Best Mobile Hotspots (February 2023) (2023)

The best 4G and 5G mobile hotspots let you connect your devices to the Internet quickly and securely almost anywhere in the world. This not only makes it easier to get online and check your email quickly, but it also means you don't have to rely on public Wi-Fi hotspots, which aren't as secure. For important and confidential business purposes, a mobile hotspot is essential.

You don't have to worry about internet speed asdatos 4git's impressively fast, as long as you're in an area with sufficient network coverage. This means that you can browse the web as if you were connected to a broadband connection. It's also often faster than free or shared Wi-Fi hotspots, which often have data caps and heavy traffic.

We are also seeing much broader coverage and support for5G, which has the potential to offer network speeds comparable to broadband Internet.

So fast that a good 5G mobile hotspot can even replace your broadband connection. 5G is the next generation of mobile internet and offers much faster speeds than 4G data connections. While 5G adoption is gaining momentum, there aren't many 5G mobile hotspots available right now, but as more become available they will be added to this list, provided they are good enough.

Some carriers will upgrade your 4G plan to a 5G plan at no additional cost. If you depend on a mobile data connection on the go, upgrading to 5G and buying one of the best 5G mobile hotspots can improve your productivity.

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The best mobile hotspots of 2023 in full

If you're a Verizon customer who can use the company's 5G network, the good news is that the Inseego 5G MiFi M1000 is the best 5G hotspot for you. It supports dual-band WiFi and also includes USB-C and Ethernet connection for devices that require a wired connection.

The battery life is long enough to keep you powered up all day and it charges quickly too. The only problem is that while this is great for Verizon customers, if you don't have a network connection or live outside of the US, this won't be the right option for you, so check out our other options at continuation.

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The HTC 5G Hub is currently the best 5G mobile hotspot money can buy. Of course, there isn't much competition right now since 5G is still relatively new, but HTC has come up with a winning result. EE, the UK's largest network provider, offers data subscriptions with this hotspot.

It's not cheap - you pay £100 up front and then £50 a month for 50GB of data - but you do get a very good kit. It can drive up to 20 wireless devices simultaneously, which should be plenty for most homes, and an Ethernet port for wired devices.

A powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor powers the device, and there's a 5-inch HD touchscreen that gives you all the information you need to control your 5G network. It also has a long battery life, which should keep you going.

The NETGEAR Nighthawk M2 Mobile Router is the first 5G-capable mobile hotspot from NETGEAR. It's small and portable, yet supports up to 20 simultaneous connections, so it can be used in even the busiest homes and offices, and supports downloads of up to 2 Gbps. So it's very fast. Battery life is also good, making it a great option for travel.

The only drawback is the lack of availability. There are 4G versions that are still good, but getting the 5G version can be difficult. At the moment, it seems that only AT&T will offer the 5G version under its own brand.

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The TP-Link M7350 may be a bit beefier than some of the other mobile hotspots on this list, but it's still an excellent mobile hotspot that supports both micro and nano SIM cards. That means it will almost certainly be compatible with a SIM card you already have.

It has a small screen that notifies you of your connection and supports dual-band Wi-Fi at 2.4 and 5 GHz. Up to 10 devices can access it simultaneously and the performance is very good on 4G LTE. It's also unlikely to run out of power when you need it most, with a 2000mAh battery guaranteeing around eight hours of 4G connectivity.

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The EE 4GEE WiFi Mini is one of the best-looking mobile hotspot devices on this list, and its compact design means it's easy to take with you. The 1500 mAh offers up to 50 hours standby and up to six hours when connected to the Internet.

It can support up to 10 devices simultaneously, but it doesn't have an LCD screen like the TP-Link M7350, which means it's not as easy to use. You also have to use the EE network, which isn't much of a problem given EE coverage and fast 4G speeds, and the network offers a variety of data plans to work alongside the EE 4GEE WiFi Mini.

However, if you want something a little more future-proof, check out the HTC 5G Hub at the top of this list of the best mobile hotspots, also offered by the US.

frequent questions

The best mobile hotspots: Here's how we tested them

On this page, we look at the mobile hotspots that offer the best speeds, the number of devices they can support, and other important factors like port availability and dual-band capability.

The 4G and 5G mobile hotspots we have listed are battery-powered modem routers that use asim cardsthat connects to the Internet using mobile data and broadcasts a secure Wi-Fi network to which you can connect your device.

Please note that while we have reviewed and evaluated the technical performance of each access point, we have not covered ongoing costs, which vary by provider. As with smartphone SIM cards, you need a data plan and pay for the service, either a monthly plan or aYES prepaid, which might be a cheaper option if you only need to use these devices sporadically.

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