TRENDnet Releases "World's Smallest" Travel Router

[Rob Williams]

From our front-page news:

Travel often? Travel with more than one person often? Sick and tired of being tethered to a desk at a hotel that offers only wired Internet? Well, TRENDnet's latest wireless router might be just for you. The company touts it as being the world's smallest travel router, which is quite a big claim, but if you take a look at the product page on their website, I have no issue with believing it (the LAN port on the back seems to take up only 1/5th of its total width).

It's the overall size that makes this router so desirable, as it's "so small, it disappears in your front pocket", and what's not to like about that? One thing I absolutely hate while travelling is filling more than one suitcase, or simply weighing my luggage down with various electronics. I've often brought full-blown routers with me on business trips, and they're really cumbersome. But this one is so small, that I could easily fit it in the same bag as my laptop.

This mini router also happens to offer 300Mbps operating speeds (802.11 n), which means at it's highest transfer rate, you should actually be able to transfer files from one PC to the next faster than you could if you were using a USB thumb drive or external hard drive. Of course, the company also keeps security in mind, along with easy setup, and if you think this will cost you out the rear, don't... it's only ~$60 USD.

TRENDnet has sent me one of these to test out, and with Intel's Developer Forum taking place next month, I'll have a perfect opportunity to see how it fares in exactly the scenario it's designed for.

The 300Mbps Wireless N Travel Router Kit offers a high performance router that is so small it disappears in your front pocket. Enjoy the freedom of wireless n while on the go and share a single Internet connection with multiple users. This compact kit fits into the most overstuffed luggage and contains everything needed to quickly create a 300Mbps wireless network.

Source: TRENDnet 300Mbps Wireless N Travel Router

[2Tired2Tango]

Oh my, what a strange feeling... Not sure what this is... It's like ... like I'm impressed!

Just kidding around... if it performs up to claim, it's gonna be a real blessing to a lot of business travellers.

[Rob Williams]

Haha, alright, so it's not a mind-blowing product. I'm still excited about it though. It's small, and that's the biggest draw to me. I ended up throwing out a router on a business trip last year because I didn't feel like dealing with it anymore. This, I can fit right in a suitcase.

While I'm thinking of it, is there such thing as an access point that can connect to a WiFi connection and then spread the signal to your personal network? What I mean is, if there's wireless Internet at your hotel, and no wired at all, is there a router that's wireless only, that has the ability to connect to the hotel Internet and act regularly as a network?