Using Data overseas and Portable Wifi hotspot devices

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Sdtravel

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In some recent trips i have tried searching for free wifi, getting a sim from Sim corner or tethering off someone else's phone.
Obviously each has its own draw backs.
Free wifi can be slow & unsecure and you can be forever searching, Sim card I found i dont call anyone and just use it for data and come back with 100% of my credit and some providers dont allow tethering.
Tethering off someone means you're bugging them and using their data. I thought about getting roaming packs but depending on location and time it can be cheaper to just get a local sim.

So on a recent trips to Europe one of my family members who lives in HKG had a portable wifi hotspot. Product was called Wifi Egg to be exact. From what they explained they rent it from somewhere in HKG and tell them the dates they are going. You pay a daily fee and it supports up to 5 devices.

Ive done some google searching and find offers such as this from places in HKG and other countries but cant find anyone who does similar for Australians going overseas. Does anyone know of services such as this and if they are good? I can see places sell hotspots but dont see overseas plans or rentals

What does everyone generally do when they go overseas only really need data?
Ive read the AUSBT articles about best phone plans for particular places and other threads here about sims for countries but nothing around hotspot devices and plans.
 
For me. Dual SIM phone and either Flexiroam or a local SIM depending on how much data I'm going to use.

Others here like the $5 Vodafone days.

You can buy those WiFi devices pretty cheaply, why bother renting
 
Yeh the $5 vodafone roaming is only good up to about 10 days if on vodafone.
Renting usually comes with a plan of some type which is the attraction.
 
I usually get local data SIM. About $30/40 for 30 days and put it in my ipad.
As we usually go away for about 5 or 6 weeks I pick the best 30 day period to activate the SIM. This gives us one ipad to use during the day.
Other days and in the evenings we use both ipads and two phones on the free hotel free wifi.
For cheap phone calls I use an international SIM provided by Railplus ekit based in Melbourne. That gives me a +44 number for most of the world and a +1 number for North America. I have kept the account active for several years now. Several companies supply similar services.
 
I have one of those portable WiFi hot-spot devices and it has come in very handy over the years. Now that telstra have more reasonable data roaming packs I'm now using those for shorter trips but would still use the mifi device for longer trips with a local data only sim.
 
We haven't travelled to Europe since the changes to roaming charges. We usually use apartments in Europe & most have been providing free wifi & we have used skype for the odd call. We have used local sims for when we haven't had other access
On our most recent trips to Asia we have used a driver who has organised a local sim for us and we haven't had any hassles.
I guess the fact that we are retired & don't need to be on call for work at home makes a difference. Also we are not big users of mobiles at home & thus the Vodafone & Telstra deals are not options for us.
 
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Peter D said:
For cheap phone calls I use an international SIM provided by Railplus ekit based in Melbourne.
Click to expand...

I must admit to not paying too much attention to call rates, but is $0.45/min considered cheap? The data seems pretty expensive for Zone A 2G at $167 and zone B 1Gb @ $124
 
swanning_it said:
I must admit to not paying too much attention to call rates, but is $0.45/min considered cheap? The data seems pretty expensive for Zone A 2G at $167 and zone B 1Gb @ $124
Click to expand...


Roaming rates vary from Optus and Vodafone of about $1.00/$1.50 per minute depending on location and Telstra can be $3.00 per minute.
Not many years ago nearly everybody was $3.00 p minute.
And of course Vodafone have their $5 per day that is activated by made and received calls. Telstra also have a $10 per day scheme.
Wouldn’t use the data. Much cheaper have local in Sim in an ipad mini and/or hotels/free hotspots
 
I've been considering this offer but I have no idea about how it works. It seems the 4G data is roughly AU$300 for 30G of data usable over 3 months. How does this work? It has this Mifi thing but does it work O/S?
 
So I had a look at moa999's suggestion about flexiroam and it sounds good. Did they change their pricing since the initial launch?
I ready some reviews and things about general plans lasting 1 year and rollover subscriptions. But their website only talks about 90 day life unless you get one of the higher 3GB or 5GB packs.
https://www.flexiroam.com/pricing
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Show...2914-Flexiroam_X-Travel_Gadgets_and_Gear.html

Something else i read was about them having plans and 1 year subscriptions but nothing like that is listed on the site. Is that all old stuff or only if you get the app first?
I have a few trips coming up that it might be good to test it on.
 
I have been travelling around Europe for almost five months now and I still haven't found a great solution!

Because we are travelling for such a long time, using our home plans was not an option (especially since hubby's is paid for by his work) So before left home I bought an unlocked portable wifi device to use. I had rented one on previous trips and it had worked well for both of us, with phones, iPads, laptops. I bought a sim in Italy, and just as our time there ended the new EU changes came in regarding roaming, so we continued to use that sim, recharging each month. BUT there is a rule - to stop people from, say, the UK, going to Romania and buying a cheap plan - that says you have to spend most of your time in your home country or normal roaming charges will apply. So after a couple of months the sim stopped working. Since then we have been in non-EU countries in the Balkans, and while we contemplated getting another sim, we haven't gotten around to it, and surprisingly, have coped quite well just using wifi. It seems to be everywhere, even in places like Albania we were fine.

We will possibly buy more local sims if we plan to be in a country for a while.

So for short trips to Europe, I would just buy a prepaid sim when you land, and use that throughout the EU. If you want to share it amongst more people or devices, buy your own portable modem. The unlocked Optus one I got only cost me about $50.
 
Sdtravel said:
So I had a look at moa999's suggestion about flexiroam and it sounds good. Did they change their pricing since the initial launch?
I ready some reviews and things about general plans lasting 1 year and rollover subscriptions. But their website only talks about 90 day life unless you get one of the higher 3GB or 5GB packs.
https://www.flexiroam.com/pricing
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Show...2914-Flexiroam_X-Travel_Gadgets_and_Gear.html

Something else i read was about them having plans and 1 year subscriptions but nothing like that is listed on the site. Is that all old stuff or only if you get the app first?
I have a few trips coming up that it might be good to test it on.
Click to expand...

Yes. They started with a 1-yr subscription and giving away data (I earnt 2Gb for free). About 6months ago they changed to the new model where you buy time and data concurrently.

They also have the country packs which look good for short trips to Asia.
 
So if I understand your setup correctly because you cant get calls & text while using flexiroam you duel sim it.
ie calls & text are on sim1 perhaps roaming and then data is on sim2 which has flexiroam stuck to it. Perhaps it could be an inactive sim as well, although thats not advised.
Since my S6 isnt duel sim i would just switch on flexiroam when i need to use data and then off again if i want to text or call.
 
Correct (mine is currently stuck to an inactive 2nd SIM). Effectively the FlexiSIM is data only.
When I travel I often forward my mobile to a VOIP indial (with SipTalk) which I can then access using data only on my mobile.

If I only had a single SIM phone that would be definitely what id do. And then it would be a simple soft switch back to the Aussie SIM to check SMSs etc.
People in Aus cant tell (and depending on plan it could be free), and you can dial out using mobile no as caller ID
 
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