Portable Wi-Fi gadgets for I-can’t-afford-another-fibre-bill months

When the rand is tap-dancing near the bottom of the screen and your fibre debit order is eyeing your last bit of breathing room, portable Wi-Fi starts looking like a better deal than your ISP’s “no long-term contract” lie.

Pocket routers aren’t just for IT guys with cargo pants anymore. They’re for anyone who needs to stay online without locking themselves into another bill they can’t argue with.

What you’re actually buying

Portable Wi-Fi means a small, battery-powered router that uses mobile data. You pop in a SIM, switch it on, and boom, your own personal hotspot. No technician, fibre box, or debit order. Just prepaid data and a slightly smug sense of control.

There are three decent routers you can buy right now without selling a kidney:

• Huawei E5576 - around R800 (Takealot), supports up to 16 devices. Entry-level, does what it needs to do;
• TP-Link M7200 - seen for R1 100 to R1 500 (Takealot), 10 devices, 8 hours battery. It’s the besy all-rounder;
• ZTE MF927U - from R1 200 (Takealot). Similar specs, slightly chunkier in design.

If you just want to keep your existing fibre alive during load-shedding, skip the portable stuff and get a mini UPS. The Gizzu 30 W is built for this; it powers your ONT and router, with no signal dropout when the lights go.

Using your phone as a hotspot works in a pinch, until your battery looks like Eskom Stage 6. Pocket routers are made to share data across devices without cooking your phone battery, and you can throw it in a bag without crying if it disconnects once or twice.

Bundles that won’t ruin your budget

Let’s be honest: mobile data is still priced like it’s a rare mineral. You should choose your plan like you’re buying black-market petrol: carefully and with a clear exit strategy.

• Vodacom: 20 GB + 20 GB Night Owl for R229
• MTN: Super Data bundles offer 30 GB for R269, 70 GB for R389, or 200 GB for R499
• Telkom: Oddball bundles like R49 for 3 GB + Night Surfer (14 days) or R99 for 7.5 GB + Night Surfer, depending on promo
• Rain: R165/month for 2 GB plus voice — mostly paying for SIM access, not ideal for streaming

Out-of-bundle is where your data goes to die. Vodacom lets you lock your spend to R0 with a limit setting. MTN lets you set hard caps. Telkom’s out-of-bundle rates vary by plan, so double-check.

20 GB of data = about 30 hours of standard definition Netflix.
High def? Less than seven. Watching Love Island SA on HD while hotspotting? That’s a R300 mistake.

How to not get scammed or suckered

• Test a prepaid SIM before you buy the router. If the signal sucks, return it or switch networks;
• Use night data only if you’re really going to download after midnight. Otherwise, ignore it in your budget;
• Set the APN (Access Point Name) on your hotspot properly. Your gadget won’t connect until you do;
• Lock out-of-bundle rates from day one. If the network doesn’t make it obvious, look deeper, it’s there.

If the question is “Can I stay online this month without paying R800 for fibre?” The answer is yes. Just don’t treat mobile data like it’s infinite. It isn’t.