Customer Reviews

Cradlepoint Travel Router CTR-500

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Length:: 5:59 Mins

Before getting the CradlePoint router I was using the Apple AirPort Express as my travel router. However, the CTR500 is now the router of choice in my bag. It works great and has a slew of configuration options. CradlePoint does make a battery operated version, I just wish that this one was one. I also wish that the AC adapter were smaller. Otherwise, this thing rocks!

though the support site doesn't mention it works with T-Mobile 3G, it does
on advanced-mobem setting, there's a box where you can put AT command that you can specify which APN you use, then use these commands
AT
AT+CGDCONT=1,IP,"(YOUR APN)"
ATDT*99#
it also works with nokia 3555 and Bandrich 3G card for T-mobile (from stelerawireless.com), you have to have microUSB cable and need to use nokia mode with 3555
this is the best solution to tether data card with other wifi based device (tried LocPlayer on PSP with T-Mobile HSDPA), and works well
however, it has some speed hit when using this router, the speed drops around 30% when going through this router
some newer model express cards and SE phones don't work with this router
a side note: you can modify PSP external battery with compatible DC plug to make it 100% portable, the external battery can provide an hour of continuous streaming

I travel quite a bit for work and I got this router to share my Verizon EVDO RevA card between my laptop and UMA VoIP phone. It works great. In less than 10 minutes from opening the box I was up and running.

I've had a 3G card for quite a while. Love it. But sharing the connection was hard, until I got a Cradlepoint. This little router works as advertised and very little fuss. I always expect a little work setting up. That's normal. A lot of work is not normal. Thankfully Cradlepoint is quite easy and no hair-tearing.

The firmware as a little old out of the box, so the first thing to do is go update. No major fixes but the latest firmware adds support for the new 4G modems, which is really awesome given that 4G is brand new. This is a great incentive to go grab a 4G even if 4G doesn't have modem drivers for your computer (Mac, linux).

Setting up the Cradlepoint was a snap: plug in the USB 3G modem (I use a Sprint Compass 597U) and watch for the blue lights. Just be sure the Cradlepoint wifi transmitter is turned on -mine had wifi off out of the box.

Now you are ready to surf! This is the only other tricky point: by default, the Cradlepoint will ask users for an access passcode. The admin PC is already "known" by this point and won't see this screen; only other users will. So be sure to test the wifi with more than one PC. How to turn off this passcode thing is Cradlepoint's number one FAQ item so it seems to be an issue for a lot of people. The passcode it wants (and they never tell you this) is the same one used for the router's admin password. Probably not the best info to go sharing with people. I recommend using a good WPA/WPA2 password and just disable Cradlepoint's access passcode feature.

Once you do this, it just works. Every time. Plug in the USB, wait for the blue lights, and you are online. This is how a router should work and I am very pleased. Highly recommended.

I was having a lot of problems with getting my AT&T Option 3.6 expresscard to work and set up a network, so I began troubleshooting on cradlepoint's website. They suggested to update to the latest firmware, which my CTR-500 did not come with, it was one update behind. I downloaded the firmware update, and I was very skeptical. After downloading the update, I set up my new network via expresscard in literally a minute. I was up and running, and no complaints thus far!

Its very lightweight and tiny, again, I was extremely skeptical that this would help me at all, but it did boost my signal and let me share my expresscard!

This is my first router so I have nothing to compare it to but it works for us. We using a single Sprint 595U air card, shared wirelessly between our old laptop and our new laptop. We also added a wireless printer to share between the two laptops. The only difficulty I had was setting the correct security level because the old laptop was so old. I called Cradlepoint and they got back to me very quickly and walked me through setting a security level that would work for both laptops. The cradelepoint representative was very helpful.

The vendor was great and had updated the router to the latest revision. When I plugged in the power supply and cell phone everything powered up and the cell phone dialed in with no action on my part. I like the switch to be able to deactivate the WIFI in the router. I did an update several weeks after the router was in use. The router notified me of the availability of an update and it went seemlessly. I would definitely recommend this product for cell phone tethering to the internet.

This is an excellent product which lives up to the claims made in the product description. I use this to network 4 computers in our motorhome and they all work while going down the road and also when we are parked. My only regret is that I didn't buy it sooner. And the price is really good too!

I was surprised at all the features the little guy has. Not OpenWRT strong, but close. I wish it had a battery pack and I would say that is the one shortcoming. The AT&T Global Connect card takes forever to acquire and connect, keep that in mind when trying to use the device.

Like some others, I'm on the road a lot and find that I cannot always rely on hotel or office internet connectivity, and since I frequently travel with a team of 3 to 4 others, we've needed the flexibility of setting up an "office" in all types of environments.

I shopped around, read a bunch of reviews, and kept coming back to the Cradlepoint Travel Router CTR-500 - it didn't hurt that I also got a great deal (under $100) on it via Amazon.com as well.

Straight out of the box, I had the router running and my laptop connected to the internet in less than 15 minutes (it took my laptop longer to boot-up than for me to setup the router); while the range of CTR-500 isn't great (I figured we lost 1-bar for every 4-5 feet of distance), using it outdoors, powered from my truck - we setup 4 laptops in less than 30 minutes and all of us connected via separate VPNs with decent access speeds. Beyond 4 laptops and the speeds were noticeably slower - much beyond 15 feet and it was difficult to sync with the router. All told, a solid and positive "field" test of the router.

As a second test, I set the CTR-500 up in my home, and allowed my family to ping away at it - figuring it would be a viable backup in case my cable went out. Again, setup in 15 minutes and had four different laptops setup and running in under 30 minutes. Was able to get decent reception (2-bars) in a 1-story home as far away as 30 feet... not a replacement for DLS or Cable...but a solid backup in case we lose out normal internet.

I tested using two different aircards: Pantech (Verizon) UMW-190 and an older Sierra Wireless Aircard (AT&T) U881. Both worked - though we did get better throughput via Verizon, probably for a variety of reasons.

Easy to use, quick to setup and very portable...and I didn't seem to have the issues other reviewers had with security setup or passwords - probably because I read their reviews/recommendations.

I also didn't try connecting my wireless printer to the router, will try that on a future date.