Zyxel NR2301 Review: Portable 5G Router That Delivers Fast Internet Anywhere

Over the past year, several small mobile routers have emerged, raising the bar for affordable 5G reception, thanks to their 5G modems that follow the NR standard. This is also true for more affordable mobile phones and mobile routers like this, the NR2301 from Zyxel. It’s a sleekly designed device in black plastic, with a color screen, straight sides, and 90-degree edges and corners. Not the most comfortable to slip into your pocket, but it’s possible.

NR stands for New Radio and means it supports frequency bands called FR1 with lower speeds and FR2 with multigigabit-level transmissions.

This doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get such speeds when you connect – it depends entirely on your operator and how good a signal you get. The higher the frequency, the lower the range, and you’d really have to be lucky these days to come across the fastest 5G zones out there.

Fast, When You Get It Right

During my testing of the NR2301, I got a connection speed of just over half a gigabit at best. That’s exactly what I have in my fiber outlet at home, so it’s fast enough for just about everything: surfing, streaming, downloading data, running video meetings, and playing online games. The last two especially benefit from 5G’s better continuity and short response times for minimal lag.

However, it’s harder to get a good signal than with other routers and mobile phones I’ve tested, with the same operators, the same locations, and at the same times. Especially indoors. If you want to use it for mobile broadband at home, it might be a good idea to find a good spot in a window for the router.

On the side of the router, there’s a hatch with two antenna connectors behind it, so you can get extra prongs and get better reception. But I’m testing it as a mobile pocket router, so I’m skipping that. Outdoors, it goes better, and there I can enjoy stable and fast internet.

Very Good Pocket Wi-Fi

All this happens with FR1, also known as sub-6, because it initially concerned frequencies below 6 GHz (now 7 GHz). Which can also be fast. So it’s not a big loss that I never get up to monster speed. And of course, it’s a plus that support for FR2 exists, if it gets better with availability in the future.

A limitation for a hotspot like this can also be how good its wifi is. Here you get a stable and peppy wifi 6 hotspot with both good base speed and long range up to 14 meters with a couple of thinner interior walls between me and the router, and 19 meters with a clear view, before the signal became so weak that the speed went below 200 Mbit/s.

The router states that it can handle up to 32 simultaneous users, but I didn’t test with more than five simultaneous clients. I can imagine that it can get crowded with many more. I can’t find any settings for network prioritization or QoS function in the settings menu.

There are generally few detailed settings. In the screen menu, you can choose wifi mode (5 GHz, 2.4 GHz, or both simultaneously), share login with a QR code, activate or deactivate roaming for mobile data, data quota, and search for and update firmware. That’s all.

Menu at its Worst

Fortunately, to do something more advanced would have been insanely frustrating with a cumbersome menu system controlled with only two buttons. Step forward, and choose. Then you step too far, you have to step on and loop around. Would an extra up button have been so difficult, Zyxel?

It’s gratefully that there’s also a web interface. Here you can do more like changing the SSID and password, configuring a guest network, a simple firewall, a VPN client, and some other things that are familiar from a “regular” router.

With a 4,500 mAh battery, the battery doesn’t last extremely long, but you can easily get a full working day out of it before it’s time to recharge. The battery is permanently installed and charged via a USB-C port with moderate power, so it takes a couple of hours from empty to full.

With a price of $280, the NR2301 is an affordable device to get internet to all your gadgets that don’t have their own SIM card and can be a welcome companion on a camping holiday or in the summer cottage. As long as you are aware of its weaknesses.

Specifications

• Product Name: Zyxel NR2301
• Tested: May 2025
• Manufacturer: Zyxel
• Modem Type: 4G, 5G (NR), Nano SIM
• Wi-Fi Type: Wi-Fi 6, 2.4 + 5 GHz
• Wi-Fi Capacity: 574 + 1200 Mbit/s
• Number of Simultaneous Devices: 32
• Security: WPA, WPA2, WPA3, WPS
• Connections: USB-C 3 Gen 1 (charging and internet sharing), 2 antennas
• Measured Speed, 5G to Wi-Fi: 582 Mbit/s
• Range, Wi-Fi: About 19 meters at 5 GHz
• Battery: 4,500 mAh, about 11 hours of surfing
• Admin Interface: Screen + control buttons
• Size: 13.7 x 7.25 x 2.1 cm
• Weight: 197 grams
• Price at time of testing:$280