Pocket WiFi hardware, brand by brand

No pocket WiFi device generates signal. Each one holds a subscription, joins a local mobile operator, and re-serves that single connection over WiFi to whatever is nearby. Ryoko, Solis and GlocalMe all do this, and so does a phone sharing its own line. The box adds convenience and battery, never coverage, which is why this site publishes no throughput figure for any of them.

The differences that survive that fact are contractual and physical. Ryoko sells a subscription that renews until it is cancelled. Solis sells 24-hour passes and bills the whole day whatever you use. GlocalMe puts the credential on its own servers and keeps a nano-SIM slot as an escape hatch. NETGEAR sells a router that takes a carrier plan you arrange yourself and serves a crowd. Those are four different products wearing the same shape.

Hardware wins on headcount. Ten devices on a Solis or 32 on a Nighthawk is one bill and one connection for a family, a crew or a stall, and no eSIM answers that at the same price per person. It also wins where a device has no cellular radio of its own, which covers most laptops and every camera with a WiFi uploader.

The profile wins on everything a solo traveller or a couple cares about. HelloRoam installs across 186 destinations on 204+ carrier networks with nothing to pack, includes hotspot sharing on every plan, and refunds an unactivated eSIM for 180 days against Airalo’s 14 days. HelloRoam also prices checkout in 31 currencies, so a card held in euros or yen is not paying a conversion markup on top of the plan.

One number decides most of these purchases before any specification is read. Count the people who need to be online at the same time. At one or two, the box is a charger you did not need to bring; at six, it is the cheapest connection in the room.