Travel routers are a niche accessory for business travelers who carry several devices. By connecting to a hotel's Wi-Fi or Ethernet and rebroadcasting it as a familiar network, they let you reuse the same SSID and password on every trip. That is especially useful for streaming sticks and other gadgets that struggle with hotel captive portals. They can also help sidestep per-device limits, since the hotel may only see the router as a single connected device.
However, the source notes that a travel router cannot create bandwidth. If the hotel's connection is slow, the router won't fix it. It also adds another device to buy, charge, and occasionally troubleshoot, and captive portals can still be awkward. VPN support on many models provides an extra layer of encryption, but the router does not automatically encrypt all traffic; most websites already use HTTPS, so the privacy benefit is more about control than total security.
For many business travelers, the phone they already carry may solve the same problem. Android phones can share a Wi-Fi connection via hotspot, while iPhones only share cellular data, and carriers may limit or charge extra for tethering. The source concludes that a travel router makes sense for those with multiple devices and specific needs, but it is not a universal must-have. At home, it can serve as a Wi-Fi extender or guest network, though not as a whole-home mesh replacement.