wunderbar2

On a recent stay in Paris our hotel had an individual small pocket wifi to use in the room and also take with you as you went around the city. It was great as we don't travel using our data plan. Just curious if anyone owns one or has rented one for travel. How did it work and where did you use it?

I've googled and seen SkyRoam and TEP for rentals on a per day use rental. Neither had great reviews so I'd love first hand advice.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Andrew

I booked a B&B years ago where the "WiFi" was the same thing: a pocket hotspot I could take with me if I went out for dinner or something. It was pretty cool, though I feared losing it or having it stolen.

But that was long before I had a smart phone with a hotspot. Now my phone does exactly what the "pocket WiFI" does. In May, I traveled through Slovenia, Italy, and France using a Dutch Vodafone SIM card in my Android phone, and I had that hotspot everywhere, in three countries - on trains and at hotels where the hotel WiFi wasn't so great. My total cost for 17 days was under $30 USD ($7 to buy the SIM card, 20 Euros to get 3GB of data for a month), and I still have the SIM card to use again next time.

So in my view, these "pocket WiFi" devices no longer make sense: either buy a local SIM card when you travel to use in your phone, or use your home data plan while traveling. T-Mobile and Sprint users get free unlimited roaming data already. Verizon and AT&T users have to pay $10/day or a monthly fee. $10/day isn't really awful for a short trip, in case you just don't want to mess with buying a SIM card like I did.

travelchat

Travel-wifi.com based in The Marais in Paris worked very well for me when I spent a few days in in Paris, then a week on a Normandy river cruise. Cost was E9.99 per day. I arranged for the packet including the wi-fi unit along with charger to be delivered to my hotel and it was waiting for me on arrival.

Enclosed in the packet was a stamped return envelope for dropping in one of the yellow post boxes on final day of rental. It worked wonderfully for me the entire ten days of my trip. I recommend them highly. Also included in the packet was a cellophane wrapped madeline - a nice touch. Check out their web site which provides full information. They were very prompt in answering my pre-rental questions.

wunderbar2

Many thanks for the info. Andrew, I have AT&T here at home so will look into one of their plans. travelchat I will look at the websit you recommend.

Andrew

What's nice about the AT&T and Verizon plans is that if you don't use your phone one particular day, you aren't charged that day. And you have the full use of your phone, not just data.

As an AT&T user, if you have a smart phone, it might be locked by AT&T (if you are still paying off the phone with them or something), so you might not have the option to buy a local SIM card. Verizon users do, though, because Verizon doesn't lock their 4GLTE smart phones.

Traveler_Nick

I agree that with a modern smartphone a MiFI doesn't make much sense. Even if you have a locked phone a new basic smartphone isn't much more expensive then a MiFI. Add a local SIM and you're done.

wunderbar2

Thanks!

dweislaw

I've recently used CelloMObile and been satisfied with the service. AT&T wanted $10/day/phone for international data which adds up when the family travels and is still more per day than the mobile wifi when it is just the two of us.
It is sucure and fairly speedy. Of course, you have to carry another unit in your pocket/purse which can be a tad inconvenient, but less so, I think, than buying a new smart phone and messing with local sim cards in the countries I visit (3 on the last trip). Plus, my AT&T phone is locked.
But, I'm all for learning a cheaper better way is available. So, for AT&T users with locked iPhones, where would we be able to buy and have installed a local sim card that will work wherever I go in Europe?

Andrew

dweislaw: <i>I've recently used CelloMObile and been satisfied with the service. AT&T wanted $10/day/phone for international data which adds up when the family travels and is still more per day than the mobile wifi when it is just the two of us.
It is sucure and fairly speedy. Of course, you have to carry another unit in your pocket/purse which can be a tad inconvenient, but less so, I think, than buying a new smart phone and messing with local sim cards in the countries I visit (3 on the last trip)</i>

Nowadays, you need to buy only one SIM in the first country most likely, because the EU has done away with most roaming fees. So you can use the first SIM in each country as you travel across borders.

And you can buy a European SIM before leaving for Europe if you wish, to avoid the trouble of messing with a SIM and your phone once you get to Europe - that's what I did last time. But, I have an unlocked phone. It's true that AT&T phones that aren't paid for are locked, but if your AT&T phone is paid for, they will unlock it for you by request.

marvelousmouse

I don't like messing around with a SIM card, and mostly I keep my phone on me so family can contact me in case of an emergency so a new phone number every time I travel would make little sense. I need data for maps and google.

I've used a pocketwifi once. It was inexpensive but I found it to be just another thing to charge. If I wanted it last all day, I needed to carry a battery pack with me too. So annoying. If I stayed in hotels I think I would like it more. But leaving things charging in a hostel makes me nervous and often hostels don't have many outlets to begin with. What it comes down to is cost. I got a really good monthly rate, but daily rates really aren't much lower than what I'd pay for Verizon travel pass.

Andrew

marvelousmouse: <i>I don't like messing around with a SIM card, and mostly I keep my phone on me so family can contact me in case of an emergency so a new phone number every time I travel would make little sense. I need data for maps and google.</i>

I need the data for google maps too - SIM cards are so cheap now that it's almost silly not to get one.

If you need to be reached while traveling and you are using a European SIM with a different number, one option is getting a Google Voice phone number (free). Then install Google Hangouts on your smart phone and set it to ring for incoming calls, on that Google number. Then people can call you via your Google Voice phone number, even if they are calling from landlines. They'd be calling a US phone number (your Google number), so it's not an international call.

But if you really want to receive calls on your Verizon number while in Europe, without giving people a new phone number to remember, you can forward your Verizon calls to your Google Voice number while you are out of country.

This might seem like a lot of trouble, but once you get it set up once and figured out, it's just a matter of setting up Verizon forwarding for calls each time you travel. Get a European SIM like my Dutch Vodafone SIM that will be active for a year and can be topped up online, and you won't have to get a new SIM card each time you travel overseas.

But if you are going overseas for a week or two once a year? Maybe it isn't worth the trouble and it's easier just to use Verizon's or AT&T's $10/day travel pass. My US mobile carrier doesn't even offer an international travel plan, so I need a European SIM no matter what if I want to use my phone in Europe.

marvelousmouse

Oh, I didn't realize you could forward Verizon to google. Thanks! Will need to try that for my next long trip.

Giving family members another number would not work. I tried that. The ones who need the number do not remember

Andrew

Disclaimer: I have never actually tried the Google Voice forwarding. I do know that you can forward calls as part of any of the major cell phone carriers's plans:

https://www.verizonwireless.com/supp...rwarding-faqs/

And they let you forward to any phone number you choose (US-only I assume). So you should be able to forward to a Google Voice phone number.

One thing to watch out for: if you set up your Google Voice account with your Verizon mobile number, by default it forwards THE OTHER WAY. In other words, calls to Google Voice could forward to your Verizon phone number! You could get into a forwarding "loop" if you aren't careful.


But, you can turn this off Google Voice forwarding in Google Voice settings, once you've setup Google Voice the first time. You can have Google Voice not forward your calls to any phone and just answer them in Hangouts.

Should be easy to test this out: get a Google Voice number, install Hangouts on your phone (verify your current mobile number as part of that so you can make phone calls with Hangouts), turn off Google Voice forwarding to your Verizon number, turn ON forwarding from Verizon to your Google number, enable ringing on incoming calls in Hangouts. Then try calling your Verizon number from someone else's phone and see if it rings in Hangouts!

ribeirasacra

Free wifi is extensively offered at accommodation, restaurants, bars etc. Some public transport even has free WIFI.
Or purchase a EU SIM and use that phone as a WIFI hotspot.
http://www.dummies.com/consumer-elec...android-phone/
EU roaming charges are low and governed now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe...ng_regulations

agsimpkins13

FYI, on two points. For voice calls, VZ now allows free calling TO (not locally within the overseas county) the US if you're on Wifi. We used this recently and it worked great. Had to make a few local (within the foreign country) calls and they were way less than the voice package would have been.

Also, you can set your google maps up to operate on GPS only, no need for your data plan. I've had good experience with that as well. Set it up in advance of your trip and use it a few times with GPS only. I use mine that way all the time now, never use data minutes for maps and directions.

Andrew

agsimpkins13: <i>FYI, on two points. For voice calls, VZ now allows free calling TO (not locally within the overseas county) the US if you're on Wifi. We used this recently and it worked great.</i>

Yes, WiFi calling is handy if your mobile company and phone support it. I used to use that with T-Mobile before I discovered Google Hangouts. I would still recommend installing Hangouts even if you can use WiFi calling, because Hangouts works with mobile data too not just WiFi. You can use both.

<i>Also, you can set your google maps up to operate on GPS only, no need for your data plan. I've had good experience with that as well. Set it up in advance of your trip and use it a few times with GPS only. I use mine that way all the time now, never use data minutes for maps and directions.</i>

I think you're talking about Google Maps "offline." That works only for driving directions. You can use it to find out where you are on the driving map - say if you are walking - but you can't use it to get walking directions, and you can't use it for public transit directions. I used both of those features numerous times on my last few trips to Europe, to the point where I wouldn't want to do without them, and I need mobile data for them. Fortunately, it's cheap enough to get a SIM with data now that it's a non-issue for me.

marvelousmouse

IF you have wifi, that's true, calling does work. Free wifi isn't THAT extensive. It really isn't. And a lot of times it doesn't work well. I've stayed at several hostels where it's hit and miss so you can't even count on your lodging.

What Andrew says. I have a map that works offline. It doesn't give me walking instructions but it shows where stuff is and where I am. However, I need data for transit directions in large cities and to troubleshoot if I'm lost which happens at least once a day. A lot of my interests are obscure- hard to find shops or museums.

I'm all for saving money, but data is one of those things that I've found I can't do without.

Andrew

Google Maps with data makes public transit so much easier and useful! (At least if Google has data for that area.) You don't have to fumble with schedules and transit maps anymore. I can't imagine how long it would have taken me in St. Petersburg to figure out the bus system - I don't even read Cyrillic. With Google Maps, I didn't have to figure anything out - it guided me to the stops and which buses to get on and where to get off. I used to spend hours figuring out public transit stuff ahead of time and walking directions - nice not to need to do that anymore!

marvelousmouse

Yup. Exactly, Andrew. Japan would have been fairly horrible without google maps! Paris, too, probably. When all else fails, I can at least show a local the spelling of the place I'm trying to find!

rs899

FWIW, Here We Go has walking directions offline. IIRC it gives the phone a buzz when you are supposed to make a turn if you don't have earbuds on. I have used it, but usually I just like to look at the map on the phone and move the blue dot to where it needs to go.