Air Canada & Skyroam Solis Global WiFi Hotspot
Nov 8, 2019, 8:41 pm
#1
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: AC SE100K-1MM, NH, DL, AA, BA, Global Entry/Nexus, APEC..
Posts: 18,877
Air Canada & Skyroam Solis Global WiFi Hotspot
Interesting ad on the front page of AC's website
Links to
https://www.skyroam.com/ca/aircanada...covertext|caen
Links to
https://www.skyroam.com/ca/aircanada...covertext|caen
Nov 9, 2019, 6:36 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE 1MM, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 3,396
I must be missing something: why not just use your phone as a hotspot? I don’t see much savings here unless you exceed 20 GB a month and are traveling most days. And it is just one more device to cart around.
Nov 9, 2019, 7:00 am
#4
Join Date: May 2013
Location: YYT/YYC/TPE
Programs: AC SE, UA, National Exec Elite, Nexus, GE
Posts: 1,810
The only saving comes when you travel for more than 11 days out of every month. However, for anyone travelling for that length of time to one or two specific locations regularly, one would have gotten a lower rate roaming plan or a local SIM card.
Nov 13, 2019, 8:41 pm
#5
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 1
I think this is a great service. No SIM cards needed and no carrier plans to worry about. Travel to any country you want. Most people don't know that the average smartphone data plan does not work as a hotspot when traveling internationally. Generally, the wireless carrier blocks the hotspot feature when roaming overseas. Just saying...
Nov 14, 2019, 9:58 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,222
I think this is a great service. No SIM cards needed and no carrier plans to worry about. Travel to any country you want. Most people don't know that the average smartphone data plan does not work as a hotspot when traveling internationally. Generally, the wireless carrier blocks the hotspot feature when roaming overseas. Just saying...
The carrier entirely controls the ability to tether and will often (but not always) restrict that capability when roaming. Restricting that can be based on something as crude as filtering of the actual MSISDN (effectively your phone number) or as sophisticated as something called an Entitlements Server (used by Apple and other larger players).
The same applies to some of the so-called "Travel SIMs" which generally just wholesale data from large global Mobile Network Operators.
Nov 14, 2019, 10:39 am
#7
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 412
If your device supports eSIM, try these guys https://www.airalo.com/
Nov 14, 2019, 11:29 am
#8
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,313
If your device supports eSIM, try these guys https://www.airalo.com/
Nov 14, 2019, 11:53 am
#9
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,222
While there are good deals to be had, some of these eSIM app providers are running on really crappy networks. Homework is required if you don't want to get stuck with effectively 3G rates when you get there.
The best thing to do is find the region/country you want and see if they tell you what the carrier network is that they use. If it's something you've never heard of, chances are it's really spotty and/or throttled. And customer service for these data-only eSIM providers can be virtually non-existent.
Nov 17, 2019, 11:38 am
#10
formerly BackSlash3
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: YYZ Realistically, YKZ Aspirationally
Programs: AC P25, Marriott Gold, IHG Diamond AMB
Posts: 452
I had a the last skyroam device when it was 3G. It didn’t work out, even though it said unlimited, the acceptable use policy limited use to something ridiculously low like 500mb/day (I’m not suggesting this is still the case).
the other issue is that cell data is routed through the home country of the underlying carrier. For FI it was T-Mobile in the US, for keepgo it was the UK, and for skyroam it was China. It made for terrible ping times outside of Asia.
the other issue is that cell data is routed through the home country of the underlying carrier. For FI it was T-Mobile in the US, for keepgo it was the UK, and for skyroam it was China. It made for terrible ping times outside of Asia.