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Pocket wifi is nothing new, and I considered it a luxury more than a necessity—a way to guarantee wifi in a time when wifi access is already practically guaranteed. Not only was I wrong, but I overlooked it for far too long. And if you don’t own a portable wifi device other than your phone, you’re probably making the same mistake I was.
When I bought my first home, I gave my cell reception only a passing thought. Spectrum wireless was available in our area and was confirmed to work well by the previous homeowner, so home connectivity wouldn’t be a problem. My phone carrier, T-Mobile, also covers 99% of the country. I imagined the network coverage maps in full magenta, suggesting I would need to be on Artemis II to lose reception. But you know what happened next: I often found myself with my phone in SOS mode, with no reception, searching for a signal. And for the first time, I actually zoomed in on those T-Mobile coverage maps, expanded the map legend, and felt like an idiot.
Ninety-nine percent coverage sounds like a lot, but not in every context. If 99% of planes landed safely, we’d have hundreds of crashes per day. My house is in the mountains, where I learned that “good” coverage feels a lot like “spotty” coverage compared to the city. But being in the mountains gave me an opportunity to test the Solis Edge 5G wifi hotspot.
Credit: Jordan Calhoun / Lifehacker
Stuck at a remote EV charging station in the Catskills mountains, I set up my Solis Edge. It scanned the area for local connections and found an AT&T network to which I was able to connect. Speeds were slower than I’d hoped—I ran a speed test that resulted in 17.79 Mbps download speeds and 3.83 uploads—but in an area with no reception from my primary carrier, a beggar can’t be a chooser.
Later, I wanted to see if my pocket wifi could reach speeds on par with my iPhone, so I found a coverage area where my phone worked fine and ran another speed test. A tried it in a few different places, and the results were unexpected, but clear: Both my iPhone 13 and Solis Edge are capable of 5G speeds, but when I connected them to the same network, my iPhone was consistently faster, reaching download speeds of around 76 Mbps versus my pocket wifi stalling out around 26 Mbps.
iPhone speed test results
Credit: Jordan Calhoun / Lifehacker
Solid Edge speed test results
Credit: Jordan Calhoun / Lifehacker
There are various explanations for the speed disparity, ranging from antennae technologies, phone carrier prioritization, and high-speed data limits. Regardless, I wouldn’t expect pocket wifi to perform as well as my standard smartphone or laptop connections. But pocket wifi serves its purpose to keep me covered during an emergency or when I can find a good connection with my primary carrier, and it earned its place in my travel bag as a necessity right next to my portable power bank.
Other benefits of a portable wifi hotspot
The real reason I wanted a pocket wifi device was for international travel. After traveling over 50 countries, I’ve found myself in countless situations where I expected wifi to be available, only to find myself searching and paying for it. Pocket wifi devices work globally—my Solis Edge claims coverage across over 140 countries—so I have a way to connect to the internet in cars, stores, trains, hotels, and airports without searching for public networks. I haven’t tried it abroad yet, but it won’t be long before I do.
What do you think so far?
Most pocket wifi also comes with a base amount of free data each month. The Solis Edge I use comes with 1GB free per month for life, which means I can only plan to use it for emergencies, loading maps, or sending a time-sensitive message.
Ways to improve your portable wifi hotspot speed
The primary way to make your pocket wifi faster is check your connection settings to make sure your 5G-enabled device is actually connected to a 5G. Many run on a 2.4 GHz frequency by default, and you need to change your frequency to 5G in your pocket wifi settings. And while portable wifi devices allow for multiple devices to connect to your device at once, keep in mind that more connected devices will reduce your speed. If your device has a high-speed data cap, you might see throttled speeds once you pass your limit.
Are portable wifi hotspots worth it?
For those who travel often enough, a pocket wifi device is definitely worth keeping in your bag. When you’re in need of wifi and can’t find a reliable source, pocket wifi is worth its weight in gold. Keeping one in my travel bag alongside my portable power bank is one of my favorite life upgrades this year. If you’re a little obsessive about being connected and prepared for emergencies, its worth the investment for the peace of mind of knowing you’ll practically always have wifi when you need it.
