Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Turning your phone into a mobile hotspot by sharing its data connection is an undeniably useful feature, but it does come with certain drawbacks when compared to using a dedicated mobile router.
I generally avoid hotel, shopping mall, and airport Wi-Fi. This is down to security and privacy reasons. Some public Wi-Fi providers require you to sign up for an account to use their network, and there’s the risk of data snooping.
As a result, I always use a mobile data connection when I’m out of the house. For quick outings, I’ll use my phone as a hotspot. But when I’m going to be out for a few hours, or I’m leaving for an overnight trip, I always use a mobile router instead.
Do you prefer using a phone's mobile hotspot or a mobile router? 3 votes I prefer using my phone as a hotspot. 67 % I prefer using a mobile router. 0 % It depends on the occasion. 33 %
The drawbacks of using my phone as a hotspot
Megan Ellis / Android Authority
For years, I used my mobile router whenever I needed to connect any additional devices to the internet while I was out of the house. I had a 160GB plan on the SIM card inside the router, so this meant that I could easily use its connection without worrying about running out of data.
However, I canceled this plan last year to save money. I wasn’t going on work trips as often, and the scheduled power outages my region had been experiencing were no longer as consistent. I still have the SIM, but only load it up with data when needed.
As a result, I experimented with using my phone as a hotspot more often. This was mostly for trips to the shop, specifically because I’ve started playing Pokémon Go again and use a SIM-less second device for my alt account.
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