Mobile Wi-Fi, likewise known as MiFi, uses your smartphone's mobile information connexion to establish a wireless signal that uniform devices can share to get online. It's especially handy when yous are travelling and not within range of a standard Wi-Fi connexion, or as a failsafe for flaky or overloaded habitation broadband.

A mobile Wi-Fi connection can be created by the smartphone itself, using a process known every bit cyberspace tethering, or past a portable device chosen a mobile router or a mobile hotspot, into which y'all insert a SIM card.

When used oftentimes, mobile Wi-Fi routers can be the preferred solution because they won't drain your smartphone's battery, there's no picayune around with swapping SIM cards, and you won't demand to leave your phone with whomever is sharing its internet connection. They can also be used with data-just SIMs (those that practise not offer calls and texts), which can make it cheaper to get online.

The divergence between a mobile Wi-Fi router and a mobile data dongle is that a router does non physically connect to your device, and it can share a mobile data connection with more than one device. These days, USB dongles are actually useful but for devices such as old laptops and PCs that do not support Wi-Fi connectivity.

You lot tin can connect multiple devices: Some MiFi devices let you lot connect x or more devices to a single hotspot, which will work out a lot cheaper than paying for a mobile data plan for each of those devices - but y'all'll want a generous information assart.

You can connect Wi-Fi-simply devices to a mobile data connection: Tablets are great to employ at home, simply what about on the train, on the beach or by the pool? Wherever you can get a telephone point, you tin use MiFi to create a wireless network and get online from any Wi-Fi device.

You lot tin salve coin on your next tablet: Buying a tablet with a 4G or 5G data connection adds around £100 to the toll, and that'due south before you lot consider the monthly fee for your data. Use some of that money to buy a MiFi router instead and you'll never need to buy a cellular tablet again.

Y'all can reduce roaming charges: Most mobile operators offer free roaming in the EU (for at present, anyhow!), just fixed-fee roaming elsewhere, assuasive you to take your domicile tariff with you for a set up toll. Rather than paying this extra charge on all your devices, turn off information roaming on them and connect them all to a mobile hotspot. You'll pay this charge simply once, but get all your devices online. Notation that 5G roaming is not widespread, simply it is currently offered by Vodafone and VOXI.

Y'all tin can avert using slow hotel Wi-Fi: When visiting hotels that still charge for Wi-Fi, yous tin can get the kids online all twenty-four hours and at a lower cost than what the hotel would charge. Better still, you can avoid using the aforementioned network every bit all the other guests, which is usually slow and oft has poor signal in your hotel room. Sometimes these networks can also be unsecured, so using MiFi volition be preferable.

You can add together 5G connectivity to a 4G device: Many of us have yet to jump on the 5G bandwagon, but where available it is seriously fast. Although your telephone may be limited to 4G, your data program virtually certainly includes 5G. A 5G mobile router will let you to connect your 4G telephone to the cyberspace at 5G speeds.

You tin can become faster download speeds: Fifty-fifty if your device already supports 5G, you could potentially get faster download and upload speeds by switching to a MiFi that supports a faster connection. Just retrieve that 5G is not yet bachelor everywhere, and purchasing a 5G hotspot volition button up the cost.

You tin share storage across your own mobile network: If your MiFi supports a microSD card, you tin can share that storage across all your devices, which is peculiarly handy if they don't back up expandable storage themselves.

What is the best mobile hotspot?

1

TP-Link M7350 - All-time Overall Mobile Router

TP-Link M7350 4G Mobile Router

  • Pros
    • SIM-unlocked
    • Supports 10 devices
    • 10-hour battery
    • microSD
    • Dual-band
  • Cons
    • Cheaper options are available
    • May be overkill for some
  • Best Prices Today:

TP-Link'southward M7350 is a solid 4G mobile router that has the large benefit of being network-unlocked. That ways although yous'll pay in full upfront, you can cull whatsoever data deal from whatever UK network operator, and you aren't tied to a contract.

The TP-Link supports all three UK 4G LTE bands, with upwardly to 150Mbps download speeds and 50Mbps uploads. It tin create a wireless network for upward to 10 devices, and supports a microSD carte for shared storage and has an LCD that tells you the signal strength, how many devices are connected, how much data y'all have used of your full limit, plus the remaining battery chapters.

Yous tin likewise employ the LCD to cycle through a carte that caters to such options as toggling on or off data roaming, switching between 2.iv- and 5GHz output, and choosing between 4G, 3G or a mixture of both.

A terminal pick displays a QR lawmaking that takes you directly to Google Play or the App Store to download the tpMiFi app, which lets you manage users, alter the range, share files and read text messages.

The TP-Link'south 2550mAh battery should be expert for up to 10 hours of 4G connectivity, simply lasts days on standby.

2

Huawei Mobile WiFi 3s (E5576-320) - All-time Value Mobile Router

Huawei Mobile WiFi 3s (E5576-320)

  • Pros
    • Supports up to ten devices
    • Nicely designed
    • Simple to apply
    • Affordable
  • Cons
    • six-hour battery life is shorter than some
  • All-time Tollsouthward Today:

Available on contract through Three, the Huawei E5576-320 offers such great value that yous'd be crazy not to simply purchase the network-unlocked version outright.

This is a 4G mobile router that lets you connect up to 10 devices, with its 1500mAh battery offering a standby fourth dimension of upwards to 350 hours and working fourth dimension of upwards to 6 hours.

It'southward pocket-sized, compact and easily portable - but, more than importantly, information technology's functional, with up to 150Mbps download speeds and 50Mbps uploads.

In that location are no fancy extra features, with this affordable mobile router from Huawei instead concentrating on one primary task: getting your mobile devices online wherever yous are.

3

TP-Link M7200 - Best No-Frills Mobile Router

TP-Link M7200

  • Pros
    • SIM-unlocked
    • Supports 10 devices
    • 8-60 minutes battery
    • Quick to set up
  • Cons
    • Plasticky design
    • Difficult to prise off rear panel
  • All-time Tollsouthward Today:

TP-Link's M7220 is a no-frills mobile Wi-Fi router that supports 4G FDD-LTE/TDD-LTE and 3G networks. It's SIM-unlocked, so you only unclip the dorsum panel, pop in your SIM, and switch information technology on. It's that piece of cake to fix up.

The two,000mAh internal battery tin can last upwards to 8 hours in use, merely significantly longer on standby, and you can share its two.4GHz mobile Wi-Fi connection with up to 10 devices.

This is a rather plasticky device, and we were worried virtually snapping the rear panel when trying to prise it off to insert the SIM, just it's tougher than information technology looks. The Wi-Fi network name and password are hidden under this panel, nonetheless, so you might prefer to make a note of it than to accept to keep pulling on and off the panel every time yous want to share the network.

The LCD tin't display stats nearly how much information you've used and and then forth, only iii condition lights continue things super-simple: y'all can see how much battery remains, whether yous're connected to the cyberspace and if it is sharing a Wi-Fi network.

Should you want to access more than settings you lot can use the gratis mobile app or connect to the router via its login page on a browser, merely otherwise the TP-Link keeps things elementary for those who just want to plough information technology on and become online.

4

TP-Link M7450 - Best 4G Mobile Router

TP-Link M7450

  • Pros
    • Supports 32 devices
    • Dual-band
    • 15-hour battery life
    • microSD
  • Cons
    • Expensive
    • Might be overkill for some
  • Best Tolls Today:

The TP-Link M7450 is a newer, more avant-garde version of the M7350, but it'due south also more than expensive and we think the older model currently offers better value.

Like the M7350, it's sold unlocked and should work with any major network, either in the Great britain or away. It supports Cat6 LTE, with 300Mbps downloads (double the M7350) and 50Mbps downloads; you tin can pick between either the ii.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-Fi bands; and you lot can connect up to 32 devices simultaneously - way, way more almost people will ever need.

Menu navigation is simple, and the clean UI makes the about of the two buttons and minor screen to give yous the info you need. For more complex setup - including USSD support, useful for connecting to many foreign networks - you can utilize either the spider web portal or free smartphone app.

The 3000mAh battery should give y'all an impressive 15 hours of working battery time. You even get a microSD slot, which supports cards up to 32GB and tin can be used as a quick way to share files between devices.

5

Huawei 5G Mobile Wi-Fi Pro E6878-370 - Best 5G Mobile Router

Huawei 5G Mobile Wi-Fi Pro E6878-370

  • Pros
    • 5G support
    • Wireless power banking company functionality
    • Elevation performance
  • Cons
    • Very expensive
    • Check 5G back up in your surface area
  • Best Tolldue south Today:

Compact mobile routers that support 5G are still relatively uncommon. They are significantly more expensive than 4G routers, and 5G connectivity is not nevertheless available everywhere.

However, if you lot are routinely within accomplish of a 5G signal, a 5G mobile router could offer a cheaper manner to access faster mobile information speeds on all your 4G mobile devices than having to upgrade each one.

Huawei'southward 5G Mobile Wi-Fi Pro is available network-unlocked or on contact through O2. Buying information technology SIM-free will allow you to choose your own data package, stopping you being tied into a contract for longer than y'all'd like.

This is rather a mesomorphic router with an 8000mAh battery inside, but it tin likewise human action every bit a power bank and offers 40W SuperCharge and both reverse wired (22.5W) and wireless (15W) charging.

Also housing a Balong 5000 chip, Huawei claims theoretical download speeds of up to i.65Gbps.

6

MyWebspot - All-time Rental Mobile Router

MyWebspot

  • Pros
    • Great for one-off utilise
    • Ready to get out of box
    • Local charger supplied
  • Cons
    • Rental prices will stack upward
    • Off-white usage policy
    • No LCD or app
  • Best Pricesouth Today:

Many of the options in this nautical chart are suitable for those who will regularly demand the utilize of a mobile Wi-Fi router, but MyWebspot is more than advisable for those who have a one-off requirement.

If you're going on holiday abroad (potentially outside the realms of free roaming in Europe) and take several devices to go online, the service allows you to hire a hotspot for use by upward to five devices in more than 100 countries.

Daily charges are calculated based on where you are going and for how long. At first glance they might seem steep, only they are nil compared to what your mobile operator will charge y'all once you overstep your data assart. It tin can also be very expensive to connect to Wi-Fi provided past some holiday resorts, which is oftentimes wearisome and time-express.

The data is technically unlimited, but once you exceed the fair usage (1GB/day in Europe, United states and Canada; 2GB in Mexico; fully unlimited in S East Asia; and 512MB everywhere else) the speed drops to an almost unusable 256kbps.

Setup couldn't exist simpler. The device tin be delivered directly to your resort (or home if you adopt), then you turn information technology on, expect a moment for it to connect to a local 4G LTE network, and choice it upwardly on your mobile device as you lot would whatsoever other Wi-Fi network using the SSID and password printed on the label on the back. On your style dwelling house you pop information technology in the mail service box using the prepaid envelope.

MyWebspot claims download speeds up to 100Mbps, and uploads of up to 40Mbps. In our testing in Lake Garda, Italy, we recordedan boilerplate download speed of 33.5Mbps, and upload speed of 26.8Mbps. Naturally these speeds will decrease equally yous add multiple devices.

Yous'll become about eight hours bombardment life from the Mi-Fi router, which is supplied with the appropriate local charger for your holiday destination.

There's no companion app, which means even technophobes volition go forth with MyWebspot, though it would be handy to have some manner of monitoring usage across multiple devices given that there's no LCD screen.

7

Iii Huawei 4G Plus MiFi - Best Value Contract Mobile Router

Three Mobile Router (Huawei)

  • Pros
    • Unlimited data
    • Supports 10 devices
    • Shorter contract options
  • Cons
    • half-dozen-hour battery life is shorter than some
  • Best Prices Today:

If you'd rather buy a mobile Wi-Fi router on a contract, Three has some of the best deals correct now. It uses the Huawei E5783B-320, and pairs it with some swell data bundles.

We like the fact you lot can subscribe to a ane-month rolling contract, considering the way the globe is right now no-one actually knows how much they'll exist traveling over the next couple of years!

Three offers great value on unlimited data, with the i-month program costing £27 per calendar month (plus £29 upfront), the 12-month plan costing £26 per month (no upfront toll), and the 24-calendar month plan costing £22 per month (again, no upfront cost). Purchase either the 12- or 24-month option and right now you lot get the start six months one-half-price.

If you don't need this much information, 10GB and 40GB plans are also available, with the 10GB 24-month program starting from £12 per month.

A huge do good of ownership from Three is that if you lot're going abroad Three's Feel At Home policy lets you connect to the spider web with no roaming charges in several foreign destinations.

Can I use any SIM in a mobile hotspot?

Technically, aye. If you have a pregnant or unlimited data allowance with your mobile tariff you lot could simply take the SIM out your smartphone and insert information technology into a mobile router.

Yet, non all mobile operators support unlimited tethering (bank check your contract), various phone functions are non going to be bachelor on your smartphone while it's missing its SIM, and you lot might regret the conclusion if yous are overly generous with that shared mobile Wi-Fi connexion and run out of data some fourth dimension earlier the assart renews.

You can now buy data SIMs or SIM-simply plans with big data allowances on PAYG or contract from all the UK's major mobile operators. Which choice y'all choose is largely going to be based on how much data yous need to apply, and how oftentimes you need to use it.

If you desire something merely for when y'all go on vacation, choose a PAYG plan and pay for information only when you need it. If yous want something to get around a flaky domicile broadband connection or for employ on your daily commute, choose either a rolling ane-month contract pick or save a bit of money with a 12- or 24-month plan.

What are the all-time data SIM deals?

We'd advise looking for a deal from a well-known mobile operator that has reliable coverage in your area (or your holiday destination), with a large data allowance, no restrictions on tethering, gratis or cheap roaming, and a low monthly or PAYG cost.

Y'all can cheque network coverage in your area for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G on the mobile operator'southward website. Employ the following links to jump directly to a mobile operator's coverage checker: Vodafone, EE, O2, Three, GiffGaff, Smarty, VOXI, iD Mobile, Virgin Mobile, TalkMobile.

In that location are many more companies offer data SIMs than we have listed here, but all are what are known as MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators. This means they piggyback on some other mobile network (Vodafone, EE, O2 or Three) for connectivity. As long as you have coverage with the big four, all the MVNOs should be covered in your area.

The best data SIM deals are always irresolute. We've collated more in-depth communication in our frequently updated guide to the all-time SIM-only deals, only our preference currently falls to Iii. All its SIMs support 5G.

At 3 you'll discover a range of SIM options including unlimited data from £22 per month, or you can choose 1 of four PAYG packages that are valid for up to 12 months. For the latter, 24GB of data costs £60; 12GB of data costs £twoscore; 3GB costs £16; and 1GB costs £10.

Smarty, which too runs on 3's network, currently has a great deal on 50GB of data for £15 on a one-calendar month rolling plan. Tethering is unlimited in the UK.

How do I choose a mobile router?

There are three options when purchasing a mobile Wi-Fi router:

  1. Purchase a device and data SIM package direct from a mobile operator in return for a fixed monthly subscription
  2. Buy a network-unlocked MiFi router and add your own data SIM
  3. Hire a mobile router to encompass only the menstruation yous need (see MyWebspot, reviewed below)

Many people will automatically go to their mobile operator for a MiFi device, since it's an easy solution and you don't need to pay anything up front. Just this isn't always the best idea.

If you purchase a MiFi router from a mobile operator it will probably be locked to that network, preventing you from shopping around for the best data deal. You volition as well well-nigh probable pay over the odds if y'all choose to pay nothing up forepart but tie yourself into a two-year contract.

Even so, purchase a network-unlocked router and store effectually for a dandy-value data SIM plan and you will save money in the long run.

Annotation that the mobile hotspots offered by U.k. mobile operators are typically made by Huawei, but also Netgear, HTC and TP-Link. If you know the model you can usually notice these devices available network-unlocked through retailers such equally Amazon.

For example, Three's Huawei 4G Plus MiFi is in fact a Huawei Mobile WiFi 3s (E5576-320), while its Huawei HomeFi is actually a Huawei B311. O2's Huawei 5G Pocket Hotspot Pro is actually a Huawei 5G Mobile Wi-Fi Pro (E6878-370), and its Pocket Hostpot Pro Netgear M1 is a Netgear Nighthawk MR1100.