T-Mobile Has A Shockingly Cheap Way To Add 5G To Your Laptop, But There's A Catch

TCL, the company that is primarily known for its affordable smartphones and value-for-money home appliances, has come up with an affordable way to get your laptop to connect to the Internet while on the go. The company partnered with the U.S. Carrier T-Mobile to launch a new 5G connectivity device called the TCL Linkport IK511. While it does look like just another Wi-Fi dongle, there are several interesting things about the Linkport IK511 that help it stand out from the competition.

To begin with, it is marketed as the first ever commercially available 5G RedCap device to go on sale in the U.S. For those wondering, 5G RedCap stands for 5G Reduced Capacity and is a standard of 5G meant for devices that do not require high throughput 5G connectivity at all times. With this new dongle, T-Mobile and TCL both claim to bring easy, reliable connectivity to the nearly 300 million or so laptops in the U.S. that lack native cellular connectivity.

While The TCL Linkport IK511 is priced at $96, T-Mobile has an ongoing limited-period promotional offer, which will let users buy the product at a 50% discount, effectively bringing the price down to just $48. There are other offers for consumers who opt for the device and add it to T-Mobile's Go5G Next and Go5G Business plans. Armed with these plans, the TCL Linkport IK511 can let any USB-C capable device access T-Mobile's 5G network.

If not already evident, the Linkport IK511 uses the USB-C standard to connect to devices, which makes it compatible with most modern-day laptops with USB-C ports. Besides being compatible with most operating systems, the product is a simple plug-and-play device that doesn't require a complex setup process. The 5G RedCap capabilities of the Linkport IK511 are enabled by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X35 Modem-RF System. T-Mobile is also touting the IK511 as one of the smallest and lightest 5G RedCap-enabled devices in the world.

While there is no denying that support for 5G RedCap is the TCL Linkport IK511's unique selling point, there is a major drawback with this setup in that the maximum data transfer speeds supported by this standard — in ideal conditions — is restricted to just 220 Mbps. It would be futile, therefore, to expect the Linkport IK511 to deliver full-fledged 5G grade speeds on a connected machine, which is most likely to be a laptop.

While the lack of "full" 5G support might be an area of concern with this device, T-Mobile does claim that it will still be able to deliver better data throughput compared to standard 4G LTE connections. It is also important to note that the Linkport IK511 is backward compatible with existing VoNR and VoLTE networks, which will let the device fall back to 4G networks in the absence of 5G connectivity. The TCL LinkPort IK511 will be available via T-Mobile stores starting October 17, 2024, the company confirmed.