Boost Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot Plans: Pricing & Device Guide [2025]

Why Boost Mobile Is Pushing Stand-Alone Hotspots in 2025

After DISH bought Boost, the carrier doubled-down on data-only plans to complement its phone-focused Boost Infinite post-paid brand. The result is a fresh trio of Boost Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot plans that tap T-Mobile’s LTE/5 G network while DISH finishes its own 5 G SA build-out. These prepaid buckets—15 GB, 35 GB and a brand-new 100 GB “Traveler” plan—slot neatly between phone tethering and pricey satellite kits like Starlink Business 500.

Whether you’re a gamer chasing sub-40 ms pings, a remote worker uploading 4K video, or an RV owner looking for cheap backup internet, this 2025 guide walks you through:

• Plan pricing, taxes, throttles
• Boost-certified hotspot devices and BYOD rules
• Activation step-by-step (physical-SIM & eSIM)
• Coverage tests vs Metro and Cricket
• Pros & cons, user reviews, and FAQs

By the end you’ll know if Boost Mobile hotspots can fill those bandwidth gaps that T-Mobile Home Internet Plus or a hotel’s Wi-Fi can’t.

Boost Mobile Hotspot Plan Line-Up (May 2025)

Plan	Price	High-Speed Data	Throttled Speed	Video Quality
Basic 15 GB	$20 / 30 days	15 GB 4G/5 G	512 kbps	480p
Power 35 GB	$35 / 30 days	35 GB	512 kbps	480p
Traveler 100 GB	$65 / 30 days	100 GB	1 Mbps	1080p

Taxes & fees are included.

Once you exhaust the bucket, data crawls at 512 kbps (1 Mbps on Traveler) until your renewal date—roughly on par with Visible’s 5 Mbps watch throttle noted in our Visible Apple Watch review.

Device Catalog: From Budget to Wi-Fi 7

• $199 retail / $99 with Traveler plan
• Snapdragon X62 • Wi-Fi 6 • 4000 mAh battery • USB-C tether
• 5 G bands: n41 / n66 / n71 / n77 / n78

Franklin A21 LTE (legacy)

• $49.99; good for Basic plan users
• Cat 6 LTE, Wi-Fi 5, removable 3000 mAh cell

Netgear Nighthawk M7 Pro (BYOD)

• $799 unlocked; supports Wi-Fi 7 (BE16 000)
• Dual 2.5 GbE + USB-C 5 Gbps tether
• 5 G SA/NSA incl. n70 for upcoming DISH 5 G

Boost lets you BYOD as long as the IMEI passes their checker—handy if you already own a Nighthawk M6 from our Google Fiber 8 Gig Wi-Fi tests.

Coverage, Speed & Latency Benchmarks

• Nighthawk M7 on n41 → 484 Mbps down / 42 Mbps up / 28 ms ping
• 4-stream iPerf averaged 790 Mbps aggregate—impressive for prepaid.

Rural LTE (I-70 near Salina, KS)

• Orbic Speed 5G fell back to Band 71: 56 / 12 Mbps, 48 ms ping—still usable for Zoom.

Congested Venue (DIA Concourse A)

• Mid-afternoon n41 congested: 88 / 7 Mbps, 75 ms ping.
• Traveler plan’s 100 GB QCI-8 priority kept speeds ahead of Metro’s 25 GB QCI-9.

Verdict? Boost’s prepaid priority is identical to Metro by T-Mobile and a notch better than Cricket’s QCI-8 we measured in our Galaxy A35 guide.

Activation & Setup Guide

1. Insert SIM → power hotspot.
2. Connect phone/computer to hotspot SSID.
3. Browser auto-opens boostmobile.com/activate.
4. Enter SIM/IMEI → pick plan → pay with card/PayPal.
5. Hotspot reboots; LTE/5 G icon goes solid.

eSIM (Nighthawk M7 / Pixel Tablet)

1. Buy plan at boostmobile.com/esim (IMEI2).
2. QR code emailed within 60 s.
3. Device → Cellular → Add eSIM → scan.
4. Reboot → confirm profile “Boost Mobile” + full bars.

The eSIM flow takes ~3 min—similar to the ONT reprovision time we documented in the Frontier Fiber 2 Gig review.

Boost vs Metro vs Cricket Hotspot Plans

Carrier	Top Bucket	Price	Throttle	Extras
Boost Traveler	100 GB	$65	1 Mbps	5 G SA access
Metro by T-Mobile	50 GB	$50	600 kbps	1 yr ViX+
Cricket Turbo	100 GB	$90	1.5 Mbps	HBO Max w/Ads
Verizon Prepaid Jetpack	150 GB	$80 + fees	3 Mbps	UW mmWave option

Boost’s $0 taxes and no activation fee make its $65 / 100 GB the best cost-per-gig in the prepaid arena—unless you jump to fixed wireless like T-Mobile Home Internet Plus for $60 unlimited.

Real-World Use Cases

• RV & Overlander: Pair Orbic Speed with WeBoost Drive Reach amp; 100 GB covers security cameras + Netflix.
• Backup Work Line: Plug Nighthawk’s 2.5 GbE into a failover WAN port on your Asus RT-BE96U, keeping remote Zoom sessions alive when cable drops.
• Event Pop-Up Store: Traveler plan handles 1,000 Square transactions/day plus Shopify sync—cheaper than satellite day-rates.
• Mobile Gamer: 28 ms average ping on T-Mobile SA keeps Fortnite competitive; just cap updates to Wi-Fi.

Pros & Cons

• 100 GB for $65—best prepaid cost-per-gig in 2025
• eSIM option; no store visits, no credit checks
• Access to T-Mobile mid-band n41 and low-band coverage
• Compatible with high-end Wi-Fi 7 Nighthawk
• Taxes/fees included; lines auto-renew or pause anytime

Cons

• Throttle to 512 kbps/1 Mbps after bucket
• No international roaming (use Google Fi iPhone 15 plan abroad)
• Video streaming locked to 480p on 15 GB/35 GB plans
• DISH 5 G native network not yet nationwide—still relies on T-Mobile lease
• Customer support app-only (chat/DM) can lag at peak times

Expert & User Reviews

• PCMag 2025 Prepaid Hotspot Award: “Boost’s Traveler plan crushes the value metric.”
• r/BoostMobile users report stable 400-500 Mbps in n41 cities; mixed results indoors until DISH’s n70 fills gaps.
• CNET hands-on: Orbic Speed averaged 11 hours battery with 5 devices streaming.
• TechIdeal lab: Nighthawk M7 Pro hit 920 Mbps peak near Las Vegas strip—fastest prepaid hotspot we’ve clocked.

FAQs

1. Does the Traveler plan throttle video?
   No—1080p permitted, but data still counts against 100 GB.
2. Can I share data with a Boost phone line?
   Not yet; hotspots are standalone SIMs.
3. Is 5 G UW/mmWave supported?
   No—T-Mobile mmWave is minimal; n41/n71/n77 handle most 5 G.
4. Can I stack multiple 100 GB plans?
   Yes—activate second SIM or re-up early in Boost app.
5. Static IP?
   No static or public IPv4; CG-NAT only. Use Cloudflare Tunnel for inbound home-lab access.

Conclusion

If you need truly unlimited backup, weigh the $60 T-Mobile Home Internet Plus gateway or the symmetric fiber muscle in our Frontier 2 Gig review. But for anyone who travels light, wants activation in minutes, and refuses to pay over $1 per GB, Boost Mobile’s 2025 hotspot lineup is a clear winner—one more tool in the TechIdeal kit for staying connected everywhere life takes you.