The best pocket WiFi and WiFi dongles available

In the age of widespread NBN, smartphone tethering and more recently, unlimited mobile data plans, the old Pocket WiFi dongle is becoming a bit of a fossil. Once a saviour amongst students, the humble dongle has more or less seen its day, but it’s not quite ready to take its place in the Smithsonian next to the Nokia 3310.

Families on the move and folks who regularly travel for work still require the kind of bandwidth and consistency that wireless hotspoting or tethering can’t offer. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up the very best pocket WiFi and WiFi dongles you can get in 2023 for 4G and 5G internet on the go.

That's just a small sample of the pocket WiFi and WiFi dongles available in Australia but most of them require a mobile broadband plan to go with them. Here's quick look at some of the most popular data-only SIM plans available. 

The Telstra 5G WiFi Pro offers 30 simultaneous WiFi connections, support for WiFi 6, and an ethernet port for wired gigabit speeds. The 4,500mAh battery lasts up to 9 hours, and the device weighs a light 200g. It's a portable powerhouse is a future-proof 5G modem that fits in the palm of your hand and a solid NBN alternative.

There are 4G WiFi devices with better battery life if that's a major consideration. Still, if you're able to take advantage of super-fast 5G speeds, Telstra's 5G WiFi Pro is one of the better portable solutions currently available on the market.

No need to worry if you can’t get Telstra 5G yet either, as the Telstra 5G WiFi Pro also supports 4G, so you can expect the same reliable 4G speeds when you're not within 5G coverage. The one downside to Telstra's 5G pocket WiFi is that it doesn't come cheap. It will set you back a whopping $598 outright, or an additional $16.63 per month over 36 months if you add it to your monthly mobile broadband bill.

Here's a small selection of Telstra's most popular mobile broadband plans that the Telstra 5G WiFi Pro is available on.

For those who want a 5G-powered portable WiFi modem running on the Optus network, the ZTE 5G Portable WiFi Modem is here to provide. Learn more about Optus 5G Home wireless broadband plans here.

Available on either a 12-month, 24-month or 36-month postpaid plan, this portable WiFi router boasts 5G and WiFi 6 connectivity with support for up to 32 connected devices. It's also got a 4500mAh battery with fast-charging and 2.4-inch touch display that can be used to manage the device with minimal hassle. While eagle-eyed readers may notice that this one comes in a little cheaper than its Telstra counterpart, we're gonna give the edge due to the more comprehensive coverage.

As with Optus' 4G Pocket WiFi modem (seen below), the ZTE 5G Portable WiFi Modem is designed to be paired with one of the telco's mobile broadband plans. Here's a round-up of what those currently look like:

Optus offers the E5577 4G WiFi modem. This compact 4G pocket Wi-Fi device supports up to 16 connections at once and comes with 50GB of data at purchase.  At 80g, it’s also a lot lighter than Telstra's pocket WiFi device.

Optus no longer offers its pocket WiFi devices on a month-to-month payment plan so the 4G WiFi modem will cost you $99 upfront (but it does come with 50GB data). After that, you're required to recharge every month or switch over to a postpaid mobile broadband plan. Here's a look at Optus' month-to-month prepaid and postpaid mobile broadband plans.

For Voda customers, there's the telco's branded Huawei modem, the 4G Pocket WiFi 4.

At only 6 hours battery life (and running on the Vodafone network), this might not be the best choice for those who travel to remote areas for work. Still, it does offer up to 16 connections at once, and if you’re living in a metropolitan area, you shouldn’t really struggle to get Vodafone reception these days.

The Vodafone Pocket WiFi 4 4G is available as an upfront payment of $99. That gets you 60GB of data to use over your first 30 days after which you'll need to recharge or switch over to a month-to-month mobile broadband plan.

Next up is another from Telstra, the old faithful Nighthawk M2 portable modem. This robust pocket WiFi device has been around for years now, and it’s still one of the best on the market. This pocket rocket offers 20 device connections, up to 16-hours of battery life, and an LCD touchscreen that offers usage and signal updates.

The one downside is that the M2 isn't 5G ready. If you're keen to take advantage of those next-gen speeds, you'll need the more expensive M6 ($549 over a 12, 24 or 36-month period) or M6 Pro instead ($748 over a 12, 24 or 36-month period). Not only is are these two 5G capable, they can be connected to your existing home router (via Ethernet) to bring 5G speeds to your home network, too.

You can grab the Nighthawk M2, M6 or M6 Pro on any of the plans below.

Spintel offers the Netgear AC800S modem. This pocket WiFi device offers up to 15 simultaneous connections and 4G speeds courtesy of the Optus network. It boasts 11 hours of battery life (continuous usage) and is light enough at 132g that it's not a hassle to carry around in your pocket.

As it turns out, there aren’t a lot of USB WiFi dongles these days. With USB-C slowly becoming the norm (even with laptops), it’s not hard to see why. Though there are still a few telcos offering a classic USB modem as an affordable mobile broadband solution.

One of the most popular choices in Australia is Telstra's branded 4GX USB modem. This lightweight plug-and-play dongle will connect you to the Telstra 3G/4G network via your laptop’s USB port. Once plugged in, you can connect up to 5 devices to the WiFi network.

The Telstra 4GX USB modem costs as low as $2.75 per month on a 36-month mobile broadband plan but you can also opt for a 12 or 24-month plan if you want to pay it off quicker or simply pay $99 upfront and sign up for a month-to-month mobile broadband plan or prepaid plan (more on that below).

Optus sells its own branded 4G USB modem at $39 outright. For that thrifty sum, you get a pretty bare-bones WiFi dongle that neither over-promises nor under-delivers. It's a lightweight (50g) USB-powered 3G/4G dongle that comes with 4GB of data out of the box.

It's available for purchase outright only but you can use it with a month-to-month mobile broadband SIM if you don't like the idea of recharging every month.

Optus also sells a branded Huawei E3772 prepaid 4G USB modem at $39 outright. For that price, you get a pretty barebones prepaid Wi-Fi dongle. It's a lightweight (50g) USB-powered 3G/4G dongle that comes with 4GB of data out of the box. After that, you simply recharge monthly like any other prepaid service.

After your included 4GB is used, you'll need to recharge with a prepaid mobile broadband plan through Optus. Prepaid data SIMs start at $30 for 25GB through Optus and include 200GB of rollover data (essentially a pool of your monthly unused data).

If you end up using more data than anticipated, you're not locked to prepaid. You can always pop a postpaid Optus data SIM in the same dongle if you'd prefer to get a bill. Here are some of the most popular mobile broadband plans from Optus this week.

We've already touched on Telstra's popular 4GX modem above but that same dongle can be purchased outright and put on a prepaid plan (rather than a month-to-month arrangement). If you buy it directly through Telstra, the 4GX USB modem will cost you $49 but you can also find it marginally cheaper through Officeworks at $47 outright.

Once you've purchased the device, you'll need to remember to recharge your Telstra prepaid mobile broadband plan every 14 - 28 days or every 12 months if you'd prefer a long-expiry option. Here's a quick look at some of Telstra's most popular prepaid mobile broadband plans.

Another solid prepaid solution for your mobile internet needs is the Telstra Prepaid 4GX WiFi Plus pocket WiFi device. It's available at $79 outright through Telstra and Officeworks. That upfront cost nets you 3GB out of the gate.

The Telstra Prepaid 4GX WiFi Plus offers 8 hours of battery life and can support up to 10 connected devices at once.

To recap, here’s a shortlist of popular WiFi data plans that are compatible with pocket WiFi modems or USB WiFi adapters for PC and Mac.

Both pocket WiFi modem and WiFi dongles solve the same problem, allowing you to download and upload on the go. However, each comes with different pros and cons. For instance, a pocket WiFi modem will only last as long as the battery inside it does. If it runs out, you'll be offline until you recharge it.

On the other hand, WiFi dongles will keep you connected for as long as whatever you plug them into has power. While they take up less space overall, WiFi dongles also ask you to sacrifice a USB port on your device since the accessory will be be parked in it for as long as you want to use it. Those are just some of the reasons why a WiFi dongle might make more sense than a pocket WiFi modem.