Best Portable Wi-Fi: Wireless connectivity is critical today to facilitate user mobility and provide Internet access in any circumstance. That is why we compile the best portable Wi-Fi routers in this guide. Those that are not only limited to being placed on our desk but others that use the LTE and 4G network to ensure a connection to the network of networks, the Internet.

And since we will not give the keys to these sections and the different models, we can find their most outstanding advantages and characteristics. So without further ado, we hope yours is here!

What is a Portable Wi-Fi Router?

The router is a network device responsible for identifying and routing data packets between two or more networks, facilitating their interconnection to ensure the services requested by the client, that is, us.

A router works at layer 3 of the OSI model, the network link layer. For this reason, it is in charge of interconnecting two computers from different networks. In addition, this team is responsible for creating the internal network in which our devices are, providing a private IP address through DHCP. This LAN isolates it from the WAN network, the Internet, to ensure our privacy.

Well, a portable Wi-Fi router does precisely this, just like any other router that our ISP provides us or that we buy on our own. These peculiarities are that they do not need a WAN network cable to access the Internet but use the wireless means available in our environment. We mean the LTE network, 3G, 4G and now 5G. These routers have a SIM card slot or a 4G modem port, so they are networked access points that we can take anywhere and with which to consume our mobile data rate.

Other devices, such as the GL.iNET Slate, also allow a private connection to the Internet from a public Wi-Fi provider, for example, a school or a restaurant. In addition, it has VPN functions, a hotspot, a standard wired WAN connection and many more.

Advantages Of Having A Portable Wi-Fi Router

Having portable Wi-Fi is a tremendous advantage at practically all levels of Internet access.

But its true purpose is not simply to ensure a connection to chat or view our social networks. Many of these users work through the Internet and are constantly travelling. Therefore they need a portable Wi-Fi router with a secure and reliable connection for their PC since working from a Smartphone is not very comfortable.

Many of these routers integrate their own 4G or 5G modem. The modem allows us to translate analogue signals into digital ones and works directly on the physical layer of the network model. Our Smartphone has a modem inside it to solve the frequencies into electrical signals and thus connect us to the network. The same thing happens in routers. It means that we will not need a 4G flash drive in most cases to use our portable Wi-Fi.

Ensure Portability

A portable Wi-Fi router must, above all, ensure good portability of the equipment and the Internet connection. In short, it is their reason for being, so manufacturers create devices that practically fit in one hand; many times, they even have their battery to work without cables.

The good thing about having portable 4G is that it will work in the vast majority of countries in the world since modem and connection providers will ensure this operability throughout the range of frequencies used. You already know that, for example, the data frequency in China is different from that of Europe, which must consider.

In addition to providing a Wi-Fi network, these devices offer many other functions but will undoubtedly aim at sporadic use. Many will not design to work 24/7 like home routers. Of course, if a user cannot have Internet access at home, we should choose a larger desktop router with a permanent connection to our socket.

Data Plan

We must take special care with this type of router and our data rate if we have a primary contract and a limit of several GB at maximum speed. And without hardly noticing it, we could be spending a large amount of data when browsing from a laptop or tablet, consuming content in high definition or downloading data.

For this reason, we recommend having highly flexible rates, with at least 5 or 10 GB per month at maximum speed. Furthermore, to save data, it is advisable to connect to public Wi-Fi when we have the opportunity; many of these routers support this function and isolate us from the network so that nobody gets involved in personal matters. In this way, we will possibly take advantage of a free network at a higher speed and save data.

Autonomy

Autonomy is another crucial aspect to base the purchase on since this type of portable Wi-Fi router must work without needing a power connection; otherwise, what would be the point of buying one?

An autonomy of at least 4 or 6 hours and a capacity greater than 1500 mAh should be almost mandatory, although we will always have to adapt to our budget. We could even make use of a powerband to recharge the equipment.