We’ve actually explored the possibility of using a portable Wifi international device to be able to get coverage on your trips abroad already. There are a couple of things that seem conflicting in our book about this option. Having said this, the price point at which most of these devices may make them a less attractive option, particularly for individual travelers. If you’re traveling as a group though a portable wifi device could certainly make more sense. Particularly, if you’re able to buy or rent a device that allows you to hook up ten devices at once! This number of devices is considerably more than you’d be able to connect to a local phone as a mobile wifi spot on a local SIM card.
As you can probably guess from this first paragraph there’s really no clear and cut answer to whether or not a portable Wifi international device is a good idea for you or not. There are plenty of variables that you are probably going to want to take into account. Where you travel is one of the first things to consider. Most portable wifi devices actually do have quite the range in different countries, but that may not necessarily be the issue. If you’re going to head out to rural areas for a large part of your trip these devices could have more trouble getting you coverage. Before we continue to ramble on about the pros and cons of these types of devices we want to take the chance to give the article a bit more structure.
- Benefits of Getting A Portable Wifi International
- Cons of Getting A Portable Wifi International
- Rent or Buy One Of These Devices?
- What Could Be A Cheaper Option?
- The Company That You Buy From Could Also Limit Your Options
- Things To Keep In Mind If You Are Going To Get A Portable Wifi International Option
Benefits of Getting A Portable Wifi International
There are certainly benefits to getting a portable wifi international device. We’ve talked about the topic a couple times on the site already. Maybe we haven’t necessarily done it justice because we learn to prefer other options. For one though, you are going to be able to get coverage in most of the world. All of the European and American destinations that you can think of are going to be available to you through most portable wifi options. It’s a lot like getting a global SIM card for your phone. All that you’d have to do is make sure to add credit to your device to get coverage wherever it is that you’re going to go. That’s easier than having to buy a local SIM card on the street when you don’t know the local language for sure.
If we had to pick a main benefit that you can expect to obtain from a portable wifi international device it would be that you can hook up multiple devices to one wifi machine. Couldn’t you just do the same with a local SIM card and use one device as a wifi hotspot? Yes, that’s an option as well, but the difference is usually in the number of devices that you can connect to a phone that is being used as a mobile Wifi hotspot. With portable wifi devices you can hook up about 10 phones at once to one device. If you use your phone as the mobile wifi hotspot the total can be half of that at best. This could certainly change though as new devices enter the market rendering the portable wifi international devices obsolete.
Cons of Getting A Portable Wifi International
We certainly just ended the last paragraph on a sour note, but ironically we want to smooth things out a bit before we start talking about the limitations of these devices. Phone manufacturers aren’t necessarily focusing their efforts on making sure that phones are able to have more devices connected to their mobile wifi hotspot. The max number of devices that a hotspot from a new iPhone can connect for example is 5. Now, to the real downsides of these devices. The price tag on data is a bit steep, at least with many of the options that we’ve explored. This makes it a bit more viable to look for other options. Particularly if you’re not going to be traveling with a large group of people.
That’s where things even out though. If you are going to be using the wifi connection for 10 devices then it makes a bit more sense than getting local SIM cards for the entire family. In fact, with the amount of devices that people carry around these days it could make sense even for 2 or 3 people on a trip who want to make sure that they have internet access through their phones, tablets, and laptop computers. The other clear issue is that you’ll only be getting wifi coverage. There’s just no way to get coverage for example to get your SMS texts. Unless you have an app for that. For the most part though, we would have to say that this is a wifi only option. That can be a problem for some people looking to make calls to landlines.
Rent or Buy One Of These Devices?
You’re typically going to have the option to rent or buy one of these devices. The buying price isn’t necessarily steep; you’d have to pay like 250 dollars. The price will depend of course on the device that you decide to buy. If you’re someone who travels quite a bit, going out and buying one of these devices is certainly something that you’re going to want to look into. The major benefit that you’ll have is that you won’t have to worry about shipping the device back to the company that rented it to you or finding an office for them wherever it is that you’re going. The obvious downside is that you’re going to be down 200 dollars, at least on your first trip. That can make getting coverage a bit steep even if it’s just for that one time.
When you rent one of these devices you’ll have plenty of benefits. For one you can make sure that you’re getting the latest version of the device. Although, the way that these devices operate hasn’t necessarily changed a whole lot over the last few years it’s always a positive to know that you have the most updated device that you can find. Also you won’t have to pay such a steep fee to be able to get one of these devices. The big problem though, is that if you lose the device you can be looking at a penalty fee. Usually the company that you rent the device out from will help you with the shipping process. For some people though having to go out and ship the device can be a bit too much. Particularly if you’re visiting a country that you’ve never been to.
What Could Be A Cheaper Option?
It may be a cheaper option to get coverage from a data only plan with a regular SIM or en eSIM. Now, you really have to run the numbers for your situation. If you’re going to need to hook up north of 5 devices to one connection if you will, the portable wifi international option still seems to be up there as one of the best ways to go about things. This is because we talked about how one device can handle up to 10 devices connected to the wifi that it’s generating. If you use one phone as a mobile wifi spot the limit on the number of devices that you can connect simultaneously is about 5.
The big benefit though that you’re getting from going with an eSIM or a regular SIM card is number one you don’t have to go through the trouble of the rental process of the devices. With an eSIM option you don’t even have to go to the trouble of doing a SIM switch. This is something that in our estimation has kept a lot of people away from the local SIM card option. Just to be completely clear about this, most data only SIM cards that you can buy for coverage anywhere in the world are exponentially cheaper than a portable wifi. Particularly if you have to buy or rent the device on top of buying coverage.
The Company That You Buy From Could Also Limit Your Options
When buying a portable wifi international device or an eSIM what should you be looking for first? Yes, you want to make sure that the device is well rated so that you can be sure the company will send you the device where it needs to be. In fact, when it comes to that if you’re renting you may want to get it sent to your home not your destination. We’ll go over that in a bit though. The first thing that you should look into is whether or not the portable wifi device is going to be able to get you coverage in a particular country. If the site that you’re using has a coverage map you’re going to want to look deep into that too.
Here’s the worst case scenario that happens to a ton of people who aren’t diligent about their research. We want to help these people, but going into the particulars of coverage in every country on earth isn’t exactly practical. So you could look and see that the device offers coverage in Thailand since you’re visiting there. Great, now does it offer coverage in the exact village or resort that you booked? This information may be hard to come by, but you want to look long and hard at the map to get a good estimate. The worst thing that can happen is that you go through the trouble of acquiring the device only to have limited or no coverage at all.
Things To Keep In Mind If You Are Going To Get A Portable Wifi International
On the brightside if you’re going to be getting one of these devices you’ll know that hooking it up to your phone or your tablet is easy enough. You just need to make sure that the device is on and is actually generating a wifi signal. Again, different devices will feature equally diverse instructions on how to get that done. In these cases the best thing that you can do is read the instructions on the box. Most devices are going to have informational videos that you can watch that will take you step by step through that process. Once the device is on, and it’s generating a signal you know that all you have to do is hook up any device just as you would with any other wifi network.
We’re still on the fence about the reliability of these devices particularly when you’re on the road. When you’re in another city and you’re driving somewhere, using a map app is probably the best thing to do. So having that as a weak spot is something that would worry us. Reliability though is determined by the device itself where you are, and where you’re going. There are a lot of things that determine this factor. However, it is a point that we felt compelled to make so that you can keep it in mind before making any purchases.
Portable Wifi International – Conclusion
We’ve done a couple of articles on portable Wifi International options, it seems like we always reach the same verdict. They tend to make sense in very unique trips or for avid travelers that don’t want to go through the fuss of getting local eSIMs or SIM cards. The very unique trips that we’re talking about are family trips that involve staying in one city for most of the trip. Mostly you want to make sure that you stick to urban areas and in rural areas you may have some trouble. Those are some of the reasons why we talk about very unique trips. If you want to get coverage for multiple people or devices there are going to be very few options out there that are better than getting a portable wifi international device.