3 WAYS TO USE A TRAVEL ROUTER ON THE GO AND WHY YOU SHOULD
Networking isn't always the most fun thing to think about, but it's critical to making sure you practice good online safety and cybersecurity habits. In fact, one of the biggest tech mistakes people still make today is overly trusting public Wi-Fi networks. Even as I write this article, I'm looking back on all the times I've ignorantly connected to a Starbucks wireless network without taking the proper precautions to keep my data and devices safe. To avoid making the same mistakes myself and many others have made, I'm pitching a strange solution: take a router with you on vacation.
There's a whole market for travel routers, which are tiny wireless networking devices that are made to go with you any time you might be connecting to an insecure Wi-Fi network. You can get one from TP-Link for about $30 with basic features, or spend hundreds on a feature-packed solution. When I bought my travel router, I went with an option right in the middle — the GLiNET Beryl, which costs about $100.
The 9 top router features to look for
Looking to buy a new router? You should know whether it supports these important features.
There's one reason you'd want to bring a travel router on a trip: security. A travel router like the Beryl can perform three vital functions to keep your online activity safe: Wi-Fi network repeating, USB tethering, and VPN connecting. Let's unpack exactly what these features do, and why they're useful enough to make you carry a portable router with you the next time you're traveling.
Get versatile privacy features
VPN connection, guest networks, MAC address randomization, and more
There are a handful of smaller, but quite useful privacy and security features a travel router can provide. They can connect to a VPN, enabling private browsing and facilitating a connection to your home network, if you've got everything set up. You can also create 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and guest networks on the router, just like the one you might have at home. It's great for situations where you might want to keep your network and browsing activity separate from potential guests you might be sharing a hotel room with, or inviting over. It'll also give you support for things like NextDNS, DNS-over-TLS/HTTPS, and MAC address randomization. Plus, depending on the model you buy, you can take advantage of specs like Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7.
USB tethering
Use a mobile phone, tablet, or USB hotspot to create a private network
There are a few ways to get an internet connection when a Wi-Fi network is unavailable. One of them is with a mobile hotspot, perhaps from your phone or tablet. Another option is to use a USB hotspot stick that similarly connects to a mobile network. Usually, these hotspots struggle to connect with more than one or two devices effectively. However, you can change that by using a travel router. For example, the Beryl pictured above has a USB 3.0 port that can be used to connect to a phone, tablet, or USB stick. From there, the travel router creates a new network that can connect to multiple devices at better speeds.
How exactly can a travel router improve the speed of your hotspot? A key part of the improvement comes with routers that use a technique called load balancing. Your travel router can simply transmit your mobile hotspot when internet is unavailable, but can also combine your hotspot with a public Wi-Fi network when possible. So, your browsing habits across devices can be split based on bandwidth needs and speeds, providing consistent performance. If your hotspot is bogged down, the travel router can divert traffic to the public network, and vice versa. This is something that many of us already do ourselves by turning Wi-Fi, cellular, and hotspots on and off as needed. Instead of doing that, a travel router like the Beryl can do it automatically.
Repeat a Wi-Fi network
Use an insecure, public network to build a secure, private network
The cool thing about travel routers is that many of them can support multiple wide area networks (WANs) at the same time. There are a few practical reasons you might need this functionality, but the main one is for setting up a Wi-Fi repeater. Basically, one WAN serves as a repeater, connecting to and taking in the bandwidth of a Wi-Fi network — this would be a public and insecure connection. Then, the travel router can create its own Wi-Fi network with its own set of security features. Your devices will connect to the secure SSID of your travel router, not the insecure public Wi-Fi network that anyone can reach.
Simply having a WPA-equipped wall of protection between your devices and a public Wi-Fi network is reason enough to bring along a travel router. On a hotel's wireless network, everyone is connected to the same one, but adding in your travel router gives a layer of separation. Plus, you get to add all the other security features we mentioned already. You can create guest networks, set up a VPN, or randomize MAC addresses for the Wi-Fi network that you're repeating. It's especially useful in situations when you don't have an Ethernet cable to hardwire your travel router with.
Who needs a travel router?
It's true that adding a travel router to your workflow is a bit of a hassle, and it's one more thing you have to worry about when you're on the go. However, there are many instances where a travel router is worth the extra effort. If you know you're going to rely on public Wi-Fi networks — specifically many networks, over the course of a short period — adding a product like the Beryl to your workflow can be both convenient and secure. Rather than fiddle with VPNs and other privacy measures on every device you use, you can do it once on a travel router. After that, you can safely browse the web on the go without compromising security in the process.
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