scalable network controlled from a single interface. Seamless wireless connections are provided, making them ideal for use in hotels, educatio n, retail, offices, and more. Zero-Touch Provisioning * allows admins to remotely deploy and configure multi-site networks, so there’s no need to send out an engineer for on-site configuration.

Easy Deployment

Intelligent software and quality hardware designs together lead to simple deployment. With Automated Radio Frequency Deployment △ , AP9670 efficiently optimizes RF deployment by scanning the surrounding area 24/7, improving the performance and quality of wireless networks.   With Omada Mesh △ ，AP9670   saves you from extra wires by wirelessly extending your WiFi signal further and more flexibly to hard-to-wire areas. And intelligent self-organization optimizes the best path between EAPs while self-healing ensures you stay online even when one AP is disrupted. Additionally, supporting DC, 802.3at PoE+, and passive PoE, flexible product installation is at your fingertips.  With the compact case design, AP9670 can be installed in 2 steps: simply push and rotate.

† Maximum wireless signal rates are the physical rates derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. Actual wireless data throughput and wireless coverage are not guaranteed and will vary as a result of 1) environmental factors, including building materials, physical objects, and obstacles, 2) network conditions, including local interference, volume and density of traffic, product location, network complexity, and network overhead, and 3) client limitations, including rated performance, location, connection, quality, and client condition.

‡ Use of WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and its features, including OFDMA, HE160, and 1024-QAM, require clients to support the corresponding features. The 160 MHz bandwidth is only available on the 5 GHz band. It may be unavailable in some regions/countries due to regulatory restrictions. The double channel width refers to 160 MHz compared to 80 MHz for general WiFi 6 APs.

* These functions require the use of Omada Pro Cloud-Based Controller. Go to https://www.tp-link.com/en/omada-cloud-based-controller/product-list/ to confirm which models are compatible with Omada Cloud-Based Controller.

△ These functions require the use of an Omada Pro SDN controller. 

** The actual capacity depends on the wireless environment and client traffic and is generally less than the maximum number of client connections.

§ Coverage value is calculated based on laboratory testing. Actual coverage is not guaranteed and will vary as a result of client limitations and environmental factors.

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TP-Link EAP610-Outdoor Omada True WiFi6 AX1800 Gigabit Outdoor Access Point Mesh, Seamless Roaming, MU-MIMO PoE+ Powered IP67 Multiple SDN Controller Remote & App Control Support RE Mode

AX1800 Outdoor

Purchase options and add-ons

About this item.

• 𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐚-𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐖𝐢-𝐅𝐢 𝟔 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬: Designed with the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology featuring 1024-QAM and Long OFDM Symbol, the EAP610-Outdoor boosts dual-band Wi-Fi speeds up to 1800 Mbps.
• 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫/𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐔𝐬𝐞: The durable, IP67 weatherproof enclosure with dedicated high gain antennas protects the access point against harsh outdoor conditions and provides the best outdoor wireless experiences. Discreet appearance can also fit with any indoor scenarios.
• 𝐖𝐢𝐅𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝: Extend your existing wireless coverage by repeating the wireless signal. Can be setup via standalone mode or Omada app.
• 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐒𝐃𝐍: Omada's Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform integrates network devices including access points, switches & gateways with multiple control options offered - Omada Hardware controller, Omada Software Controller or Omada cloud-based controller*(Contact TP-Link for Cloud-Based Controller Plan Details). Standalone mode also applies.
• 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 & 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Remote Cloud access and Omada app enables centralized cloud management of the whole network from different sites—all controlled from a single interface anywhere, anytime. For devices that are compatible with SDN firmware, please visit ‘From the manufacturer – Q&A’ section or TP-Link website.
• 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡: Supports Mesh WiFi, Seamless Roaming*(Omada Mesh & Seamless Roaming require the use of Omada SDN controllers), Band Steering, Load Balancing, Airtime Fairness and Beamforming technologies.
• 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐄 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Supports both 802.3at PoE & 48V/0.5A Passive PoE power supply, can be either powered by a PoE+ switch or the provided PoE adapter, making deployment effortless and flexible.
• 𝟐 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐲: Backed by our industry-leading 2-years warranty and free technical support from 6am to 6pm PST Monday to Fridays, you can work with confidence.

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Important information

Legal disclaimer.

1. Maximum wireless transmission rates are the physical rates derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. Range and coverage specifications are based upon test results under normal usage conditions. Actual wireless transmission rate and wireless coverage are not guaranteed and will vary as a result of 1) environmental factors, including building materials, physical objects and obstacles, 2) network conditions, including local interference, volume and density of traffic, product location, network complexity, and network overhead and 3) client limitations, including rated performance, location, connection quality, and client condition. 2. Actual network speed may be limited by the rate of the product's Ethernet WAN or LAN port, the rate supported by the network cable, Internet service provider factors and other environmental conditions.

Top Brand: TP-Link

From the brand.

TP-Link Omada’s Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform integrates network devices, including access points, switches and gateways, providing 100% centralized cloud management. Omada creates a highly scalable network—all controlled from a single interface. Seamless wireless and wired connections are provided, ideal for use in hospitality, education, retail, offices, and more.

Full Remote Management

Remote cloud access and the Omada app provide centralized management of your entire network all on a single interface.

High-Density Wi-Fi 6 APs

Omada Wi-Fi 5 APs

Omada Managed Switches

Omada Gateways & Controllers

Multi-Gig Switches

What are the eap models & versions compatible with sdn.

These models are designed to be compatible SDN platforms: EAP225 v3, EAP245 v3, EAP265 HD, EAP660 HD, EAP610, EAP620 HD, EAP115 v4, EAP110-Outdoor v3, EA225-Outdoor, EAP615-Wall, EAP235-Wall and so on.

What are the Switch Models & Versions compatible with Software Defined-Networking?

These models are designed to be compatible SDN platforms: TL-SG2008P, TL-SG2428P, TL-SG3452P, TL-SG2008 V3, TL-SG3452, TL-SG3210 V3, TL-SG2210P V3, TL-SG2210MP, TL-SG3210XHP-M2, TL-SG3428MP, TL-SG3428XMP, TL-SG3428X, TL-SX3008F, TL-SL2428P V4 and so on.

From the manufacturer

Ultra-Fast Wi-Fi 6 Speeds

Powered by the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, the EAP610-Outdoor delivers speeds of up to 1.8 Gbps, utilizing both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands for demanding multi-user scenarios.

Long-Range Coverage with Multi-Device Efficiency

The EAP610-Outdoor features professional antennas with high-power amplifiers to provide strong and expansive wireless coverage. Utilizing Wi-Fi 6 technology, like OFDMA and MU-MIMO, the EAP610-Outdoor improves overall wireless experience by improving multi-device performance.

Standalone Outdoor Extender

When used in standalone mode, the EAP610-Outdoor can be used as an outdoor wireless extender, with IP67 rating and long-range coverage.

Smart Antenna Technology

Using professional antenna arrays and intelligent algorithms, TP-Link Smart Antenna technology brings lower interference, longer coverage, and higher performance.

Seamless Roaming & Omada Mesh

With the Omada Controller, the EAP610-Outdoor supports seamless roaming - ensuring that users will always connect to the most optimal access point. Furthermore, the it supports Omada Mesh technology – using existing wireless signal to connect to the network and reducing redundant cabling.

Flexible Mounting Options

Provided mounting kits allow for either wall/pole mounting – perfect for indoor or outdoor installation.

Flexible Deployment with PoE+/Passive PoE

With both PoE+/Passive PoE support, flexibly install EAP610-Outdoor anywhere.

Omada SDN with Flexible Management and Cloud Access

Omada SDN integrates network devices including access points, gateway & switches w/ multiple control options offered: Hardware Controller, Software Controller, or Cloud-Based Controller.

What are the EAP Models & Versions compatible with Software Defined Networking (SDN)?

These models are designed to be compatible SDN platforms: EAP650-Outdoor and EAP610-Outdoor and all Omada Wi-Fi 6 Access Points, EAP225 v3/EAP245 v4/EAP110-Outdoor v3 and all above versions, EAP235-Wall and so on.

Can I use an SDN controller to manage Non-SDN devices?

No, in order to manage non-SDN devices, a non-SDN controller must be used.

Can I have Non-SDN devices and SDN devices working together on my network?

Currently, the use of non-SDN and SDN devices together on a network is not supported.

How can I manage my network?

Multiple options – Omada hardware controller, Omada software controller, or Omada cloud controller. Centralized cloud management allows for remote management of the entire network from different sites via a single interface.

How much is the SDN cloud-based controller plan?

Omada cloud-based controller plan may vary. Please contact TP-Link for further plan details.

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What's in the box.

• Access Point EAP610-Outdoor
• Passive PoE Adapter w/ Power Cord
• Mounting/Waterproof Kits
• Waterproof Antenna
• Installation Guide

Product guides and documents

Product information, warranty & support, looking for specific info, videos for this product.

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Product Overview Video

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See how quick the TP-Link outdoor Wi-Fi mesh can be install

Chris Lands

Product Description

AX1800 Indoor/Outdoor Wi-Fi 6 Access Point

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 79% 10% 3% 2% 5% 79%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 79% 10% 3% 2% 5% 10%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 79% 10% 3% 2% 5% 3%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 79% 10% 3% 2% 5% 2%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 79% 10% 3% 2% 5% 5%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers like the ease of setup of the networking router. They mention that the standard web configuration is simple and easy to navigate. They appreciate the good signal strength, and the excellent range. Customers are also impressed with the quality, saying that it's rock solid and reliable. They also appreciate appearance, value, and weatherproof. However, some customers have mixed opinions on performance.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the setup of the networking router to be easy. They mention that the access points are straightforward to set up and manage, with an intuitive and comprehensive admin interface. The router is easy to mount and the app is user friendly. The inclusion of the DC adapter makes setup a breeze, eliminating the need for additional purchases. Customers also say that the menu is easy navigate.

"...-Outdoor Access Point is a top choice for those seeking straightforward installation , powerful signal coverage, and weather-resistant performance." Read more

"...They use the same admin interface which I find very intuitive and comprehensive...." Read more

"... Setting up the access points was straightforward , and they work flawlessly with the TP-Link Omada controller...." Read more

" Very easy setup . I did it at 5am so that should say just how easy it was.Using it alone as a WAP ...." Read more

Customers like the connectivity of the router. They mention that it provides superior wireless coverage and performance, catches signal well from a router, and provides quality "whole house" WiFi without needing cables. Some say that the signal is cleaner and consistent, and that it offers reliable connectivity across outdoor spaces.

"...Its powerful signal strength guarantees reliable connectivity across outdoor spaces, providing seamless internet access...." Read more

"...They run stable and connections throughout the house are strong and consistent. The range seems very good as well...." Read more

"...After switching from a Nighthawk CAX80, these APs provide superior wireless coverage and performance ...." Read more

"...Tried to configure the WAP for hours and no clear instructions on why it doesn't connect ." Read more

Customers like the coverage of the router. They mention that it provides excellent range, especially for 5GHz and 2.4GHz signals, and has powerful signal coverage. They also say that it's easy to install and has a great coverage area. Some customers say that the range is approximately 500 feet to the front of the house and 800 feet to rear. Overall, most are satisfied with the coverage and recommend it to others.

"...a top choice for those seeking straightforward installation, powerful signal coverage , and weather-resistant performance." Read more

"...The range seems very good as well...." Read more

"... Signal is available all over backyard and land behind house. No issues whatsoever with AP. Highly recommended...." Read more

"...After running for a day, this outdoor AP is outstanding. Provides excellent range especially for 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz signals...." Read more

Customers are satisfied with the quality of the networking router. They mention that it is reliable, has a rock-solid build, and is substantial. Some say that the browser controls are very robust and that the signal strength is robust. Overall, most are happy with the price, hardware, and specs for an outdoor-rated router.

"...Access Point stands out for its easy installation process, robust signal strength , and weatherproof design...." Read more

"...improved the consistency of my home network, providing a more stable and reliable connection throughout the house, providing...." Read more

"... seems well built and I hope it lasts many years!" Read more

Customers are satisfied with the appearance of the networking router. For example, they mention it's well-built, has a clean look, and is easy to manage. Some appreciate the slim design and the Wi-Fi 6 technology.

"...a bit more speed capacity than the EAP225 APs, and also a more streamlined aesthetic ...." Read more

"...There's also an outdoor version, which is handy. Form factor is nice , also... these are pretty small for a business-oriented AP, about 6" diameter..." Read more

"Works very just like I expected. Also look good mounted on ceiling in my Kitchen.b" Read more

"...This AP is extremely easy to manage and is very cool ...." Read more

Customers appreciate the value of the networking router. They say it's an excellent investment with great features for the price.

"...Overall, the EAP610 access points are an excellent investment for anyone looking to upgrade their Wi-Fi network." Read more

"... Inexpensive for feature set and performance- Outdoor version availableCons:-..." Read more

"This is an excellent product . I have it POE at the end of 440 ft of buried CAT6 hanging off a TP-Link 4 Port 65W switch...." Read more

"...The build quality is better.FEATURES: This is the best price , hardware, and specs for an outdoor-rated access point...." Read more

Customers are satisfied with the weatherproof construction of the router. They mention that it ensures durability and performance even in harsh outdoor environments. The router is IP67 waterproof rated, so it should withstand harsh outdoor conditions. The area where the cable attaches is waterproof, covered by a clever cap that screws into the bottom.

"...Additionally, its weatherproof construction ensures durability and performance even in harsh environmental conditions...." Read more

"...There's also an outdoor version , which is handy...." Read more

"...This AP seems quite reliable outdoors . Time will tell as I live in a cold Western NY climate where wind and snow storms are quite common...." Read more

"...It only comes with weatherproofing between the ethernet cable and access point, so you will need more weatherproofing if using the poe switch." Read more

Customers are mixed about the performance of the networking router. Some mention that the setup was super easy, and the performance has been great, stable, and works perfectly in their office. However, others say that the speed drops off drastically, and it's slow with obstructions. Some customers also say that it renders cameras useless at times with poor connection speeds.

"...These have a bit more speed capacity than the EAP225 APs, and also a more streamlined aesthetic...." Read more

"...While the extender definitely gave me better signal strength, speed dropped still hung and it did not like streaming at all...." Read more

"...Setting up the access points was straightforward, and they work flawlessly with the TP-Link Omada controller...." Read more

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TP-Link EAP610-Outdoor WiFi6 AX1800 Review

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