As full time travelers and bloggers we’re always looking for ways to make our online lives easier. Any new tools or devices that can make our business run smoother and faster means less time feeling frustrated in front of a computer and more time adventuring around! AmpliFi Home promised to do just that with their new travel tech device, the AmpliFi Teleport. When they first emailed us about participating in their AmpliFi Teleport Home Connect Challenge we were a little skeptical about how much this little device could really do. Well, we’ve been using the Teleport in Bali, Indonesia for about a week now and it’s a pretty incredible! Don’t let the size fool you, this little puppy has a lot of capabilities perfect for travelers and people working abroad.
The AmpliFi Teleport Home Connect Challenge
If you haven’t seen our blog post detailing our thoughts and anticipation before this challenge, you can check that our post about the importance of staying safe online while traveling. As a summary, the AmpliFi Teleport is a small device that plugs into a power outlet and allows you to connect to your home wifi network from anywhere in the world through a local wifi connection.
That means you can access files on your home server, create a secure network even on public wifi and go to websites that may be blocked because of your location. For such a robust device, the set up was surprisingly easy. That’s part of the charm of the AmpliFi Teleport. It’s not just for techies looking for a hardware VPN to connect to their mesh points (yea, who even knows what that means!). It’s for normal travelers and people, like us, who travel and work online.
After the initial set up, you really just need to plug in the device to a power outlet and you’re good to go! I mean there are a few more steps than that (see our detailed set up instructions below), but if my mum can set it up for us via a FaceTime call, you’ll be just fine!
Watch our video review of the AmpliFi Teleport + awesome shots from Bali, Indonesia
AmpliFi Teleport Outcome
Our challenge was to see how many different ways we could use Teleport to connect to our home network. Here’s what we found:
Accessing Files Remotely
One of the greatest features of Teleport that we definitely underestimated was accessing files on our home server. At home we have a network attached storage device, which is like a hard drive that connects to our home network. It’s filled with documents like old blog articles, photos from our travels, movies, music and more. Using Teleport we’re able to access these files as if they’re on our laptop. On a personal level, it’s amazing to be able to stream music and watch movies that we didn’t previously upload to our MacBooks or iPad.
Professionally, it’s made our lives so much easier because we can access important documents without having to load up our laptops before leaving for our trip. So if I need photos from a previous trip for a new blog post I’m writing, instead of being out of luck if I didn’t upload them, I can download them with ease using Teleport. If I want to continue working on some writing projects that I may have forgotten to put on my laptop, I can use my word processor on my laptop to continue writing and then save them back on our home network storage device. This is crazy useful for our travel blogging. It’s also perfect if you’ve forgotten an important document, like a copy of your passport or credit cards, so you’re able to access them in an emergency situation.
Online Security While Traveling
Online security is one of those things that you don’t realize how much you need it until it’s too late. We’ve been fortunate enough to not have had any incidents with online hackers, but it’s becoming more and more common. Because we travel so much, almost all of our online banking is done overseas using public wifi. That leaves us wide open to a security breach. With Teleport, using our home network means accessing a safe and private network. That means we never have to worry when we’re paying credit bills, shopping online or even making hotel reservations. We recently paid a credit card at a cafe in Bali and had no hesitation using the public wifi because we knew it was being re-routed back home using Teleport!
Unblock Geolocation Restriction, A.K.A, Watching Netflix Overseas!
Yes we sometimes watch TV while we’re traveling. Sometimes after a full day of adventuring around beautiful Bali, we just want to relax with a binge-watching session of our favorite shows. So sue us! Unfortunately, most of our streaming networks are blocked in Indonesia. Yes, we can use a VPN, but plugging in our Teleport is an easier and more secure option. It’s as simple as connecting to our home network and voila! The computer thinks we’re in the United States, giving us access to all the streaming networks we have at home. We’ve been able to watch Netflix US, HBO Go and Xfinity, which our local cable provider. That means that we can stream important live events like the Olympics! Besides our favorite television streaming sites, there are other sites that are geo-blocked in Indonesia. Sites like Reddit and Vimeo are partially blocked, it seems to depend on the internet provider. Either way, having the Teleport ensures that we can access any site we’d be able to in the US.
Other Uses
The above were the features that most stood out to us, but the AmpliFi Teleport also has other functionalities. You can use the access to your home network to check your house security system or other smart home devices. You can video call with your friends and family back home easily. You can create profiles for your family members and schedule times to pause the internet so you can get quality family time. I’m sure more tech-savvy users can think of a ton of other ideas to utilize the access to their home network!
Setting up the Amplifi Teleport
The package comes with an AmpliFi Router to be kept at your home, an AmpliFi Teleport to keep with you when you travel, an AC adapter and 2 ethernet cables. An important thing to note is that the AmpliFi Teleport will only work with an AmpliFi brand router, so you need the full package. The first thing you need to do is download the AmpliFi app on your smartphone. Then connect your AmpliFi Router to your broadband modem using the ethernet cable.
Plug in your AmpliFi Router to a power outlet using the AC adapter. Go to the AmpliFi app on your smartphone and follow the instructions to configure your device. We actually had my mom set this up in California and even though she is (self-proclaimed) technologically challenged, it was a breeze. After those steps, you’ll be prompted to name your wireless network and create a password. Click save and continue, then you’ll see your newly named wireless network in your list of available networks. Connect to it and enter the password. Then you’re good to go!
The installation of the AmpliFi Teleport is equally as easy. Using your computer, phone or tablet at home, connect to the AmpliFi Router wireless network that you just created. Tap the Teleport icon and click Test Connectivity. Then plug your Teleport into a power outlet and watch as the LED light starts to flash with a full circle. Connect your computer or phone to the wireless network named Teleport XXXXXX (it will be a six digit combination of letters and numbers that are located on the device’s label).
A set up portal will open on your device and all you have to do is sign in and it will configure the wireless network you will use to access Teleport in the future. Select the network you want to access. A sign in portal should pop up so you can connect to the wireless network you have configured (or go to if it doesn’t open automatically). Using your mobile app, tap “Yes, pair this Teleport,” after verifying that its MAC address matches the code on the device label. Teleport should then connect to your home network. Double check that it worked by opening your web browser or check the Teleport’s status in the mobile app.
Phew, that was a mouthful! It may seem confusing written out, but once you’re going through the steps in the app, everything becomes clear. Trust us, it’s easy!
AmpliFi Teleport Review: Final Thoughts
After a week of taking the AmpliFi Teleport Home Connect Challenge, we can say with confidence that we’re big fans of the AmpliFi Teleport. As a traveler, being able to stream all of our home television channels is a dream. As a travel blogger, having access to our home files like photos and videos is super useful. We’re excited to keep using our AmpliFi Teleport and find new ways to use it abroad, as well as new countries! Here’s to making our travel work life easier, so we can spend less time on the computer, and more time enjoying these gorgeous destinations!
This was a sponsored challenge between Don’t Forget To Move and the team at AmpliFi. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.
What download speed do you get? Is it the local wifi you are visiting or that of your wifi back home?
It’s affected by the local wifi speed, but your fastest downloads are always going to be capped at your upload speeds back home since your local connection is being uploaded back to you.