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The Best Wireless Travel Routers of 2024

Pocket routers for Wi-Fi networking on the road

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In This Article

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

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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Cisco-Linksys WTR54GS Wireless G Travel Router with Speedbooster

About this item.

• Shares a wired or wireless Internet connection with SpeedBooster, Wireless-G and -B devices, and an Ethernet wired PC
• Create temporary, personal, wireless access in your hotel room or a coffee shop hotspot -- pushbutton easy
• Travel-friendly design with built-in power supply and antenna
• High security: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), wireless MAC address filtering, powerful SPI firewall
• Compatible with Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, or XP

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Product description.

Create a wireless network wherever you go! Compact Internet-sharing Router with built-in SpeedBooster enhanced Wireless-G Access Point, in a pocket-sized box. The antenna and power supply are built-in for travel convenience. The Linksys Wireless-G Travel Router with SpeedBooster lets you carry a wireless network wherever you go. There's a built-in access point, which lets you connect SpeedBooster-enhanced and regular Wireless-G and Wireless-B devices to the network. There's also an Ethernet port to connect your wired PC. The Router function ties it together and lets your PCs share a wired or wireless Internet connection. The travel-friendly form factor includes a built-in power supply and antenna -- it even comes with a travel case! Create a temporary, personal, wireless access ""bubble"" in your hotel room. Just plug the Router directly into the wall, and connect the hotel's fast Internet service cable. Then use the Router's push button setup feature to easily connect and configure your wireless devices -- push the button on the Router and on your other SecureEasySetup-enabled wireless device to automatically create an encryption-secured wireless connection. You can also create a shared-access bubble attached to a wireless Internet connection to use multiple devices on a single hotspot account in a coffee shop or airport lounge. To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Broadband Router can encode all wireless transmissions with WEP or extra-strength WPA Personal encryption. The Router can serve as a DHCP Server, has a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most known Internet attacks, and supports VPN pass-through. Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration utility.

From the Manufacturer

The Linksys Wireless-G Travel Router with SpeedBooster lets you bring the convenience of wireless networking everywhere you go.

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Product information, customer reviews.

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 size, power adapter, and travel of the router. For example, they mention it's small enough to fit into their bag, has a built-in world-wide AC adapter and is great for travel. That said, opinions are mixed on ease of use, value, and performance.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers like the quality of the router. For example, some say it's superb, nice, and well designed. That said, most are happy with it and find it attractive for travelers.

"I thought this is a very well designed router except for one flaw that I encountered...." Read more

"I have just received this unit and it is superb !..." Read more

"...inclusive unit (no extra wires or power adapters) makes it extra attractive for travelers ." Read more

"...extremely reasonably priced (at least when I bought it), with a great form factor , and at least one unique capability...." Read more

Customers find the router great for travel, and a superb travel companion. They also say it's a fine portable product that goes with them everywhere.

"...Functionally, however, this is a nice little router for travelers . Just try it at home before a trip so you won't be frustrated on the road." Read more

"Just as advertised, this makes for an ideal travel router for use in a hotel room...." Read more

"This Linksys Travel Router is a fine portable product , and the one Ethernet port is convenient as it allows me to plug my office VOIP into it;..." Read more

"This is an excellent travel router , extremely reasonably priced (at least when I bought it), with a great form factor, and at least one unique..." Read more

Customers are satisfied with the size of the router. They mention that it's small enough to fit into their bag and yet it performs extremely well. They also appreciate the durable case and the fact that it comes with a great router in a super-small package.

"It's one of the most compact travel routers out there and is fairly easy to set up...." Read more

"This wireless router is a very convenient size and configuration, but the setup wasn't transparent...." Read more

"...On a positive note, the device is tiny and comes with a durable case and nice Cat-5 cord. The retractable plug is a nice touch...." Read more

"...So not only is this great for travel (with the 110-240 volt range, small size , etc.)..." Read more

Customers like the compatibility of the router. They mention that it can bridge wireless networks, connect to the internet wirelessly, and support 802.11n. It's a portable product, and the one Ethernet port is convenient.

"...It supports both access point mode and wireless extender mode , and works quite well. It also supports 802.11n." Read more

"...The novelty in this unit is that it may also connect to the internet wirelessly (other than the usual broadband wired connection)...." Read more

"...Linksys Travel Router is a fine portable product, and the one Ethernet port is convenient as it allows me to plug my office VOIP into it; though do..." Read more

"...What makes it special is that it can bridge wireless networks . The source can not be encrypted...." Read more

Customers are satisfied with the power adapter of the networking router. They mention that it has a built-in world-wide AC adapter that eliminates the need for an external power adaptor.

"...The built-in world-wide AC adapter is a nice touch (no separate wall-wart AC adapter). However, the quality on these devices is quite bad...." Read more

"...I really like the fact that there is no power adapter and the fact that plug retracts..." Read more

"...Unlike some of the competition, I find the built in power-supply to really cut down on clutter...." Read more

"...The fact that it is all inclusive unit ( no extra wires or power adapters ) makes it extra attractive for travelers." Read more

Customers are mixed about the ease of use of the networking router. Some mention it's very easy to setup and use, while others say it'll be too difficult to set up. The setup software would not run on their laptop and the configuration wasn't transparent.

"It's one of the most compact travel routers out there and is fairly easy to set up ...." Read more

"This wireless router is a very convenient size and configuration , but the setup wasn't transparent...." Read more

"...Note: the Easy Setup software would not run on my laptop and I was obliged to set up manually "Not Recommended" via instructions from the user..." Read more

"...The first was easy - just follow the setup wizard. Or if you have other "smart" LinkSys products, just press the button...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the performance of the router. Some mention that it performs extremely well, while others say that the wireless connection to the internet doesn't work.

"... Performance is satisfactory ...." Read more

" Worked great for 1 year , I thought I could use this at home all the tme beasue of my space limitation. It lasted 1 year and burned out...." Read more

"...UPDATE: The new one didn't work any better . As it turns out, there was a bug in the firmware that Linksys never fixed...." Read more

"... All works superbly !" Read more

Customers are mixed about the value of the router. Some mention it's an excellent travel router that is reasonably priced, while others say it'd be a waste of money and disappointing.

"...end up returning it before ever trying, though, because it did not meet my intial needs ." Read more

"...is no bigger than the Apple Airport Extreme travel router, but it's much cheaper . What makes it special is that it can bridge wireless networks...." Read more

" Very disappointing ..." Read more

"Great purchase at a great price . Easy to use. No complaints. Just plug it in and start using the Internet." Read more

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