I ditched my travel router for a spare Android phone, and it actually worked

At a glance:

• A spare Android phone with a secondary SIM can replace a dedicated travel router for most short-to-medium trips, handling Wi-Fi hotspot, USB tethering, and Bluetooth tethering for multiple devices.
• The setup keeps your primary phone free for navigation, photos, and calls while the second device handles all connectivity — and it can sit plugged into a power bank for hours without the battery anxiety of using your main handset.
• For longer trips requiring Ethernet input, native WireGuard VPN integration, or stable multi-device connectivity over weeks, a purpose-built travel router such as the Gl.iNet Slate AX still holds a meaningful edge.

As an avid traveler, I have considered investing in a travel router for years. Hotel Wi-Fi is almost universally terrible, and the idea of logging into the same captive portal every time you reconnect is enough to test anyone's patience. The usual recommendation points toward something like a Gl.iNet Slate or a similarly compact router. These devices are genuinely useful, but they are yet another thing to charge, one more item to pack, and an additional gadget to keep an eye on while backpacking.

Why an old Android phone works surprisingly well

That persistent friction got me thinking. Why was I carrying a second router when I already had an Android phone in my pocket capable of the same wireless hotspotting, USB tethering, and Wi-Fi sharing that a Gl.iNet promises? Modern Android phones now ship with batteries as large as 9000mAh, so on paper the idea made sense. I decided to replace my travel router plan with a spare Android phone I had lying around — and honestly, the experience was almost brilliant.

The setup was simpler than I expected. Even the most compact travel routers are still fairly bulky devices. An Android phone is not. I took an older phone that was no longer my daily driver, dropped a secondary SIM into it, and turned it into a dedicated connectivity device. That separation is what makes the concept click: the spare phone handles hotspot duties while my primary phone stays free for photos, navigation, boarding passes, calls, and anything else that matters.

Using my main phone as a hotspot has always come with obvious battery drain and a nagging sense of battery anxiety. Combining a hotspot with everyday tasks — taking photos, running maps, hailing an Uber, taking calls — tends to make even the best phone heat up. None of that is an issue with a spare device. Since it was no longer my primary handset, I did not care if it sat plugged into a power bank for hours or got a bit too warm to the touch. The device is meant to stay in hotspot mode for extended stretches, and everything else is secondary. In practice, everything from my iPad to my laptop and even a streaming stick stayed connected through it.

Android's tethering flexibility deserves specific mention. The platform supports Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth tethering, and USB tethering. For my laptop, USB tethering was often better than a pure Wi-Fi hotspot connection because it was more stable and faster, with the added benefit of keeping the phone charged while connected. For devices that only need basic internet to receive notifications, Bluetooth tethering is a low-power option worth considering.

Why a real travel router still has an edge

If you have read this far, you might think a travel router is obsolete. The answer is more nuanced. A dedicated travel router is built to perform one task well. It typically comes with better radios, stronger antennas, superior multi-device handling, and the ability to seamlessly integrate VPNs, guest networks, and even Ethernet input. When you need to work across multiple devices for long stretches, that hardware advantage translates into an experience closer to your home router — something a phone-as-router setup cannot consistently match.

Dedicated travel routers also manage heat and battery life significantly better than a phone pressed into service as a hotspot. Phone hotspots can get aggressive with thermal throttling and battery management, and there is not much you can do to combat performance degradation over time. Additionally, while some phones can function as wireless repeaters, not every hotel network and standard is supported. Travel routers excel at these edge cases. When push comes to shove, you can still set up a reliable network using an Ethernet cable — something you simply cannot do with a phone.

An Android phone works for most people, but there are limits

Saying that using an Android phone as a travel router was almost brilliant is precise in its wording. For most people, the limitations probably will not matter. If your use case involves a laptop, a tablet, and maybe one or two additional devices connected via a 5G network, an old Android phone will work swimmingly. In my experience, I could comfortably run the hotspot for a couple of hours without any noticeable degradation in performance.

However, if you regularly need to bypass captive portals, rely on Ethernet connectivity, or expect to do high-bandwidth streaming for extended periods, investing in a dedicated travel router makes more sense. What travel routers sacrifice in size and bulk, they return in portability, overall network stability, and security-oriented features. For shorter trips — a weekend getaway, for instance — you probably do not need native WireGuard integration or Ethernet passthrough. For multi-week stretches on the road where stable connectivity is non-negotiable for work calls, video meetings, or downtime streaming, a purpose-built device remains the better tool.