Short answer: yes, a home 5G router plugs into a socket and does not run on a battery. Here is what that means for an empty property, a van, a site cabin or a power cut, and when a pocket MiFi is the better tool.
Last updated 6 September 2026
It is one of the most common questions we get on the phone, and it usually hides a more practical one: will this work in the situation I am actually in? So here is the honest version.
The router we send for home use is a proper WiFi 6 5G router with a UK plug and a power adapter. It has no battery. Plug it into any standard socket, give it about two minutes to find the network, and it broadcasts WiFi for the whole property and up to 32 devices. Unplug it and it stops. That is the right design for a home, a flat or an office: always on, no charging, no battery that fades after a year.
It does not run from a USB port or a laptop. The adapter is a normal wall plug, so if the property has electricity, you are fine.
Moving into a new build or a property between owners, the electricity account can lag the keys by a day or two. If there is genuinely no power at the socket, no home router will work, ours included. Two workable answers: use the router at your current address until the power is on and take it with you, or hire a pocket MiFi for the first days instead (see below).
A mains router needs a mains socket or an inverter. For anything that moves or has no socket, the pocket MiFi is the tool: it runs on its own battery for a working day and charges from USB.
Most cabins have a 240V socket from the generator or a temporary supply, and the router is happy on that. It draws very little. If the generator goes off overnight, the router simply comes back when the power does; nothing needs resetting.
The router goes down with everything else, like a fixed-line router would. Your phone's hotspot is the bridge until the power returns, and the router reconnects on its own afterwards.
Pocket MiFi, the battery option. A 4G pocket MiFi runs around eight hours on a charge, or all day plugged into the USB cable supplied, and fits in a pocket. It is the right choice for a van, a stall, a day out or a property with no power yet. It covers fewer devices and is 4G rather than 5G, so for a home with a socket the 5G router is always the better pick.
Signal matters more than power. Put the router near a window, ideally one that looks out over open ground rather than into a hill or the building next door, and upstairs usually beats downstairs. If the connection feels slow, try another window before anything else. It is the single most effective fix there is.
No. It uses a wall-plug power adapter, not USB. For battery use, hire the pocket MiFi, which charges from USB and runs about eight hours on a charge.
Nothing mains-powered will work until the supply is on. Either use the router at your current address for those first days and take it with you, or hire a pocket MiFi to bridge them.
It only works while powered, but it draws very little and is designed to be left on. If the power goes off and comes back, it reconnects by itself.
Unlimited 5G WiFi from £49 a week, delivered next working day. Plug in, connect with the card in the box, post it back free when you are done.
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