I saw ubiquiti just released a new one. Would be cool if Peplink had something similar. My use case is when traveling and using hotels. I’d want to use the hotel wifi and possible my hotspot wifi (or usb).
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The various lower end Peplink routers work quite well for this. I’ve done it with a Surf SOHO, B20X, and B-One 5G.
As travel routers, they’re not particularly cheap, and are not particularly small.
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I would love to see that too. I currently use a competitors travel router and it makes things so incredibly easy it’s almost silly. Downside with my current setup is that I use Proton’s VPN instead the Peplink. Definitely interested to see them pursue this idea.
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i used to carry around a soho and then b20x. too big. external antennas and power supply a PITA too when limited in luggage space.
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which ubiquiti router are you referring to?
UniFi Travel Router.
What are your main needs and uses for a travel router, or more simply what problem are you solving with current travel routers? A travel type router has been discussed over the years, so I’m curious to know more about what you see as key functionality.
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Off the top of my head:
- Secure VPN access to Speedfusion fusion hub, Peplink back home or at office, or other VPN service (security is one thing on the other hand being able to login to streaming services and it sees you back home might be beneficial too)
- Ability to connect to hotel wifi / ethernet (usb ethernet adapter probably fine instead of actual ethernet port built-in) and have client devices connect to peplink with no additional configuration (ssid already saved)
- Ability to have multiple WANs such as hotel wifi/ethernet , hotspot via wifi wan or usb, i dont think it would need a built-in cellular modem but ability to usb tether, use peplink’s adapters, etc
- I would keep two bands of wifi that operate independently, so one can do wifi wan and one can do wifi lan, or heck two wifi wans to two different wifi networks
- small, compact, no large separate power brick, carrying around surf soho and 20x they were large!
- integrated antennas so no antennas to break off, can just toss in backpack or suitcase
- same/familiar interface as other peplink routers
- a good use case is when staying at some random hotel with poor wifi coverage can place the travel router near the door/hall and still connect via client devices further into room, or use a hotspot/usb modem in window, leave travel router there, capture signal and have internet within the room thats normally a deadzone
- will need to ensure that captive portals/logins will work
- powering it off of usb good so dont need dedicated plug, but ensure there is more than one usb so can still usb tether or usb ethernet
- a cable lock slot so it can be physically locked
- a way to turn off the LEDs
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yeah, form factor like an AC Mini but with multiple ethernet ports.
usb-c powered. preferably with a clip on battery option
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Size really does matter. No bigger than 4x3x1 inches, usb c power input on back, 1 wan, 3 lan ports on front, Openvpn back to home-base required, Agreed on same interface, (No one wants to retrain their animal, namely me.) small, flat, fold down Wi-Fi 2.4/5 antennas-one on each side. No cellular but needs usb hotspot connectivity on side hidden by fold down antenna and of course reasonably priced under $125. Might be a tall order but you folks certainly have the talent and ability to create a small, secure and reasonably price travel companion that I don’t have to buy an extra plane ticket for, just to bring it onboard when I travel.
The battery is a great idea but I think the USB C power input would work good enough in a pinch with the MagSafe power bank I keep with me for my phone. I would love to see this travel router happen.
P.S. All led indicators need a kill switch.
A travel case to protect it would be nice too as a possible sale add-on?
Happy New Year to all.
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Ideally, you get to a hotel or remote work space, you take out your small travel router, you plug it in to the wired network. That router boots up, establishes the setup SpeedFusion VPN connection to the main office and brings up the wifi network. At that point all my laptops and portable devices will naturally connect to the wifi they know with no further setup. And all of the devices will have a secure access to the internet and the office, all safe behind the router’s firewall. Finally, ideally the router also supports WiFi Wan so that if there is no wired internet, I can login to the router from one of my devices and setup the Wifi-Wan for that session.
To me that is the use case that is missing today. In the past I used a SOHO for that, it was a bit bulky and over designed for that use case, but it did the job at a price point that was OK (so you could buy 3-4 of them ready to go for travelling employees). Today the cheapest devices are a bit expensive for that I think, and they are still too bulky.
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You can set up a network where there isn’t one. I’ve done that with a Surf Soho and a tethered cell connection. That was on a small boat cruise in the Scottish Hebrides (surprisingly good cell connection up there). The cruise company seemed quite interested in doing that.
If there is already network infrastructure, you can connect to that, and the travel router provides a familiar network that your devices connect to automatically.
With a SpeedFusion connection, you can be “at home” while you’re away. I have access to the usual servers I have here, for backup, for media, for whatever. Also streaming services don’t start complaining you’re not at home.
This will also get you a secure connection, even on an open network (with sign on).
With multiple connections, like ethernet, and one or two WiFi WANs, you can do link aggregation for the usual performance and reliability improvements. You can add a cell connection or two to that.
One travel router I have has a 10 hour battery, and WiFi WAN. That’s also useful for signing onto a network, like in flight WiFi, where they don’t allow you to swap devices. That also does charging, and tethering, via USB.
As above, being able to turn off LEDs. I just found out how bright the LEDs on a B One are, when you’re in a dark hotel room.
One thing, if you’re connected to a hotel’s WiFi as WAN, they have an annoying habit of wanting you to sign on periodically. Like everyday (the most annoying), or every other day, or every week.
When the WiFi wants you to sign on, the link often still has DNS, so the usual link detection doesn’t work, unless you do something complicated (like an http connection). But, SpeedFusion knows the link is down, as it’s not passing traffic. So a link detection, which is something like “SpeedFusion is up” would be useful.
Also signing on to hotel WiFi requires messing around with outbound policy to direct your connection to the connection which doesn’t work. It’d be useful to have an outbound policy which did that automatically. Like direct the outbound policy to the WAN connection for which SpeedFusion is not up. I could tie that to my admin machine, and I’d get bugged by the sign on, and other uses would get fail over, and not notice.
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What a great spec I have a very old travel router that does WiFi, but does not have most of those features except for the small size. Id upgrade in a flash.
Do you guys think the SpeedFusion Connect App on an “old phone” could do the job?
SpeedFusion Connect can connect back to your Peplink router pretty soon. It will not be limited to the cloud node anymore.
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Can you elaborate on how this workflow would work? And by old phone do you mean both Android and iOS?
Personally speaking, the “travel router” category is too broad and too vague but oh well.
As the volunteer/remote IT guy on an archaeological project, my primary concern is about robustness, especially the detachable external antennas. I.e. can I trust a random team member to not break them or drop the device connector first into the dirt during the daily setup/teardown. Non-detachable antennas and gaskets for remaining ports would be great for example. My secondary concern is being a good “swiss army knife” for staying online which means built in 5G, Ethernet, USB, and wi-fi as WAN. Lastly, I’d prefer Peplink’s 4-pin power to USB power or a built-in battery.
From a travel router perspective, the new 5G Dongle has been amazing in initial usage. To get around the wifi issue, it does do Internet Sharing to outside devices through your laptop device. Connected on cellular alone in a large metal conference center in Atlanta, I was getting 105 down and 28 up.
Ideas for product not listed above would be what other OEM’s are providing are battery powered 5G devices with multi-WAN and LAN ports.
When I think “travel router,” I usually think of things like the InHand CR202 or even the old Inseego Skyus 160. The CR202 is nice because the battery and Wi-Fi are built in, so it’s easy to toss in a bag and get online quickly without much setup.
InHand is also rolling out the CR602 with 5G and Wi-Fi 7, which is a pretty interesting upgrade.
It would be cool to see something similar from Peplink. A small, battery-powered unit with Wi-Fi and actual LAN/WAN ports would be a great fit for travel and quick deployments.
Ideal Travel Router would be a combination of GL.iNet Mudi 7 mentioned above and Unifi Travel Router
Dual Sims / E-Sims
Wifi Wan (able to handle captive portal)
a WAN Port (able to handle captive portal)
a LAN Port
Internal battery + USB-C Charging
USB-C - for tethering (optional)
Relay back to network
A mini screen to see the system status
Form-wise not too heavy / bulky (like the GL.iNet Mudi 7)
Internal antennas
Rugged if possible
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