Doubly Unwired

With its compact one-piece design, protective case, and slide-out power plug, the Linksys Travel Router truly lives up to its name. There are no cords to fiddle with or lose, nor any batteries to recharge. Just plug it into the wall (or a portable power supply), and you've got a hotspot.

Unlike most travel routers, the Linksys has a full complement of indicator lights for troubleshooting, and two Ethernet ports. One port connects to your Internet connection, and the other to your computer or local network. You don't have to use any wires at all however. You will probably be using wired Internet connections in most hotel and conference rooms, but you can also piggyback the Linksys onto any hotspot signal, whether free or paid. The wired LAN connection is handy for setup, but rarely used outside of the home or office.

Wi-Fi Sidekick

Viewed from the side, you can see the ports and indicator lights up close. At the top is the green SecureEasySetup button, which lets you set up strong WPA encryption between the Travel Router and other SecureEasySetup devices, such as matching PC Cards. At bottom is the Reset pinhole, for setting the router back to factory defaults.