Frequent travelers who suffer from poor cell phone service, questionable security, and expensive hotel and airport Wi-Fi charges could benefit from a good travel router when working away from home. I can.
The best wireless travel routers avoid this hassle by allowing you to set up a private Wi-Fi bubble wherever you are, including a conference center, hotel room, or airport lounge.
Most people should purchase the TP-Link TL-WR902AC. It’s small enough to fit in your backpack and doubles as a Wi-Fi range extender. If you also need a cellular connection as a backup, the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is a great choice, as it doubles as a mobile hotspot in your hotel room or car.
Best overall
TP-Link Travel Router TL-WR902AC
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Amazon
TP-Link’s TL-WR902AC is one of the fastest travel routers we’ve seen, especially for its size and price. Measuring 2.64 x 2.91 x 0.9 inches and weighing just 8 ounces, it’s small enough to carry in your pocket, briefcase, or backpack, so you can set up your own Wi-Fi bubble anywhere.
The TL-WR902AC offers excellent dual-band Wi-Fi performance for such a small device. It’s also extremely versatile, as it can be used not only as a router or access point to create a wireless network, but also as a range extender, private Wi-Fi hotspot, or bridge to connect wired devices to Wi-Fi. . Use the built-in Ethernet port in the reverse direction to create a Fi network.
The built-in USB port allows you to share files and media from removable USB storage devices and also provides up to 2A of pass-through power to charge your smartphone or tablet. The only real downside is the awkward port layout, with the USB and micro-USB power ports on the opposite side of the Ethernet port.
Wireless specifications: 802.11ac | safety: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: AC750 | band: dual band | Mewmimo: No | Beamforming: No | Wired port: 1
best splurge
Netgear Nighthawk M1
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Amazon
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The best choice for heavy internet users
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Supports up to 20 Wi-Fi devices at once
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long battery life
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Also works as a mobile hotspot
It’s not the most affordable option on this list, but it’s worth the splurge if you need multiple devices to connect to the internet at lightning speeds everywhere.
Netgear’s Nighthawk MR1100 supports up to 20 simultaneous devices, allowing you to quickly handle your entire family or project team. Also, unlike most travel routers on this list, this router also doubles as his 4G LTE mobile hotspot. This means you can connect to a Wi-Fi network and go online even if you don’t have any other Wi-Fi or Ethernet connections. It is also the first mobile hotspot to support Gigabit LTE with 4X4 MIMO and 4-band carrier aggregation. Therefore, it can provide internet speeds comparable to home broadband connections.
But not just LTE, the MR1100 can also function as a traditional portable router. Simply connect a standard Internet connection to the Ethernet port to share access to your Wi-Fi devices. A large 2.4-inch color LCD screen ensures you know the status of your router and how much data you’re using. The rechargeable battery can last up to 24 hours before needing a charge, and in a pinch, you can use some of its capacity to charge your smartphone or other mobile device.
Wireless specifications: 802.11ac/4G LTE | safety: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: AC750 | band: dual band | Mewmimo: No | Beamforming: No | Wired port: 1
best range
TP-Link TL-WR802N N300 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router
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Amazon
TP-Link’s TL-WR802N is an older single-band router that offers amazing range in a small package. The single-band N300 won’t break any speed records in our review, but it provides enough performance for lag-free 4K Netflix streaming and uninterrupted video conferencing on Zoom.
Like most travel routers, the TL-WR802N is designed for use by one or two users on the go, and its 300Mbps 802.11n speed is faster than most hotel or conference center Internet connections. There may be. This little pocket-sized router offers great coverage, so you don’t have to worry about staying connected while roaming around the boardroom.
The N300 is powered via a micro USB port that connects directly to a wall charger or laptop, so you don’t have to worry about how it’s powered. It also works as a repeater, Wi-Fi client, or extender for public WISP hotspots. The only downside is that unlike its dual-band sibling, the TL-WR902AC, it doesn’t have a USB port, so you can’t use it for file sharing.
Wireless specifications: 802.11n | safety: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: N300 | band: Single band | Mewmimo: No | Beamforming: No | Wired port: 1
Perfect for road warriors
GL.iNet Mudi GL-E750
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Amazon
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expensive
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No external antenna
The GL.iNet GL-E750 router is an excellent choice for the on-the-go warrior who needs to stay connected safely and reliably no matter where they are.
Featuring WireGuard encryption, support for multiple open source VPN protocols, and even Tor anonymous network routing, this router will ensure even relatively advanced users always have a secure and private Internet connection. All your traffic is encrypted, whether it’s over your hotel’s shared network or your carrier’s LTE network, and you can even connect an always-on tunnel to your home or office network.
But it’s not just for mobile LTE access. It’s also a capable Wi-Fi access point, supporting dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz with 733 Mbps throughput on both bands. It also features a built-in battery that lasts up to 8 hours, a USB port and a microSD card slot. Can be used to share files with connected devices. Designed to be used anywhere, it also has a built-in rechargeable battery that promises up to 8 hours of use on a single charge.
Wireless specifications: 802.11ac/4G LTE | safety: WPA2 | Standard/Speed: AC750 | band: dual band | Mewmimo: No | Beamforming: No | Wired port: 1
Lifewire / Andy Zahn
What to look for in a travel router
Most routers on the market are large, bulky devices. This is a manageable issue if you park in the corner of your home, but it’s not a good idea if you’re taking your car around.
This created a whole new category of travel routers. These devices are specifically designed to be portable, often small enough to carry in your pocket, and powered by built-in batteries or a simple plug-in USB power connection. Connect to your laptop or portable battery pack to create your own personal Wi-Fi network.
Most importantly, public Wi-Fi hotspots are usually not secure, so a good travel router provides a private, encrypted Wi-Fi network for your traffic, with only a connection between your device and the router. and that the traffic sent from the router is also encrypted.
This means you can take it anywhere: between your home and the office, at a cafe where you need more secure Wi-Fi, or on the go for use in a hotel. , conference center and airport lounge.
Bandwidth and performance
When purchasing a router for your home, look for enough coverage to cover 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 supports 802.11n with speeds of 150 Mbps) is more than enough.
Wireless frequency: single band and dual band
Like other wireless routers, travel routers come in single-band and multi-band versions, which refers to the frequency. Single-band routers only operate on the 2.4 GHz frequency, while dual-band routers offer both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies in two separate bands.
Security and privacy
As a minimum, modern wireless travel routers should include support for the Wireless Protected Access 2 (WPA2) encryption standard. This is even more important for travel routers that will be used in more public spaces.
If you’re just streaming movies from Netflix, this probably isn’t that big of an issue, but if confidentiality is essential, we highly recommend using a virtual private network (VPN) when connecting through your travel router. Recommended. You can do this directly from your device, but you’ll find it’s even easier if you choose a travel router with built-in VPN support, which will automatically encrypt your connection as soon as you connect.
Connectivity
Almost all travel routers offer the same connectivity as your home router, turning your wired connection into a Wi-Fi network. However, with more and more hotels offering guest Wi-Fi networks instead of Ethernet jacks, you may find it more beneficial to get a travel router that can also connect to public Wi-Fi networks.
There is also a category of travel routers that act as mobile hotspots that provide Internet access to mobile devices over LTE cellular networks.
