--- title: I thought my travel router would collect dust, but I use... description: A travel router bought for trips turns out to have several practical home uses. Three main use cases explored: setting up a low-cost NAS by plugging a USB... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-thought-my-travel-router-would-collect-dust-but-i-use-it-for-these-3-things-at-home-oze2idony twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I thought my travel router would collect dust, but I use it for these 3 things at home | daily.dev og:description: A travel router bought for trips turns out to have several practical home uses. Three main use cases explored: setting up a low-cost NAS by plugging a USB... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-thought-my-travel-router-would-collect-dust-but-i-use-it-for-these-3-things-at-home-oze2idony og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/oZE2iDoNy.png og:image:alt: I thought my travel router would collect dust, but I use it for these 3 things at home og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I thought my travel router would collect dust, but I use it for these 3 things at home **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary A travel router bought for trips turns out to have several practical home uses. Three main use cases explored: setting up a low-cost NAS by plugging a USB drive into the router and enabling SMB file sharing, using it as a Wi-Fi range extender to cover dead zones, and creating a separate IoT network to isolate smart home devices from the main network for better stability and security. Each use case includes practical tips and honest caveats about limitations. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I turn a travel router into a cheap NAS at home? Plug a USB flash drive, external HDD/SSD, or microSD card and reader into the travel router's USB port, then enable SMB (Server Message Block) in the router settings to share the drive with all connected devices. Enabling Internet FTP allows remote access but is discouraged for security; keeping the setup off the main network and localized is safer. A USB 2.0 port will transfer files more slowly than USB 3.0. _daily.dev surfaces practical home networking setups like this for anyone building a DIY NAS on a budget._ ### Can a travel router be used as a Wi-Fi extender? Yes, a travel router can act as a Wi-Fi extender by connecting it to the main router and placing it between the main router and a weak-signal area, such as a room with a patchy 5GHz signal. Devices in that area then connect to the travel router instead of the main router, improving coverage without replacing a dedicated mesh network. _Readers weighing a mesh system against a spare travel router can track real-world comparisons on daily.dev._ ### Why should I move IoT devices to a separate router? Moving smart home devices like security cameras and smart plugs to a separate router, such as a spare travel router, reduces load on the main router and improves network stability, especially on basic ISP-provided routers. It also improves security, since many IoT devices lack strong security standards, and isolating them limits exposure of more important devices on the main network. _daily.dev helps security-conscious homeowners keep up with IoT network segmentation practices._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@cjbaccus** · 0 upvotes > I have also found zerotier vpn next-hop to my homelab from the travel router to be a huge advantage. This allows a no-cost alternative to something like tailscale. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I used a travel router at home for the first time recently, and now I understand why people love them](https://daily.dev/posts/i-used-a-travel-router-at-home-for-the-first-time-recently-and-now-i-understand-why-people-love-the-pf0einfzs) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I used a travel router for smart home devices, and my main network finally stopped choking](https://daily.dev/posts/i-used-a-travel-router-for-smart-home-devices-and-my-main-network-finally-stopped-choking-o32gykrjd) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [Most people ignore their router's USB port, but it's perfect for one surprisingly useful thing](https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-ignore-their-router-s-usb-port-but-it-s-perfect-for-one-surprisingly-useful-thing-auy3a9kgs) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I turned a spare USB drive and Wi‑Fi router into shared storage, no NAS required](https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-spare-usb-drive-and-wi-fi-router-into-shared-storage-no-nas-required-2fgjrmlil) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#tech-news](https://daily.dev/tags/tech-news), [#networking](https://daily.dev/tags/networking) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-thought-my-travel-router-would-collect-dust-but-i-use-it-for-these-3-things-at-home-oze2idony) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I thought my travel router would collect dust, but I use it for these 3 things at home","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-thought-my-travel-router-would-collect-dust-but-i-use-it-for-these-3-things-at-home-oze2idony","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-thought-my-travel-router-would-collect-dust-but-i-use-it-for-these-3-things-at-home-oze2idony"},"datePublished":"2026-07-28T14:04:01.834Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:42:46.920Z","description":"A travel router bought for trips turns out to have several practical home uses. 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