Last edit by: nkedel
Some of the popular routers in this thread:
Edimax 6258NL (or via Amazon)
Asus wL-330nul
TP-Link WR702N
TP-LINK TL-WR710N (out of production, but superceded by similar models)
Edimax BR-6258n
Hootoo Tripmate Nano (TM-02)
GLi GL-AR300M
GL.iNet GL-AR750 Travel AC Router - a higher-powered dual band option; probably bigger than most people want, but if you need it... (has its own thread here)
Edimax 6258NL (or via Amazon)
Asus wL-330nul
TP-Link WR702N
TP-LINK TL-WR710N (out of production, but superceded by similar models)
Edimax BR-6258n
Hootoo Tripmate Nano (TM-02)
GLi GL-AR300M
GL.iNet GL-AR750 Travel AC Router - a higher-powered dual band option; probably bigger than most people want, but if you need it... (has its own thread here)
World's Smallest Wireless Router for Hotel Rooms
#526
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Monterey, CA
Programs: UA Gold, United Presidential Card, Amex Platinum, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 58
just saw this deal for a T-Mobile hotspot
I just received an d-link dwr-932 mifi router. Weighs about 90 g (~ 3.5 ounces) and is about 7.5 x 7.5 x 1.5 cm.
Not top-of-the-line feature-wise, somewhat short battery life, and it won't work in the US. But it'll do for my European travel and I got a good deal on it (60 € AI).
Can somebody recommend something similar for the US? Should work with T-Mobile prepaid. I need LTE, but not the highest speeds (i.e., 150/50 would be fine). 5 h of battery life is sufficient.
Not top-of-the-line feature-wise, somewhat short battery life, and it won't work in the US. But it'll do for my European travel and I got a good deal on it (60 € AI).
Can somebody recommend something similar for the US? Should work with T-Mobile prepaid. I need LTE, but not the highest speeds (i.e., 150/50 would be fine). 5 h of battery life is sufficient.
Walmart offers the T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot, model no. 610214637031, for $29.99. (Kmart has it for the same with free in-store pickup.) Choose in-store pickup to dodge the $4.97 shipping fee. That's the lowest price we could find by $20. It shares T-Mobile's network with up to eight devices.
#527
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 17
HooToo TripMate Nano issues
I have been using the HooToo TripMate Nano - Model TM-02 for the last couple of years in approximately 15 hotels each year with absolutely no issue. Last month I came across a problem with the TripMate unable to pick-up the WiFi connection at some hotels. The hotel WiFI connection would appear on my iPad but it wouldn't show on the TripMate. Out of 6 hotels, TripMate couldn't find 3 WiFi connections. I checked for firmware updates (none). None of the hotels had Ethernet connections. I contacted TripMate tech support who informed me that "those hotels probably use 5 ghz and TripMate can only use 2 ghz bands".
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue? I am not at all "tech-savvy" and just want a secure WiFi connection while traveling.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue? I am not at all "tech-savvy" and just want a secure WiFi connection while traveling.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
#528
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: in the vicinity of SFO
Programs: AA 2MM (LT-PLT, PPro for this year)
Posts: 19,781
I'd be really surprised if any hotel were only using 5ghz at this point; there are a LOT of older devices out there which can't see it.
#529
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,156
More likely the signal is weak enough that the TripMate can't detect/connect to it - these routers usually have much smaller antenna that a laptop, and smaller than a phone/etc.
I've had exactly the same issue with my TP-Link in some hotels - sometimes it can see the signal but not connect, sometimes it can't even see it.
#531
Join Date: May 2009
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC GGL; KLM Gold; AC 50K
Posts: 147
Is your TripMate configured for North America/Taiwan? Are the hotels where you couldn't see the wifi, located in Asia/Europe? If so, they maybe using channel 12-13 (or 12-14 in Japan), which is not available to wifi devices configured for North America/Taiwan (where only channels 1-11 are used). Or it could just be a case of wifi signal too weak for TripMate as docbert stated.
#533
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AA EXP (2.5MM), Hilton Gold, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,859
Does anyone have experience/recommendations for an 802.11ac capable travel router? Finding that I can get much higher speeds using laptop direct to hotel wifi than I can with my HooToo Titan and thinking I may upgrade to the D-Link DIR-510L.
#535
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,507
To be fair, AC also implies 5GHz, which tends to be less crowded than 2.4GHz. (You can do 5GHz with N as well but almost none of the travel routers seemed to support it last I looked.)
#536
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,156
The problem is that most travel routers contain a single radio, which they share between the "internet" side of the connection and your private network - which means you can end up with significantly lower bandwidth, especially if the wifi speed has dropped below the maximum due to a weak signal. It also means they end up using one channel for both sides, which can also cause interference.
In addition to my travel router I've started travelling with a separate wifi client (a Netgear WNCE2001 I picked up at Walmart on clearance for $8). I use that device to connect to the hotel wifi, and then my normal travel router connects to that via ethernet (just as if the room had ethernet) - and the performance difference can be significant.
Having two radios will have the same impact. If one of those happened to be 2.4Ghz (connecting to the hotel) and the other 5Ghz (to your laptop) then you'd get the same benefit as above, only with less contention on the 2nd hop.
In addition to my travel router I've started travelling with a separate wifi client (a Netgear WNCE2001 I picked up at Walmart on clearance for $8). I use that device to connect to the hotel wifi, and then my normal travel router connects to that via ethernet (just as if the room had ethernet) - and the performance difference can be significant.
Having two radios will have the same impact. If one of those happened to be 2.4Ghz (connecting to the hotel) and the other 5Ghz (to your laptop) then you'd get the same benefit as above, only with less contention on the 2nd hop.
#537
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 460
The Xiaomi Mi WiFi Mini is a small AC1200 router for about $25 though a little large to be a true travel router and it needs a 12V power supply. Also, the OEM firmware is in Chinese and you have to do some hacking to load English firmware.
I've flashed a Nexx WT3020 N300 USB powered router (approx $15) with OpenWRT and added a $3 N150 USB dongle to create a solution with 2 2.4GHz radios. I'm holding off buying a dual-band 802.11n USB dongle to get a 5GHz radio in the hope that support for the similarly priced 802.11ac dongle will be added soon. Also, the latter are physically smaller.
Either way, I expect to have a dual-band dual-radio USB powered travel router in my kit soon.
I've flashed a Nexx WT3020 N300 USB powered router (approx $15) with OpenWRT and added a $3 N150 USB dongle to create a solution with 2 2.4GHz radios. I'm holding off buying a dual-band 802.11n USB dongle to get a 5GHz radio in the hope that support for the similarly priced 802.11ac dongle will be added soon. Also, the latter are physically smaller.
Either way, I expect to have a dual-band dual-radio USB powered travel router in my kit soon.
Last edited by unmesh; Aug 25, 2016 at 12:00 am Reason: Typos
#538
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AA EXP (2.5MM), Hilton Gold, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,859
True, but with a single radio router connecting to wifi and acting as a hotspot you end up with about 1/2 the bandwidth. In the last hotel I had speedtest ratings of 8-9 with direct hotel wifi and only 3.5 using the hootoo. The room does not have a hardwired connection option.
#539
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: UA MM, AA PPro
Posts: 1,480
Don't. In my experience DIR-510L is a crappy router. Its UI exposes very little in terms of troubleshooting or advanced configuration, and frequently goes down after 30-40 minutes of operation. And performance...I don't notice it being any faster than 802.11n HooToo, perhaps because hotel Internet is typically slow anyway.
It's been collecting dust in my drawer for the last year or two, as I've been using HooToo and Edimax.
It's been collecting dust in my drawer for the last year or two, as I've been using HooToo and Edimax.
#540
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,507
I just bought a TL-MR3040 (which may have been a bad decision) and noticed that it seems to reject my iPhone 6S fairly often. When that happens, the iPhone repeatedly pops up the password prompt when trying to connect to the MR3040's SSID despite entering the password correctly. "Forgetting" the network and power-cycling seems to make it work...once. Other devices like my MacBook Pro can consistently connect without issues, however.
Anyway, I'm wondering if it's worth it to try to flash OpenWRT on it to make iPhone connectivity more reliable or if I should just return it to the store. Thoughts?
Anyway, I'm wondering if it's worth it to try to flash OpenWRT on it to make iPhone connectivity more reliable or if I should just return it to the store. Thoughts?