Roaming Hotspot technology and offerings are looking more competitive, particularly for those of us that travel with many connected devices and keep up to date each day (or night). In the past I used various sim card approaches, sourced locally and in country and once they were set up, they mostly worked well. The last few trips I purchased travel passes from Telstra for each device as I favoured convenience over price. Now I am considering looking into hardware devices. I have seen names like: Skyroam, Roaming Man, GeeFi, TEP Wireless, Travel WiFi, Google
Fi, Keepgo, Always Online Wireless and not yet looked into what is available from Australia. I would appreciate hearing about your experiences with any of these devices and services.
Whilst I agree with you on the wifi hotspots being coming more competitive, nothing beats a local Sim card in terms of flexibility, coverage and price.
That being said the best sim I've got is the Star Hub (Singapore) prepaid service where data is $10 per 1.2GB or $20 for 3.6GB and it's valid in : Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and USA (basically a lot of countries...).
Vodafone $5 roaming is good but is also a little upsetting now that NZ isn't free anymore.
Other great solution I've found is Flexiroam which works in about 140 countries on its standard plans (US$15-30/GB) with cheaper rates in some countries.
I use it on an old dead SIM in my dual SIM android
I use FlexiRoam which is a data only sticker on your sim card - so you can switch between your Home data plan and FlexiRoam. Someone on here recommended to me Data is quite pricy, but it works in essentially every country (except in Africa where coverage is quite poor, but improving). In some countries they do have "local" rates that work out close to the price of a local sim card.
Super easy to use and has worked in all but two countries I've visited (Morocco & Mauritania). Worked painlessly when I had a trip that included Kyrgyzstan, India, Kyrgyzstan and Suriname on the same itinerary and in the long run was probably cheaper than buying 15 sim cards and data for the 15 countries I visisted.
pdortkamp
pdortkamp
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 26 Feb 2014
Total posts 1
Roaming Hotspot technology and offerings are looking more competitive, particularly for those of us that travel with many connected devices and keep up to date each day (or night). In the past I used various sim card approaches, sourced locally and in country and once they were set up, they mostly worked well. The last few trips I purchased travel passes from Telstra for each device as I favoured convenience over price. Now I am considering looking into hardware devices. I have seen names like: Skyroam, Roaming Man, GeeFi, TEP Wireless, Travel WiFi, Google Fi, Keepgo, Always Online Wireless and not yet looked into what is available from Australia. I would appreciate hearing about your experiences with any of these devices and services.
henrus
henrus
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 23 Oct 2013
Total posts 765
Whilst I agree with you on the wifi hotspots being coming more competitive, nothing beats a local Sim card in terms of flexibility, coverage and price.
moa999
moa999
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 02 Jul 2011
Total posts 835
Other great solution I've found is Flexiroam which works in about 140 countries on its standard plans (US$15-30/GB) with cheaper rates in some countries.
Dredgy
Dredgy
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 02 Apr 2017
Total posts 182
I use FlexiRoam which is a data only sticker on your sim card - so you can switch between your Home data plan and FlexiRoam. Someone on here recommended to me Data is quite pricy, but it works in essentially every country (except in Africa where coverage is quite poor, but improving). In some countries they do have "local" rates that work out close to the price of a local sim card.
Bollen
Bollen
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 20 Dec 2017
Total posts 32
The thing that puts me off of these devices is that it is another thing you have to carry with you together with another charger!