The TCL Linkport IK511 Modem — Clever Idea, But Will It 5G?
The TCL Linkport IK511 in hand for scale
T-Mobile sent me the Linkport IK511 5G modem when the company announced it in partnership with TCL late in 2024. The reason I was excited about it and asked to use it is that it is the first 5G RedCap — or reduced capacity — connection device available in the world. It's the first because 5G RedCap requires a 5G Standalone network, of which there are very few in the world — and even fewer that are nationwide like T-Mobile's. The presence of that network is why it made sense that TCL would launch this device with T-Mobile.
The chip enabling all of this is the Qualcomm X35 5G RedCap modem, which is specifically designed to enable 5G applications outside of the smartphone, and specifically targeted at low-power and lower-bandwidth applications.
(Note: T-Mobile is an advisory client of my firm, Moor Insights & Strategy.)
The TCL Linkport IK511 is a unique device in that it is a 5G modem that has no batteries and essentially no parts beside a USB-C port and a SIM card slot. The lack of a battery makes it easy to take virtually anywhere, and the USB-C port for data and power allows for an extremely lightweight and small form factor, which is most easily compared to a stick of gum. While the form factor itself isn't particularly novel, it is impressive that it requires no more power than what can be drawn over a USB-C port. The device is also incredibly light at only 1 ounce, making it very easy to attach to devices and to carry in a bag.
Because of its simplicity, the Linkport IK511 is also inexpensive to manufacture, retails for $96 without carrier subsidy and is given away for free with a 24-month agreement. One of the biggest advantages of the T-Mobile plan for the IK511 is that it costs only $5 a month to run, thanks to operating on 5G SA and using 5G RedCap as its primary connection. In practical terms, this means that the dongle will most likely operate with 4G-like speeds, but at much lower power consumption and with much lower latency.
The biggest disappointment I encountered with the IK511 is that it doesn't support T-Mobile's hero band — n41 — which is the backbone of its high-speed 5G network. This almost guarantees that the device will never come close to achieving its theoretical peak speed of 220Mbps.
To evaluate the IK511, my plan was to try to connect it to as many devices as possible that had USB or USB-C ports and see how compatible it was with them. After all, if this device is supposed to be versatile and attach to many different non-smartphone devices, it would be good to know its limitations. (To be fair, some of the devices I attached it to probably should use high-bandwidth Wi-Fi or high-speed 5G for most applications.)
First, I tried it with my gaming handhelds, since most of those devices are Wi-Fi-only and are inherently portable — but having 5G available for them would be nice when on the go. The ASUS ROG Ally had no problem working with the IK511, but ASUS's Armoury Crate software didn't seem to recognize it as an internet connection. This is an issue only because the ROG Ally uses that application for software updates. Something to consider with the IK511 is that when it connects to a device via USB, it generally gets recognized as a wired internet connection. This reduces compatibility issues, and I believe should make most operating systems recognize it without any issues. TCL claims that it works with Windows, macOS, iPadOS, Linux and Android. The Steam Deck, which runs Linux, also didn't have any compatibility issues, although it took a lot longer to recognize it as an internet connection.
Things started to go a bit downhill after that. My Samsung S95D OLED TV was able to power-on the IK511 and even get it to fully boot and connect to the T-Mobile network — but it would not accept the IK511 as a wired connection over USB and wanted to see an Ethernet cable connected to the Ethernet port to recognize it as a wired connection. It would be nice if Tizen (Samsung's smart TV OS) would recognize this device, because I'm sure there are plenty of Samsung TVs that need internet connections but don't have them.
Next, I tried the Xbox Series X, which I genuinely thought would work, but while it did power the IK511 fully and allowed the modem to connect to the T-Mobile network, it simply wouldn't recognize it as an internet connection. Considering how similar the Xbox operating system is to Windows, I was a little surprised that this didn't work. (It might require no more than a minor driver update to fix this issue.) Similarly, I tried the PS5 and got the same result of it powering on but not having a connection.
After that, I also tried the PlayStation Portal just for kicks, since it's a gaming handheld and it would be cool if it could connect to my PS5 remotely via 5G. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the PlayStation Portal provides enough power through its USB-C port to even boot the IK511, so it didn't even power-on. My Kindle was likewise unable to power-on the IK511, which probably means there isn't bidirectional power or data via that USB port, or that it simply isn't providing enough power. I also tried connecting it to my Meta Quest 3, just to see whether I could experience VR out in public; unfortunately, it did power-on, but didn't provide an internet connection. I also considered testing this on the Apple Vision Pro, especially since that's a mixed-reality device, but Apple does not provide a USB port for access without the $299 developer strap, which I was not going to acquire just for the sake of this test.
The TCL IK511 in operation with all three status lights green
The PC user experience was extremely simple, enjoyable and reliable. I would say that most of the time I got a consistent 30 Mbps down and 30 Mbps up, with the download speed occasionally hitting 50 Mbps or higher. Truthfully, for the average user this speed is good enough, even if you're making minor downloads. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for heavy internet use, but 90% of applications will work fine on such a connection. I even did an episode of our G2 on 5G podcast without a hiccup, even though we were using a notoriously finicky streaming platform that cautions users against using Wi-Fi. If anything, I would say the IK511 was more stable than Wi-Fi for the podcast stream. That's why I think the 5G standalone network for 5G RedCap is so powerful. To put it another way, the potential is there, but people just don't know it yet.
I also connected the IK511 to a power meter to understand the power consumption, I found that in most applications, it generally uses less than half a watt of power. Launching the Chrome browser with about 10 tabs will get you over 1 watt, and active downloads are usually half a watt to 1 watt, rarely more than that. Heavy uploads consume the most power, which looks like a whopping 1.5 watt. In my experience, the device rarely even got warm to the touch and never once got hot. This is especially welcome because there are going to be lots of applications where it will operate in warmer ambient temperatures, and having active cooling simply isn't an option.
Overall, my experience with the IK511 was very positive and has made me an even more ardent supporter of 5G RedCap (and 5G SA networks like T-Mobile's that enable it). These days, we are seeing AT&T and Verizon play catch-up with T-Mobile in 5G SA; AT&T's 5G FWA service already runs on it, but we have yet to hear Verizon and AT&T talk extensively about RedCap — let alone launch devices like this one. That said, Semtech did recently achieve 5G RedCap certification with AT&T using one of its 5G RedCap modules. I believe that 5G RedCap will replace a lot of currently 3G and 4G IoT solutions, and will likely enable ones that weren't possible before thanks to the low latency, low power and low cost.
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