Reddit reviews TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router - WiFi Bridge/Range Extender/Access Point/Client Modes, Mobile in Pocket(TL-WR902AC)

A travel router is the way to go and this TP-Link AC750 has gone with me on every business trip the last 2 years with no issues.

Maybe you might be interested in a Travel Wifi Router to rebroadcast the accessible WiFi into your own private, away from the ass, WiFi network.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_2

Forget about a card. You'll get a faster, more reliable connection with a bridge and won't need to screw around with drivers. If your router is 802.11AC, get this one for $35. If your router is 802.11N, get this one for $30. In either case, put it in "Client" mode and connect it to your computer with a short Ethernet cable. Also connect a USB cable from the computer to the bridge to power it so it'll turn on/off with your computer.

I’ve heard of folks using this one: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Ac750+tp-link&qid=1558112027&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Sometimes the hotel wifi is just congested, especially if it's running on 2.4GHz. That's why I take this 5GHz 802.11ac travel router with me to hotels in case they have ethernet available in the room or a limit on devices per room.

Edit: fixed broken link

Is it possible - Absolutely

Will it work for what you need - Maybe

I am assuming they only provide WiFi and not a wired connection in your apartment. If you do have a wired connection just use that to connect to GW.

First how fast is the apartments WiFi? The reason I ask is just to understand where a bottleneck could happen. If the apartment WiFi is really fast, you will probably see a significant degradation in speed. If it isn't blazing fast you may not notice as much of a speed hit. It just comes down to the capacity of the link.

Second what are you trying to accomplish? It is just for streaming or general internet access or are you planning on gaming where low latency is critical? Streaming and general internet access will probably be ok, gaming most likely will see significant latency. This is due to all of the additional "hops" you will have to make. Now the apartment WiFi itself may have poor latency to begin with.

To try this out you need a Wireless Client with an ethernet jack out. There are a couple different ways you can do this.

1. To just check and try it out you can always use a Windows machine with both WiFi and an open ethernet jack to bridge the two connections. Search for "How to Share Wireless Over Ethernet on Windows 10" on Google for some examples of how to do this. Your Windows machine will act like a router and pass the connection from WiFi to Ethernet. This really isn't practical for the long term, but it might work for something quick or a particular use case.
   
   
2. You can get a WiFi router that is DD-WRT compatible and as mentioned flash it with DD-WRT and set it up as a client.
   
   
3. You can get a small travel router that supports client mode natively. Something like this would work, https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH.
   
   I am assuming that the apartment WiFi is dual band, ie both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. This may go against some people's thinking but when setting this up with either option 2 or option 3 above, you may want to try only using the 2.4 GHz band to connect to the apartment WiFi. There are multiple reasons why this might work better. First 2.4GHz propagates better over longer distances and through walls. So depending where the apartment access point is located you may get a better connection on 2.4 GHz. Second since 5GHz does not propagate through walls very well, especially fireproof walls typically in apartments, this would be better for you to use for your local WiFi network as you will have less interference from your neighbors. Finally, by keeping your backhaul link to the apartment on 2.4GHz and your local WiFi mainly on 5GHz you minimize the interference and time sharing between the two. I would at least try this configuration.
   
   Good luck and please report back on your success or failure. ;-)

So just to be clear your suggestion here is to power this from a usb on another device or wallwart as not to use up a USB on the computer you are using it with? At that point might as well just buy a god damn router and put it in bridge mode.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N5RCZQH/ref=psdcmw_300189_t1_B00TQEX8BO

You could do this with two NICs, but I'd personally recommend finding a cheap router and placing it behind your existing router. This cheap router would have a WAN IP on the 192.168.1.0 /24 network, and a static LAN IP of 10.0.0.1 /24. On this cheap router, you could then port forward RDP to the Hyper-V host on the 10.0.0.0 /24 network, allowing you to access your lab environment from your main 192.168.1.0 /24 network via RDP.

I use this jenky setup all the time when staging new servers for customer networks -- I configure a spare home router with the same customer subnet, and can set up the server with the exact IP settings of where it will eventually reside. There are more professional ways of handling this, but this is a simple way of being able to have Internet access and perform system updates with the precise network settings.

I personally carry one of these routers in my work laptop bag, as it allows me to run a drop in AP (no routing) on customer networks, or set it up as a small wireless router on a second subnet as described above.

So since the Chromecast Ultra requires the power brick I've made a little change.

New power supply:

Portable AC Laptop Power Bank 40000mAh, External Backup Power Supply Travel Charger Compatible With MacBook Laptop Tablet and Smartphone [110V AC, PD 45W USB-C, 18W USB, Dual 3.1A USB, 15V/2.4A DC] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XHKVQ3V/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_hC12Db30XV9SR

And since the public WiFi I mostly encounter is behind a portal I ordered this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_BL12DbJR52T93

This is a fun experiment :)

What you want is a travel router (like this) that can take an existing Wi-Fi signal and create your own private network. These are designed to connect to, say, a hotel Wi-Fi network and create your own network. This is especially handy if the hotel only allows one Wi-Fi device per guest - you connect the router and have as many devices as you want connect.

Problem is, it might not work if the Xfinity network has a captive portal. I bought a travel router that could not get past the captive portal problem, no matter what I tried. This was four years ago, so the tech might have improved since then.

I just setup my parent's on an ATT hotspot for their home Internet, replacing Frontier DSL 3Mbps service. I am using the TP-Link Travel router. https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WR902AC-Wireless-Travel-Router/dp/B01N5RCZQH

There's a few different options with this device as it includes a USB port and Ethernet port. You can both power and tether the USB hotspot to the router through the USB port and share the Internet connection over wifi 2.4 & 5Ghz wirless networks. You'd think they'd allow connection to the LAN port for an external switch or Ethernet device, but they do not. They allow the port for a secondary WAN connection in this mode.

The other mode, in which I operate my parents, is using the hotspot wifi signal to share the hotspot internet (Hotspot sharing mode). So the Travel Router takes the hotspot wifi, and bridges it as the WAN connection. You then use the router as any regular wireless router, setting up the wifi networks (both 2.4 & 5Ghz) and then you can also connect a switch to the LAN port. The Travel Router has it's own DHCP services, so there is a double NAT involved, which really shouldn't affect anything unless you're hosting anything with port forwarding.

What's nice about this router is it is fully features, including Firewall and port forwarding options, DHCP reservation & MAC address blocking, DNS override, and my favorite: WAN port bandwidth throttling per device IP. Comes in handy when streaming video and have a data cap and want to save some gigs.

I've seen this one in multiple subs. You could probably also share your laptop's connection to the Stadia

Thanks u/minnesnowta and u/ihatecupcakes. You are right, I didn't specified WiFi requirements. I need 5ghz, support for at least 15 devices and the fastest possible connection (basically a decent quality router, but with a builtin battery). I also saw this one, but it does not mention anything about a battery. Also, I said I didn't needed the SIM card but having the option for a possible future use would be nice, so I am really interested to know if this 4G routers can operate as a normal WiFi hotspot without the SIM card.

Actually sorry this is the AC Model

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=psdc_300189_t1_B00TQEX8BO

I rent a room and i wanted to make a separate WiFi so my chromecast and IoT stuff won't be accessible on the main house network. I knew i wanted something like VLANs but i found only enterprise grade hardware support that, which can get pretty pricey. I thought of getting a router and installing a custom firmware on a router to get to make VLANs or make myself a custom router with pfsense but because that meant getting way too involved, i don't have time for that.

So, long story long, i found this thing, it's a travel router that takes one WiFi network and makes a new WiFi network with a entirely new subnet a shit. This solved my thing but because the router is pretty small and hardware isn't that great, the speeds on the network are okay. You probably won't be able to stream high bitrate videos on the network, so plex my not work that well. But it's a cheap and a quick solution.

Buying a new router and making a network yourself may be the best solution for you because of the plex server. If you're not streaming 4k or super high bitrate rips, you should be fine with the travel router.

I bought this and it works wonderfully to get devices on captive portal websites https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=travel+router&qid=1554473648&s=gateway&sr=8-5 and can be set up with your phone browser if need be. I use it mostly for my Chromecast in hotels.

There's also a cheaper version N version which is good enough as well.

This will work as well. https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH

Use this to solve your problem.
TP-Link AC750 Wireless Wi-Fi Travel Router (TL-WR902AC)


https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Buy one of these travel routers.

You can spoof its MAC address, or hardwire it, and have your own private wifi network.

You can use the router to bridge but then no firewall and your devices will be visible on the network or use a wireless game adapter/Travel Router to login and feed an ethernet connection to router.

It's called a bridge. A WiFi Client mode device that allows you to plug in your ethernet cable.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_8

So there is something like this:

https://smile.amazon.com/Netgear-Nighthawk-AC1900-Adapter-A7000-10000S/dp/B073JHHNJ9/ref=dp_ob_title_hi

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or there are adapters like this:

https://smile.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=WiFi+client+adapter&qid=1556950669&s=electronics&sr=1-4

that you would configure as a 'Client'

this is similar to the one I use:

https://smile.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542211541&sr=8-3&keywords=tp-link+travel+router

Addendum to my earlier post:

If you decide to give the travel router a try, make sure you get the AC model like this one below. Other models only support 2.4GHz and while it might work, it's not worth dealing with signal issues on top of Internet connectivity as well. The good news is that the Enchantment's wireless has great coverage, about the only place we had any less than four bars of signal were in the elevators.
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH

ive had good luck using tplink travel router as a repeater for IOT devices. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5RCZQH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

You could also use a raspberry pi zero with an extra wifi adapter as a wifi repeater. for a cheaper more diy solution.

So, something like this? TP Link WR902AC.

I have the previous version (WR802N). It has a "wireless hotspot" mode that acts as a wireless bridge. You can set it to have a different VLAN if you want to, or just use the same IP address as before.

Something like this might work:

TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router - WiFi Bridge/Range Extender/Access Point/Client Modes, Mobile in Pocket(TL-WR902AC)

Your best bet is to get a travel router like this https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=travel+router+wifi&qid=1569147249&sprefix=Travel+rourer&sr=8-3

USB powered and it has quite a good chipset for the price.

If you still want to try the network solution, buy a small travel router to connect to your network with Ethernet via WiFi. Something like this. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-3VHDbJM9E4Q8

Otherwise, you can load most games off of a USB flash drive with OPL.

This is great! I'm glad they added this. I personally use my own router while traveling, that I can agree to the TOS on, and then connect my devices to that. Makes for a bit more security and allows all my devices to connect just as if they were doing so at home.

TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router - WiFi Bridge/Range Extender/Access Point/Client Modes, Mobile in Pocket(TL-WR902AC) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5RCZQH/

This will probably work fine. You want to set it up as a client and connect your home router to it. You don’t want a repeater, or really an extender; those will slow it down.

So connect this to the pool WiFi. Use a wire to plug it into your router. Set your routers WiFi channels to be very different than the pools (so you’re not overlapping)

Sorry the first router i linked is wrong, this one is right.

 

Or you could just use the mini router as a extender of the original router and connect the mini router to the pi with ethernet cable or wifi.