einstein7th

Hi FlyerTalk!

I'm currently an expat living in HK and a big fan of FlyerTalk (long time reader).

Having travelled recently for vacation (to Japan), I discovered, as many of us probably have, the lack of internet connectivity while on vacation is quite a difficult challenge to overcome. One of the biggest problems I encountered without internet was getting to places (no Google Maps ) My iPhone basically became an overpriced MP3 player/alarm clock...

This prompted me to come back to HK and have a think about improving this situation - some research shows that travellers can rent phones and Mifis, but neither option seems cheap.

Thus, my friend and I are starting a small program to help travellers out, by renting out Mifis (at pretty competitive rates hopefully).

I was hoping to ask Flyertalk residents to help try out this service for free, and in return maybe give me some feedback

We're starting to test this service in HK - so if any forum members (or friends of forum members) are on their way to HK in the next couple weeks and would like free unlimited internet access during their stay, please send me a PM.

Please feel free to post suggestions below!

(We're also working on a website...currently hosted by Wix - feel free to peruse and contact us with details on there: http://essential.mobi )

All the best from a fellow traveler!

ChrisLi

Wirelessly posted (Xperia Z: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 4.4.2; C6903 Build/14.3.A.0.681) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/34.0.1847.114 Mobile Safari/537.36)

Please follow up the thread in Japan forum. There are several thread to talk about renting wifi hotspot in Japan.

If you want to have solution from Hong Kong, try Google telecom square that they have branch in Hong Kong for your problem, not entirely cheap though.

einstein7th

Thanks for the response - I did browse through those threads.

I think there might have been a small mixup - I'm not looking to rent, I'm looking to offer a rental service

Was wondering if there were any folks coming to HK that would like to try our service for free (just for some feedback).

All are welcome!

ChrisLi

There's never lack of rental service... you see there's telecom square and between one and another smaller player ... tough game to play IMO.

Good luck! ^

moondog

I have to agree. Unlike Japan hk is one of the easiest markets in world for visitors to get connected with their own devices on the cheap. But I would be loath to tempt these same waters even if I was hooked up in Japan because data is fast becoming a commodity market and investing in soon to be obsolete devices is problematic from my standpoint. These are just my two cents. I sincerely wish the option the best.

einstein7th

Yep - not easy. Just trying to provide an alternative option that appeals to the budget minded traveler and family.

christep

Eh? If you know the areas you are going to you can download and cache the Google Maps when you have data connectivity (even before you leave your home network if you won't even have any wifi at your hotel).

theddo

There are other good map apps (me personally uses citymaps2go and mapswithme, because I got both from a promotion and didn't have to fork out any cash). I especially like citymaps2go since I can add waypoints on the go because they have a large list of hotels and avenues available even in offline mode.

Sometimes it makes sense to buy a local SIM card.

einstein7th

All good points Though it may be easier for a family of 3+ folks to share a rented Mifi device than buying three separate prepaid SIMs.

However, in today's day and age, we are almost constantly checking our mobile devices and internet is almost taken for granted - and we just want to make sure that it's easy even when we're on vacation!

christep

Again, there is no need to buy a local SIM simply to use mapping apps. The only data they need on the fly is GPS, which is free. Download the maps you need into your cache before you leave home!

Chaosmax

I tried out the service two weeks ago and service was perfect.
Mifi was delivered and picked up at my hotel. So I had not to worry about that.

As they have a free trail period I don't know how it will work later with payment or what they will charge.

Normally I get a local sim card at the airport but thought I'll try Mobi Essential this time. Sometimes it can be a hassle to get a sim card at the airport as the store is at departure gate with queues sometimes.

Most likely I'll use it next time again (depends only on the charges).

beep88

You can buy cheap data roaming SIM cards at Apliu Street, or just anywhere (for example China unicom Japan data roaming 299HKD 5GB valid 7 days）

However some (such as China Unicom Sakura card) goes through China and its firewall so you don't get access to certain sites.

As for data in HK, SIM card can be purchased virtually ANYWHERE, and cheap.

RichardInSF

What the heck is this thread about? I can think of three different possibilities:

1. Wifi access in HK for visitors to HK

2. Wifi access in Japan for everyone

3. Wifi access in Japan for HK residents (or visitors?)

Which is it? I am totally confused here!

moondog

#1, as far as I can tell. The Japan thing only entered the conversation because that is a place (unlike HK) where internet access for travelers can be tricky.

RichardInSF

Thanks, in that case, no big deal!