Tethering the PC to your smartphone may be the right choice. If you struggle to get a decent 4G or 5G connection on your PC while indoors, you may be better off avoiding USB dongles altogether. Hotspot Speed Booster #4: Tether Your Mobile Phone Try a free alternative such as OpenDNS if you notice a delay in website loading despite a strong signal. That means DNS look-ups take longer than need be, or web addresses fail to resolve at all. The DNS servers used by mobile broadband networks tend to be pretty patchy, according to Paul Ockenden, PC Pro’s wireless and mobile expert. Hotspot Speed Booster #3: Switch to OpenDNS Therefore, research the provider first to ensure you don’t “double-dip” on SIM cards and waste your money. Remember that some mobile providers use another company’s towers for their service, such as Boost using Sprint’s network and Cricket using AT&T’s network.

However, you have to pay for the service to make it useful.Ĭarrying a selection of SIM cards is particularly handy for those who spend a lot of time on the road, as the gaps in one mobile provider’s 4G network coverage can get filled by another provider. The networks give away the SIM cards for free or charge a nominal fee, so there’s nothing to stop you from getting a SIM card for every US 4G/5G network. Standalone wireless modems aren’t ludicrously expensive. Here are a couple of “unlocked” wireless hotspot devices that handle everything from the mobile signal (modem) to the wireless internet (hotspot) when used with a SIM card of your choosing.

Mobile hotspot bandwidth