I Keep This Solis Pocket Wi-Fi Router in My Travel Bag, and You Should Too.
Portable Wi-Fi devices are nothing new, and I once considered them more of a luxury than a necessity—a way to guarantee Wi-Fi access in a time when internet access was practically guaranteed. Not only was I wrong, but I also ignored them for too long. And if you don’t have a portable Wi-Fi device other than your phone, you’re probably making the same mistake I did.
When I bought my first house, I only briefly considered cell phone service. Spectrum wireless was available in our area, and the previous landlord confirmed it worked well, so connecting at home wouldn’t be a problem. My carrier, T-Mobile, also covers 99% of the country. I envisioned coverage maps in full purple, assuming I’d need the Artemis II satellite to lose signal. But you know what happened next? I often found myself with my phone in SOS mode, no signal, searching for the right line. And for the first time, I actually zoomed in on those T-Mobile coverage maps , expanded the map legend, and felt like a complete idiot.
99% coverage sounds like a lot, but it’s not always the case. If 99% of planes landed safely, we’d have hundreds of plane crashes a day. My home is in the mountains, where I realized “good” coverage felt “spotty” compared to the city. But being in the mountains gave me the opportunity to test the Solis Edge 5G Wi-Fi hotspot .
Stuck at a remote electric vehicle charging station in the Catskill Mountains, I set up my Solis Edge. It scanned the area for local connections and found an AT&T network, which I was able to connect to. The speed was slower than I expected—a speed test showed 17.79 Mbps download and 3.83 Mbps upload—but in an area without a signal from my primary carrier, I have no choice.
Later, I wanted to see if my portable Wi-Fi could achieve speeds comparable to my iPhone, so I found a coverage area where my phone worked well and ran another speed test. I tried it in several different locations, and the results were unexpected but clear: both my iPhone 13 and Solis Edge support 5G speeds, but when I connected them to the same network, my iPhone consistently showed higher speeds, reaching around 76 Mbps, while my portable Wi-Fi plateaued at around 26 Mbps.
The speed difference is due to various factors, from antenna technology and carrier priorities to high-speed data transfer limitations. In any case, I didn’t expect Pocket Wi-Fi to perform as well as my standard smartphone or laptop. But Pocket Wi-Fi does its job, providing connectivity in emergencies or when I can find a good connection with my primary carrier, and it’s earned its place in my travel bag as a must-have alongside my portable charger.
Other benefits of a portable Wi-Fi hotspot
The real reason I needed a portable Wi-Fi device was international travel. Having traveled to over 50 countries, I’ve found myself countless times in situations where I expected Wi-Fi but had to search for it and pay for it. Portable Wi-Fi devices work worldwide—my Solis Edge claims to provide coverage in over 140 countries—so I can connect to the internet in cars, stores, trains, hotels, and airports without having to search for public networks. I haven’t tried it abroad yet, but I plan to soon.
Most portable Wi-Fi routers also come with a basic amount of free data each month. My Solis Edge comes with 1GB of free data per month for life, meaning I can schedule it for emergencies, downloading maps, or sending urgent messages.
Ways to improve the speed of your portable Wi-Fi hotspot
The main way to speed up your portable Wi-Fi device is to check your connection settings to ensure your 5G-enabled device is actually connected to a 5G network. Many devices operate on the 2.4 GHz frequency by default, so you’ll need to change the frequency to 5G in your portable Wi-Fi device’s settings. While portable Wi-Fi devices allow you to connect multiple devices to your device simultaneously, keep in mind that the more devices you connect, the slower your speed will be. If your device has a high-speed data cap, you may notice a decrease in speed after exceeding the limit.
Are portable Wi-Fi hotspots worth buying?
For those who travel frequently, a pocket Wi-Fi router is definitely worth having in your bag. When you need Wi-Fi and can’t find a reliable source, pocket Wi-Fi is invaluable. Carrying it in your travel bag along with a portable charger is one of my favorite upgrades this year. If you’re a bit of a connectivity and emergency preparedness junkie, it’s worth the investment for the peace of mind knowing you’ll almost always have Wi-Fi when you need it.