Mobile internet: Pocket Wifi
 

Hi all,
I am traveling with my friends to Europe at the end of September 2017. We start off in Norway, then Italy and Monaco for 10 days. We want to avoid roaming from our US mobile company, but we want to keep connected to the internet. I heard about “Pocket Wifi”. Does anyone have experience using it before? I'd love to know your thoughts.:)

Same issue , mainly trying to get this for my children who racked up huge bills in china last year - so trying to avoid this issue when we go to Europe. Anyone with any advice , i think we both are more then welcoming to hear !

I don't know too many providers that provide Mifi rentals. I found a service after a quick google search, but they charge nearly 10€ per day for unlimited data, which is quite a lot IMO.

I would imagine that you can get better prepaid deals and either bring your own Mifi or use a spare phone as the hotspot and popping a prepaid data sim in. Double check if the offer includes personal hotspot and that it covers your destinations.

I've read that roaming charges are to be eliminated in Europe, but the charges were very much in place when I visited a couple of months ago.

I was able to get pretty cheap plans in the countries that I visited by buying a SIM card in each country and just swapped out the SIM in my backup phone.

If you don't have a second phone, they are very cheap and can usually be set up as a hotspot for devices that don't have a SIM card like a tablet.

Best forum for this is Travel Technology that has a Sticked thread on specific country providers.

Just to clarify:

1.) There are no charges if your carrier is based in the EU (or a non-EU EEA country) and you're roaming within the EU (+ EEA). With, say, a U.S. or Canadian SIM card, high roaming charges may still exist. To my knowledgde, the regulation doesn't say anything about overseas providers.

2.) All roaming charges *within* the EU/EEA (as laid out above) have been abolished as of June 15, 2017. (Well, not quite "all" but the few exceptions shouldn't matter to overseas travellers visiting the EU.)

Thank you for sharing an informative link of telephonic plans for various countries. It is useful information for any traveler.

That means, the roaming charges would not be applied to me in EU/EEA as I reside in UK. Are you sure?

It's where your Mobile Provider 'resides' not your nationality :)

You are absolutely right. I mean that :).

We use a portable WiFi called "go local me". It works anywhere there is cell phone service. We bought the transponder (small) and a data package that has lasted most of a year through at least half a dozen trips. We mostly use it for maps, email, hotel reservations, etc, so its not like we're streaming movies. It's been indispensable.

I have had good luck with....
 

I suggest you look into www.skyroam.com which offers either rentals or you can purchase with unlimited Wifi at $8.95USD per day.
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Yes. See, for example, here. If your provider is in the EU/EEA, you can "roam like at home" within the entire EU/EEA. There is a fair-use exception which roughly says you need to use your SIM at home sometimes. E.g., you cannot buy a Polish SIM and exclusively use it in the UK for months on end (well, you could, but at some point the Polish provider would have the right to reinstate charges for roaming abroad).