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Old Oct 14, 2013, 9:51 am
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Pocket wifi rental?
Does anyone have a suggestion on where to rent a pocket wifi device in HK? I rented one of these in Tokyo earlier this year and would like something similar for my trip to HK in a few days. I'll only need it for 5 days. I don't have a GSM phone, so buying a SIM card is not an option.
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Old Oct 14, 2013, 6:14 pm
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Not that I know of. You may rent a mobile phone and do a Hotspot (3G Tethering into Wifi) with it.
Last edited by Guy Betsy; Oct 15, 2013 at 4:57 am
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Old Oct 15, 2013, 12:46 am
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Pocket wifi isn't common in HK.

Your best bet is to rent one of these:
http://handy.travel/hk/en
Pick up and return at HKG airport. Works out to around $6 USD/day for unlimited data and tethering. First day is free too.
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Old Oct 15, 2013, 9:09 am
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Originally Posted by mangoMan
Does anyone have a suggestion on where to rent a pocket wifi device in HK? I rented one of these in Tokyo earlier this year and would like something similar for my trip to HK in a few days. I'll only need it for 5 days. I don't have a GSM phone, so buying a SIM card is not an option.
I used Telecom Square when I was in HK back in May since they ran a promotion with NH, who I flew to get to HK. The speeds were quite good, although the battery life of the mobile hotspot proved to be less than optimal. I would consider using them again but I think I'm going to go the route of buying a SIM card when I'm in HK in late November. FWIW, the device I rented was 3G while their webpage seems to be featuring a 4G device now, so perhaps your potential experience would be better than mine.
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Old Oct 15, 2013, 10:00 am
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Originally Posted by CanucksHKG
Your best bet is to rent one of these:
http://handy.travel/hk/en
Pick up and return at HKG airport. Works out to around $6 USD/day for unlimited data and tethering. First day is free too.
Thanks CanucksHKG! This is pretty much perfect. The unlimited calling back to the US seems attractive too, but I think I can do the same with the cheaper option and just use Skype.
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Old Oct 21, 2013, 12:54 pm
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Originally Posted by CanucksHKG
Pocket wifi isn't common in HK.

Your best bet is to rent one of these:
http://handy.travel/hk/en
Pick up and return at HKG airport. Works out to around $6 USD/day for unlimited data and tethering. First day is free too.
I've seen Mifi routers in Shenzhen for as little as y150, so I would assume that HK prices are similar. While I agree that smartphones with tethering make Mifi a bit pointless in the general sense, I save a great deal of coin by using one of my train trips in China (much faster and more reliable than my S3, perhaps because it only has one function while the phone wants to be all things to all people). However, since it's hard to walk 5 meters in HK and not have a wifi option close by, the value might not be as great.
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Old Nov 13, 2013, 6:06 pm
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Originally Posted by CanucksHKG
Your best bet is to rent one of these:
http://handy.travel/hk/en
Pick up and return at HKG airport. Works out to around $6 USD/day for unlimited data and tethering. First day is free too.
I ended up getting one of these. I didn't pay for the unlimited calling feature, although they told me local calls were still free. The Google maps app wasn't very useful as the GPS on the handy didn't seem to work to well for some reason. So I basically ended up using the handy as a wifi hotspot and then just used the apps on my phone. For the price, it was definitely worth it.
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Old Nov 13, 2013, 6:55 pm
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Originally Posted by mangoMan
I ended up getting one of these. I didn't pay for the unlimited calling feature, although they told me local calls were still free. The Google maps app wasn't very useful as the GPS on the handy didn't seem to work to well for some reason. So I basically ended up using the handy as a wifi hotspot and then just used the apps on my phone. For the price, it was definitely worth it.
So you paid the $48/day price? Interesting to see that local calls are free.

With unlimited data, shouldn't that have been adequate for Google Map to track your location?
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Old Nov 14, 2013, 4:25 pm
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Originally Posted by CanucksHKG
So you paid the $48/day price? Interesting to see that local calls are free.

With unlimited data, shouldn't that have been adequate for Google Map to track your location?
Yep, paid $48 HKD/day rate. I picked up the phone on a Friday and returned it late on a Wednesday, and got one day free. Since I arrived late on a Friday, they didn't charge me for that day either, so I only paid for 4 days. ^ The local call allowance was told to me by the agent when he gave me the phone. I did make one call and was not charged.

Google map did track my location, just not very accurately. The indicator kept bouncing around. When I used my own phone tethered to the Handy, my own phone seemed to track our location better. So I speculate it had something to do with the Handy's GPS. It was an annoyance, but it would not prevent me from renting the Handy again.
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