Blew $400 on a 'ultimate travel router' for Thailand and it was a dud

I got suckered into buying some expensive travel router that promised to work in any hotel or hostel across Asia, but when I landed in Bangkok last month it couldn't even stay connected for more than 10 minutes. Ended up having to buy a cheap local one for $30 at a 7-Eleven that worked perfectly for the whole trip. Has anyone else thrown money at a gadget that sounded great on paper but totally failed when you actually needed it?

2 comments

2 Comments

jackson.max12d ago

Oh man, that's rough. I feel you on this one. But I gotta gently push back on the $30 7-Eleven router thing. Those things are usually locked to one network and barely work outside the store. I think maybe you just got lucky with a decent one. Or maybe you were just closer to the router than you thought. The real lesson here is that expensive travel gear is a total crapshoot. Half the time the cheap stuff works better because it's simpler and less buggy.

ross.kim12d ago

You mentioned "expensive travel gear is a total crapshoot" - do you think it's more about the brand name markup or just that complex tech fails more often when you're on the road? I've had cheap stuff crap out way faster than mid-range gear in my experience. Like is there a sweet spot for price vs reliability that you've found works best?