One of my readers (Onebir) brought Poray M3 mini Router to my attention a few days ago, as it just cost $17 at the time (now over $20) and OpenWRT developer Squonk seems very interested about it since it features microSD and SD card slots missing in TL-WR703N. However, the device only has 16 MB memory which makes it somewhat difficult to run OpenWRT, or at least some of its features.
But today, I’m not going to talk about this. Mentions of Poray M3 router came in HAME MPR-A1 OpenWRT forum thread, and I discovered a new (to me) type of low cost, small form factor device: portable Wi-Fi/3G routers. Those devices are about the size of android mini-PC and contain the chips to handle Wi-Fi, USB host (for external 3G dongle), and comes with a built-in battery so that you can use them anywhere (beach, mountain, car…), as long as there is 3G coverage. You can also use them as a battery bank for your mobile phone. HAME MPR-A1 is built around Ralink RT5350 (like Poray M3), comes with a 1,800 mAh battery, has some limited support for OpenWRT (Wi-Fi experimental support just hit github a few hours ago), and costs about $24 on DealExtreme. You can also get it for around $19 on Aliexpress.
If you haven’t come across this type of device before, you may want to have a look at HAME MPR-A1 video review below (~10 minutes) to find out what it’s capable of, and have a look at the user interface.
I’ve been searching for the cheapest Wi-Fi/3G router with built-in battery, and Marstek MPR-N9 router is the cheapest I could find at $13.90 on Aliexpress from a seller that has decent feedback.
I could not find the processor used in the device, but the key features are as follows:
- Wi-Fi – 802.11b/g/n (150Mbps)
- Ethernet – 10/100 Mbit port used as WAN or LAN
- 3G – Supports HSPA/HSPA+,EVDO A/B, TD-SCDMA dongles
- USB – Micro USB plug for charging + standard USB port for 3G dongles
- Battery – 2,400 mAh (Working time: 4-6 hours; Standby time:10 hours)
- Dimensions – 6.1×2.3×1.5cm
- Weight – 71g
The package includes the router, a USB cable and a user manual. The router is said to support up to 20 users simultaneously, and can be used as an external battery for devices that can be charged via an USB OTG port. Please note that the seller indicates a 2,400 mAh battery in the title and picture, but 1,800 mAh in the description. Other sites all indicate 2,400 mAh for MPR-A9. One user has reported that many 3G dongles appear to work with this router, but Huawei E173 Evo 3G dongle does not work, although it works fine when connected with MPR-A1.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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I think the Poray’s SD and micro SD card slots are just wired so it works as a card reader when it’s connected to a PC by USB, so RAM issues aside, it’s much less interesting than I thought 🙁
A (n unfortunately more expensive) alternative to the Hame is the TP-Link TL-WDR4310. AFAIK it’s almost the same as the TL-703N (plus a battery & switch). So the OpenWrt support should be sorted out more easily (if it’s not already). Here’s the [url=https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=36534]relevant thread[/url].
Sorry – got my routers confused just now! I should have mentioned Tp-Link TL-MR11U (not WDR4310).
I think “3G Router” is a bit confusing: AFAIK has no 3G built in, right? You have to put in a 3G dongle to make it 3G enabled?
@Sander
Yep – it’s confusing. They’re often called that on the sellers websites though.
@Sander
It does not have any built-in 3G, but as onebir said they all sell it saying it’s a Wi-Fi/3G router. I guess because it’s the main purpose of the device.
Just got my Marstek MPR-N9 yesterday. It has the same processor (RT5350), 16 Mb RAM.
In fact, the boot message shows:
Welcome to “HAME” HameData Technology Co., Ltd
The battery is 3.7v, 2200 mAh, ICR 18650.
@Yohanes Nugroho
Great! If you tinker with it, let us know your progress with OpenWRT / DebWRT.
I just got my Marstek MPR-N9. I get to use it as a travel wifi router (i.e. plug in wlan and NOT 3g dongle). I followed the instruction to set it as a wifi router using dynamic IP address, with no password. Both my ubuntu laptop and xp (!) machine can “connect” to the router, in the sense that I can wirelessly connect to 192.168.168.1, but otherwise I cannot actually get online. I also tried to use the default password and a few other settings, with no luck (the router was being charged as I did all these).
This is driving me crazy… any help and advise welcome.
@sao
Can you ping or access public IP addresses (e.g. 74.125.224.72)? If so, it could just be a DNS issue.
@cnxsoft
Indeed! I can go online after I manually point the DNS server to google. THANKS!!
@sao
Nice!
Can you say something about the range of the wifi?
@sao
hi
does anybody know marstek router wifi password or where can get manual in english ?
wifi password printed on a piece of paper glued to the device
@morten
wifi password is “7c600508” login password at 192.168.169.1 is admin