Category: Hardware

Mobile Wi-Fi router, power bank and NAS: HooToo TripMate

The HooToo TripMate combines three devices into one: A mobile Wi-Fi router than can take a Wi-Fi or LAN connection and allow up to five devices to use it. Might be useful e.g. to use a Hotel Wi-Fi with multiple devices. A 6000mAh power bank to charge your phone or tablet. A NAS (network attached … Continue reading “Mobile Wi-Fi router, power bank and NAS: HooToo TripMate”

The HooToo TripMate combines three devices into one:

  1. A mobile Wi-Fi router than can take a Wi-Fi or LAN connection and allow up to five devices to use it. Might be useful e.g. to use a Hotel Wi-Fi with multiple devices.
  2. A 6000mAh power bank to charge your phone or tablet.
  3. A NAS (network attached storage) that can share the contents of an USB stick with up to five devices via Wi-Fi. An Android and iOS app is available to allow these devices to access and play multimedia files saved on the USB stick via Wi-Fi.

It is currently sold for $29.99 on Amazon.com which seems to be a very good price. I tested all three functions at home and it worked well. It can be configured directly from the app, e.g. to enter the Wi-Fi configuration of the hotel’s Wi-Fi.

I have also tested in a hotel with a sign in page and it worked well, too. Just connect a phone or computer to the TripMate and try to open a web page. The sign in page will appear and you can enter e.g. the code that you got from the hotel. After signing in once this way you can use it with other devices that you connect to the TripMate without signing in again. It even continues to work when turning the TripMate off and on again.

When it is charged it can operate as Wi-Fi bridge for multiple hours.

When you don’t use it you shouldn’t leave an USB stick connected, because the power bank feature will try to “charge” it, which means it will get power (as if it was connected to a computer) until the power bank is empty. When thinking about it, it is logical that it works this way but one should keep it in mind.

Power usage USB sticks

When I bought a new 64GB Sandisk UltraFit USB stick and used it, it got very hot, even when it was not used. I compared it to a 32GB Transcend JetFlash USB stick, which didn’t get so hot. So I began to measure the power consumption: Power consumption according to MacOS: Sandisk: 896 mA Transcend: … Continue reading “Power usage USB sticks”

When I bought a new 64GB Sandisk UltraFit USB stick and used it, it got very hot, even when it was not used. I compared it to a 32GB Transcend JetFlash USB stick, which didn’t get so hot. So I began to measure the power consumption:

Power consumption according to MacOS:

Sandisk: 896 mA
Transcend: 304 mA

Power consumption according to a Brennerstuhl ammeter by plugging the sticks into a charger and measuring the consumption:

Sandisk: 0.07W
Transcend: 0.02W

[visualizer id=”40″]

So the power consumption of the Sandisk USB stick is significant higher. E.g. according to these values a powerbank with 6000 mAh would be drained in about seven hours only by powering the USB stick without reading or writing anything. That was a little bit unexpected to me and will reduce the time one can use it with a notebook while running on battery power.