WiFi on the Go with NETGEAR Fuse Mobile Hotspot

Our family took our first ever LONG road trip this summer, from California to Colorado, hitting Zion and Bryce National Parks on the way there and the Grand Canyon on the way back. 

We have three young boys we needed to keep occupied during long stretches of drives and two adults that needed to take care of everyday life using something more than just their cell phones.

What to do? Enter the NETGEAR Fuse Mobile Hotspot. This handy device made things much easier on our family road trip. We were able to check emails and messages on our tablets and computers and I was even able to get some work done on my computer. We even let our littlest one use Netflix a bit and I watched a TV show on my FiOS On Demand app!

The Fuse Mobile Hotspot is4G LTE-capable for super fast speeds and has up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge. To fully charge the hotspot takes a couple of hours but you are able to use it while it is charging.

The NETGEAR Fuse Mobile Hotspot is designed with the latest WiFi security protocols which make it more secure than many public WiFi networks, giving  you peace of mind when using it. You are also able to block unwanted devices or turn on guest WiFi to safely share internet access with others.

The Fuse Mobile Hotspot has a 1.77″ Color LCD screen that monitors network info, connectivity, battery life and more. It is compact and light – perfect for your purse or pocket. You are able to connect up to 10 WiFi devices at a time (I think we got up to 4 devices connected at one point.)

So,How Did the Family Road Trip REALLY Go?

Well, I have to say that there were a lot of rural areas that we did not receive cell coverage because there was literally NOTHING around. That being said, we were not getting data from our cell phones either while we were in those areas.

There were several hotels that had free WiFi but I found that at many of them, we had a hard time getting decent coverage. We quickly started using the hotspot in the hotel rooms for the convenience of always being connected. It was also nice to be able to bring it with to the pool so that I could do things on the tablet while the kids worked off some energy.

The Netgear Fuse Mobile Hotspot also saved us the time and energy of needing to reconnect every time we were in a different hotel.

When we were near civilization and in the car, the Fuse Mobile Hotspot worked great. I was most impressed by the ability to use Netflix and my Verizon OnDemand app in the car and be able to watch shows with no problem.

Now, you do use a lot of data when you do this so just be careful that you keep an eye on your data usage. (This is super easy to do – the amount of data that you have used is right on the first screen of the Fuse Mobile Hotspot.)  I read on Netflix’s website that you can change the picture quality to use less data so you might want to look into that if you plan on streaming a lot of movies.

We had up to 4 devices using the hotspot at the same time and had absolutely no problems. It is super easy to sign in and log on – there is a numeric code on the the LCD Screen of the hotspot that you input into your device.

Once home from our vacation, I found the Fuse Mobile Hotspot extremely useful when I was doing a day full of appointments and errands.

I left the mobile hotspot on and as soon as I sat down in waiting rooms I was already connected to WiFi and able to use my tablet. It was also nice in places like Target to just be able to pull out my tablet and work on the kids’ school supply list. Whereas some of these places might have their own WiFi that you can tap into, the convenience of already being connected is really nice.

Pros:

• My devices can be connected at the same time
• Simple to sign on to get connected
• A perfect size to put in your pocket or in your purse
• Very lightweight
• Impressive battery life – if I turned it off when I was not using it, it would last several days before needing to charge it

Cons:

• It roamed a lot in rural areas. (This is more of a network problem, not necessarily a problem with the device. Just keep in mind that when you are traveling there might be times when you are unable to connect – be sure to check the coverage in the area that you will be using your mobile hotspot in)
• I wish that there was a no monthly contract option. It seems like this would be a great device to use sometimes but not something that I would need every month (or at least not as much at certain times). It would be great to add the amount of data that you need for your trip or event and not be tied into a monthly contract. If nothing else, it would be nice to be able to change the amount of data you plan to use each month as long as you do a minimum

The NETGEAR Fuse Mobile Hotspot is available from Sprint for $168 which can be spread out over a two-year contract for $7 each month. Plans range from $10 to $110 monthly with data of 100 MB to 30 GB. There are 6 different monthly options available so it is easy to find the right price with the right amount of data for anyone. With the NETGEAR Fuse Mobile Hotspot, you can be assured that you will be connected whenever and wherever you need to be.

A Mom’s Perspective

The NETGEAR Fuse Mobile Hotspot saved the day on our family trip. It was nice to be able to connect to WiFi on something other than my phone while we were in our car. It made sending emails and doing minor projects much easier and enjoyable.

The kids were also able to text, send emails, play games and all the other things that they do on their devices.

I could also see that if you had a job that you had to be places other than your office that it could be extremely useful to have a mobile hot spot like the NETGEAR Fuse – especially since it allows several users to connect at the same time. It is small enough that you can put it in your purse, ready at a moment’s notice.

My in-laws split their time between Michigan and Florida over the year. They also do a lot of traveling. I could see that a Fuse Mobile Hotspot with the many data choices could be a good option for them so that they would not need to pay for WiFi in both locations and when they are on the go.

I was surprised by how much I ended up “needing” the hotspot over the span of time that I was trying it out. We ended up without internet at home for about 4 days because we were changing plans and it was WONDERFUL to be able to tap in to the Hot Spot during that time. I also used it several times on the road when we were doing day trips. It really allowed me to redeem the time on long drives. 

*I was lent a NETGEAR Fuse Mobile Hotspot with service for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.