I ditched my iPhone hotspot for this 5G travel router and I’m never going back

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A few years ago, I had a vision of never needing a mobile hotspot again. After all, my iPhone, a gadget that’s never more than an arm’s length away, has this feature, and connecting to it is a hassle if all your devices have the Apple logo on them.

But it’s a bad experience. No matter how hard I try, the connection is almost always unstable and slow (especially when streaming or connecting to a remote system). It’s a huge pain if you have Android devices because they keep disconnecting, which hammers your iPhone’s battery.

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I’ve tried a few different mobile hotspot devices over the years, but most have been underwhelming, especially given the price of some.

When Acer offered me the chance to test their new mobile hotspot, my expectations weren’t high. Yes, on paper, it looked great, but they all look great on paper.

But it didn’t disappoint. In fact, the Connect M6E it surprised me

Built to last

The Connect M6E is a pretty odd mobile hotspot. It’s a white box that measures 5.5 x 3.4 x 0.8 inches and weighs 10.5 ounces. It reminds me more of an external hard drive or an iPod (remember those?) than a mobile hotspot. It features a 2.4-inch color touchscreen that controls the entire device (no app required).

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There’s a simple power button, a slot for a physical nano-SIM card, a reset button, and a USB-C charging port.

The unit has rubber bumpers on the corners and is built to IP68 standards, which means it’s completely dustproof and can withstand continuous submersion in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes.

It also meets the MIL-STD-810H standard, a global benchmark for testing device durability under a range of extreme conditions, including intense heat, high humidity, and physical shock. This access point is clearly built to last.

What powers the unit

Inside is a MediaTek processor with 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 16GB of storage, so your mobile hotspot is actually a pretty powerful computer. You’re unlikely to feel it lagging when pressure is on (the only time I felt the hotspot lagging a bit was when I was updating it while it was also bugging me in the settings).

The 8,000 mAh battery allows the access point to provide high-speed Internet for 28 hours of video streaming or 36 hours of regular web browsing, a claim it fully lives up to. The hotspot uses MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) multiple antenna technology to send and receive data simultaneously, increasing Wi-Fi speed, reliability and efficiency, and supports up to 20 devices.

Wi-Fi supports 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz for the best possible performance, no matter how new or old your devices are.

Protecting your data connection involves a number of technologies, including WPA3 encryption, built-in firewalls and VPN support. To connect Wi-Fi devices, you have the standard SSID and password, QR codes to scan, and “Touch-to-Connect” NFC, which allows for instant pairing.

SIM, eSIM and a virtual SIM

So how do you connect to the internet? Inside is a 5G modem capable of delivering 3.27 Gbps of cellular throughput, giving you multiple connectivity options.

First, there’s a nano-SIM card slot on the side of the unit. Pop out the SIM tray (can be a bit of a nail-biter without a tool), pop in your SIM and it’ll connect to your network provider, a great option for those who don’t want to pay more.

But fiddling with SIM cards is old school. Today, it’s all about eSIM, and the Connect M6E can be used with any eSIM. Just enter the details and you’re off.

For those who don’t want to fiddle with SIMs or eSIMs, you can also use the integrated global SIMO virtual SIM, which works in over 135 countries.

To use it, you need to download the SIMO app (iOS/Android), register, add your device and you’re off. Once you’ve added a new device, you’ll get up to 20GB of data to use for the first six months, and you can top up your account in the app. There are gigabyte packages for countries and regions, as well as unlimited 24-hour subscriptions. And the prices, from what I’ve seen on the app, are pretty reasonable.

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To ensure you get the best possible Internet connection, the hotspot includes a SignalScan feature that automatically searches for and connects to the strongest network available. I found this feature especially useful when the hotspot was being used in a vehicle and I was moving quickly between cell phone cells or inside a building.

I’ve put over 50GB of data through the Connect M6E so far and it’s done flawlessly. Connection speeds have always been as good, if not better, than what my iPhone could deliver, and could always outperform my iPhone when using it as a hotspot for streaming, video conferencing, or connecting to a computer. I definitely wish I had this when I was traveling in Spain last year and was frustrated using my iPhone as a hotspot.

Who is this really for?

If you only occasionally connect a second device to your smartphone, you definitely don’t need a mobile hotspot.

But there are many people who will benefit from one, such as frequent travelers, remote workers, people who live in areas with limited broadband options, security-conscious people who don’t just connect their laptop to any old Wi-Fi offered by a coffee shop (or hacker), people who have many devices, or those who organize groups of people, especially if they need the Internet.

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At $300, the Acer Connect M6E it’s competitively priced, especially compared to Netgear Nighthawk mobile hotspots. But the Connect M6E is superior, far superior, to other mobile hotspots I’ve tried. It has excellent battery life, the 5G modem is fast and stable, and the ability to use SIM, eSIM and virtual SIM gives me excellent flexibility, all in a package that I can slip into my back pocket (or shirt pocket if I’m wearing a cargo shirt).