The Internet on the go: Netgear AirCard 785 Mobile Hotspot Review

When you are out and about you probably want to stay connected, you can use WiFi at places like Starbucks and other public hotspots but these can be unsecure and not have the best connection speeds so the best option is to have your own solution and use mobile data.

The Netgear AirCard 785 is a mobile hotspot that you put a SIM card into and then it gives you a private network to enable your devices to connect to the internet. It’s small device a little bit smaller than a mobile phone and a little bit thicker, it has a built in battery (charger included) and colour screen.

You put a MicroSIM card in the Aircard and then you can connect to it from any device over Wifi. It has a bright and clear colour screen that can relay information like the WiFi name and password, signal strength and the number of devices connected. Displaying the SSID and password make it really easy to get started with it. You just put your SIM card in, power it up then connect from your tablet or PC.

A handy feature is the ability to enter your monthly data allowance so you know how much data you have remaining. There is also a web interface and apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone so you can manage the settings and view connection and data status.

A nice feature of the device is that you end up with your own personal network so you could use it for transferring files between devices or streaming music and videos, it supports up to 15 devices connected at once so you can have room for plenty of device.

You could ask why you need a device like this when you can share out your phones data connection but there are a few advantages in having a separate device. When you share out your phones data connection over WiFi it can drain your phones battery pretty quickly, the Aircard gets about 10 hours between charges and isn’t going to leave you with a dead phone. Plus you are using the data allowance from your phone whereas with the AirCard you can have a separate data SIM, sometimes you can good deals on data only SIM cards.

The AirCard costs £104.99 on Amazon and if you are out on the road a lot it is well worth looking at. Checkout my video review: