New Gadget: Unlimited 4G Worldwide
Oct 24, 2016, 9:36 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New York City
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Posts: 306
New Gadget: Unlimited 4G Worldwide
Thought my FT friends here would appreciate this new gadget.
It's called GeeFi and it provides unlimited 4G/LTE for up to 10 devices in 100+ countries worldwide.
It's shipping soon and currently crowdfunding, which means that one can get it at a lower price than retail.
It already raised over $200,000 on Kickstarter and is now on IndieGoGo InDemand: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/g...ft/15224230/ft.
It's called GeeFi and it provides unlimited 4G/LTE for up to 10 devices in 100+ countries worldwide.
It's shipping soon and currently crowdfunding, which means that one can get it at a lower price than retail.
It already raised over $200,000 on Kickstarter and is now on IndieGoGo InDemand: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/g...ft/15224230/ft.
Oct 25, 2016, 5:29 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,381
"unique patented chipset"
Yeah, this idea is very new
Quick, someone look at the coverage list and guess which provider/mvno they are partnering with. I doubt they'll be talking to networks directly. Only 40 countries on list, but they proclaim 100+ countries(I guess once they get more agreements)
Also, the lte band list isn't huge
Would they go talk to karma? http://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/sprint-mvno-karma-terminates-neverstop-unlimited-service-time-we-went-too-big
Yeah, this idea is very new
Quick, someone look at the coverage list and guess which provider/mvno they are partnering with. I doubt they'll be talking to networks directly. Only 40 countries on list, but they proclaim 100+ countries(I guess once they get more agreements)
Also, the lte band list isn't huge
Would they go talk to karma? http://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/sprint-mvno-karma-terminates-neverstop-unlimited-service-time-we-went-too-big
Last edited by paperwastage; Oct 25, 2016 at 5:36 am
Oct 25, 2016, 6:02 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: CPT,AMS
Posts: 4,412
Unlimited is a buzz word... no one says they won't cap your speed after you hit some amount of data.
The price tag of 10$ per day is, in some countries, more than what you pay for 1 week/month of "enough" data.
Some recent examples:
Vietnam - 150,000 VND (~7 USD) gives you 3GB for 1 month
Thailand - 300 THB (~9 USD) gives you 1.5GB for 1 week
Russia - 250 RUB (~4 USD) gives you 10GB for 1 month
Of course if you sit all day watching videos on youtube it might not be enough, but with free wifi widely available I don't see a point in paying 10$ per day for internet.
The price tag of 10$ per day is, in some countries, more than what you pay for 1 week/month of "enough" data.
Some recent examples:
Vietnam - 150,000 VND (~7 USD) gives you 3GB for 1 month
Thailand - 300 THB (~9 USD) gives you 1.5GB for 1 week
Russia - 250 RUB (~4 USD) gives you 10GB for 1 month
Of course if you sit all day watching videos on youtube it might not be enough, but with free wifi widely available I don't see a point in paying 10$ per day for internet.
Oct 25, 2016, 9:27 am
#6
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit; Formerly Dubai
Posts: 3,652
Unlimited is a buzz word... no one says they won't cap your speed after you hit some amount of data.
The price tag of 10$ per day is, in some countries, more than what you pay for 1 week/month of "enough" data.
Some recent examples:
Vietnam - 150,000 VND (~7 USD) gives you 3GB for 1 month
Thailand - 300 THB (~9 USD) gives you 1.5GB for 1 week
Russia - 250 RUB (~4 USD) gives you 10GB for 1 month
Of course if you sit all day watching videos on youtube it might not be enough, but with free wifi widely available I don't see a point in paying 10$ per day for internet.
The price tag of 10$ per day is, in some countries, more than what you pay for 1 week/month of "enough" data.
Some recent examples:
Vietnam - 150,000 VND (~7 USD) gives you 3GB for 1 month
Thailand - 300 THB (~9 USD) gives you 1.5GB for 1 week
Russia - 250 RUB (~4 USD) gives you 10GB for 1 month
Of course if you sit all day watching videos on youtube it might not be enough, but with free wifi widely available I don't see a point in paying 10$ per day for internet.
Oct 25, 2016, 9:35 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit; Formerly Dubai
Posts: 3,652
Free wifi is more available in some places than others. Last year in Australia I had a lovely villa where wifi didn't reach. I could get free wifi by the pool and the lobby wasn't an option as it was basically an office. I had some motions due in a court back in the US and my backup attorney didn't feel up to the job of responding to them. I learned about his melt down in my morning emails with the business day winding down in the US.
I had brought a Skyroam mobile hotspot with me and paid the $10 to get the work done at my (rented) kitchen table with my coffee, food stuff, and a wonderful view and sound of birds flying around while my wife soaked in our private hot tub hanging around to be my proof reader. Was it worth $10 when I could have sat by a pool with some screaming children hoping they didn't splash water into my laptop and put me into malpractice with the client?
These services are a great backup for those events that you didn't plan for? If you are checking into a hotel that is charging 30 euros a day for internet and you are going to be there for two weeks, go buy a local SIM card. What you need to watch out for is short expiries on these services.
I had brought a Skyroam mobile hotspot with me and paid the $10 to get the work done at my (rented) kitchen table with my coffee, food stuff, and a wonderful view and sound of birds flying around while my wife soaked in our private hot tub hanging around to be my proof reader. Was it worth $10 when I could have sat by a pool with some screaming children hoping they didn't splash water into my laptop and put me into malpractice with the client?
These services are a great backup for those events that you didn't plan for? If you are checking into a hotel that is charging 30 euros a day for internet and you are going to be there for two weeks, go buy a local SIM card. What you need to watch out for is short expiries on these services.
Oct 25, 2016, 6:41 pm
#8
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: BWI
Programs: UA 1MM & 1K, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 255
It doesn't actually mention that it will allow you to transfer data at the maximum speed that the network conditions will currently support. When I had T-Mobile with the included free international roaming, I could connect to a 4G network and my phone would show 4G, but it would be 2G speeds since that's what T-Mobile's contracts allowed.
But assuming they actually can provide unlimited data at full 4G speeds, its still a niche product. It would be $300/month if you used it every day so you'd only buy a pass when you know you're going to need to transfer a large amount of data that day so you'll still need either a local SIM, T-Mobile, Google Fi, etc, or just rely on WiFi.
But assuming they actually can provide unlimited data at full 4G speeds, its still a niche product. It would be $300/month if you used it every day so you'd only buy a pass when you know you're going to need to transfer a large amount of data that day so you'll still need either a local SIM, T-Mobile, Google Fi, etc, or just rely on WiFi.
Oct 25, 2016, 8:52 pm
#9
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: DL PM/1MM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 117
That's $300/month, so definitely not unrealistically cheap. I was just traveling in Croatia where I bought unlimited one week data SIMs for $12.
In Italy, the local SIMs were more expensive, so I used my GlocalMe G2 global hotspot and bought a $30 1GB/1 year worldwide data plan. I used about 500MB on that 4-day trip, so I have data left over for my next trip.
GlocalMe data plans generally cost about 5X less than the price of ATT roaming plans and about 2X more than many local SIMs, so it's often worth it for the convenience of not bothering with the local SIM purchase - especially if you're visiting several countries.
For me, the GlocalMe approach of buying a block of data which can be used over a year is a lot more appealing than paying a fixed price of $10 per day. It would be great if the vendors would make both types of plan available.
In Italy, the local SIMs were more expensive, so I used my GlocalMe G2 global hotspot and bought a $30 1GB/1 year worldwide data plan. I used about 500MB on that 4-day trip, so I have data left over for my next trip.
GlocalMe data plans generally cost about 5X less than the price of ATT roaming plans and about 2X more than many local SIMs, so it's often worth it for the convenience of not bothering with the local SIM purchase - especially if you're visiting several countries.
For me, the GlocalMe approach of buying a block of data which can be used over a year is a lot more appealing than paying a fixed price of $10 per day. It would be great if the vendors would make both types of plan available.
Last edited by KevinSFO; Oct 25, 2016 at 10:09 pm
Oct 26, 2016, 11:58 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: CPT,AMS
Posts: 4,412
I had brought a Skyroam mobile hotspot with me and paid the $10 to get the work done at my (rented) kitchen table with my coffee, food stuff, and a wonderful view and sound of birds flying around while my wife soaked in our private hot tub hanging around to be my proof reader. Was it worth $10 when I could have sat by a pool with some screaming children hoping they didn't splash water into my laptop and put me into malpractice with the client?
http://www.vodafone.com.au/prepaid/p...ter-pack/combo
Oct 26, 2016, 12:25 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: DL PM/1MM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 117
I generally get an LTE connection at home in CA. On a recent trip in Italy, I had some good LTE connections in big cities, but mostly very useable 3G connections elsewhere.
Oct 28, 2016, 6:44 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Hawaii
Programs: Delta Diamond
Posts: 192
First post!
I just funded the GlocalMe U2 on Indiegogo.
I've been eyeing up their G2 on amazon for the last few weeks but the weight/size was keeping me from pulling the trigger. This new one is much lighter (slighly lighter than an iphone 6+/7+)
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/g...s/x/15317294#/
I'm hoping this doesnt turn out to vaporware since they have 2 other devices out on the market already. You can get their G2 version on Amazon.com so they are a legit company.
I also like that you can buy buckets of data and not a per day fee like skyroam (which I also looked into for a while) so you actually pay for what you use vs what dont.
2 weeks ago we were in Greece and used Xcomglobal which cost me $7.77 per day and they would turn us off after 150-200MB per day, I'd have to find free wifi and email customer service to get it turned back on (which took 12!! hours each time) so this is what caused me to start researching these.
I just funded the GlocalMe U2 on Indiegogo.
I've been eyeing up their G2 on amazon for the last few weeks but the weight/size was keeping me from pulling the trigger. This new one is much lighter (slighly lighter than an iphone 6+/7+)
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/g...s/x/15317294#/
I'm hoping this doesnt turn out to vaporware since they have 2 other devices out on the market already. You can get their G2 version on Amazon.com so they are a legit company.
I also like that you can buy buckets of data and not a per day fee like skyroam (which I also looked into for a while) so you actually pay for what you use vs what dont.
2 weeks ago we were in Greece and used Xcomglobal which cost me $7.77 per day and they would turn us off after 150-200MB per day, I'd have to find free wifi and email customer service to get it turned back on (which took 12!! hours each time) so this is what caused me to start researching these.
Oct 29, 2016, 4:25 pm
#14
Moderator, Hertz; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
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Sounds interesting, but I had bad experiences with indiegogo and kickstarter. Funded about a dozen project. more than half never even made it to production and the rest were such a disappointment that they went to the trash.
Oct 29, 2016, 8:10 pm
#15
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Hawaii
Programs: Delta Diamond
Posts: 192
Yea I've heard that before as well, This is my 1st time funding one of these types of things. I'm hoping that because they have 2 other of these types of products already on the market that they should be able to do this 3rd generation no problems. I HOPE!