How Many Devices Can a Pocket WiFi Handle?

Whern traveling, a pocket WiFi device makes accessing the internet much easier. They’re often cheaper across several devices than paying roaming charges for each device.

Essentially a portable wireless router, most pocket WiFi devices are designed for several other devices to connect to them. They’re great for families and friends traveling together.

Just rent one pocket WiFi device and connect all your devices to it.

But how many devices is that and will they all share the internet connection evenly and fairly?

Summary

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• Typical Device Connection Limits
• Bandwidth Distribution Among Connected Devices
• Can You Use Your Pocket WiFi While Charging?

Typical Device Connection Limits

Most pocket WiFi devices are designed to manage multiple connected devices. Otherwise, there’d be little point in having them. You could just connect directly to the internet via a mobile network on a smartphone or similar device.

The number of connections depends on the pocket WiFi device. Basic and entry-level devices support limited numbers of simultaneous connections (around 5).
More advanced models will support larger numbers of simultaneous connections. Your typical pocket WiFi device supports around 10 devices.

4G Hippocketwifi devices support up to 10 devices simultaneously. The 5G Hippocketwifi devices support up to 20 devices at a time.

Keep in mind that when multiple devices are connected at once to a pocket WiFi device, you’ll be increasing both battery use and reducing the connection speed across each device.

If you’re finding that your pocket WiFi device’s connection isn’t very fast or the battery life isn’t great, it might be down to just how many devices you’re connecting at once.

Both for connection speed and battery life, the fewer the devices, the better. Leaving several devices connected at once may add to your data usage. Many devices use data in the background, especially when connected to a WiFi connection.

Either change your devices to limit background data use. Also, make sure that they’re not connected to a pocket WiFi device when you’re not using them.

Bandwidth Distribution Among Connected Devices

Most pocket WiFi devices work in a very similar way to a wired router that you may have in your house.

It’s very common for these to operate based on Quality of Service (QoS), which refers to the control mechanisms used to prioritize traffic and resources through the device.

For home and personal routers, users can alter how bandwidth is allocated across devices. Use settings like device prioritization, application prioritization, bandwidth allocation, dynamic bandwidth management, fair access policies, and traffic shaping.

However, since these are settings for advanced users, these are not typically available for rented pocket WiFi devices. Most Quality of Service protocols are defined by the manufacturer or service provider. The end user can’t usually alter them.

Since most pocket WiFi devices are for everyday or business use by travelers, they tend to distribute bandwidth equally across connected devices, though there may be some QoS settings integrated into them for simple usability. This will be on a device-by-device basis, however.

Can You Use Your Pocket WiFi While Charging?

With every pocket WiFi device, you can charge the battery while continuing to use the device. This can be useful if you intend to use the device later on and want to ensure that the device is fully charged the second you go out.

While the battery life of Hippocketwifi is between 4 and 6 hours of full-time use from a single charge, thanks to the automatic turn-off when the device isn’t being used, you’ll find that you’ll usually get a full day of use from the device.