Not quite a luggage tag, but not far from one, either, D-Link’s latest modem lets you take your internet with you in a pint-sized way.
There’s an inescapable truth that you should have the internet everywhere you go, something having a modern mobile and a decent mobile plan will provide, but giving that access to all your devices isn’t quite as easy.
You can clearly turn your phone into a mobile hotspot, draining the already dwindling battery life from your phone for the few hours you plan to share, or you can consider an alternate option: a made-for-purpose mobile hotspot.
It’s a category that has largely been touted by telcos up until now: buy a SIM and plan, and get the mobile hotspot with it.
However, you can also take on a very BYO attitude to this and just bring your own SIM, grabbing an unlocked hotspot and taking it around with you.
Handy for travelling, camping, and just generally knowing you’ll need to share an internet connection between family members (won’t somebody please think of the children!), D-Link has a new play on the category that definitely has travelling and camping in mind.
While the model name of “DWR-933M” doesn’t inspire the imagination, the design and shape will: this 4G LTE mobile hotspot looks like a luggage tag, complete with a ring for threading straps through to hold it in place.
The $99 hotspot comes with support for 802.11ax WiFi 6 over the 2.4 and 5GHz bands covering 600Mbps, handy because its support for Category 6 4G maxes out at 300Mbps, so the remaining 300Mbps might be for sharing between devices connected on the hotspot’s tiny and semi-impromptu wireless network.
A 3000mAh battery inside should keep the network action going for as much as 12 hours, and there’s a USB-C port to charge it up should it need to go longer. While not a 5G hotspot, boosting the speed would likely affect the battery life, and 5G doesn’t always get speeds past the 300Mbps mark in Australia, with so many telcos handicapping speeds based since the idea popped up in 2019 on the various plans.
The outside even has a 1.77 inch screen to show internet status and notifications, though unlike a luggage tag, it won’t show your name, address, and phone number. Frankly, you probably shouldn’t use it as a luggage tag, as it’ll probably get crushed in transit.
But it can provide WiFi access with a spare nanoSIM you might have, and thanks to the $99 cost, it does seem rather inexpensive on the whole.
D-Link’s DWR-933M 4G WiFi Mobile Hotspot is available now across Australia for $99.95, and a little more in New Zealand at $149.99, too.
