Replacement Costs
 

To date, we have not charged any customer for replacement costs since there have not been any lost or damaged products.

We are not in the business of collecting fees, and we honestly don't want any of our products lost or damaged. So far, this has not been a problem.

-Ken Herskind, President, XCom Global

I appreciate that and wasn't suggesting that you were like some French car rental agencies where they use a microscope at vehicle drop offs to nail customers. I was simply warning people that they should consider the issue.

Has anyone actually tried this service?

Any problems with lost equipment resulting in the exorbitant penalties?

Or using in multiple countries during a visit and whether the rates get prohibitive?

Would be nice if they just rented the SIM.

This service rents just SIMs or iPhones/iPads as well:

https://www.iphonetrip.com/order/ind...ion=orderStep4

Thing that's confusing is that they claim the SIM will work on AT&T-locked iPhones too. Their prices aren't that much better than Xcom Global's Mifi rental but it's suppose to be unlimited and for all of Europe, so maybe better than Xcom Global if you're going to use in several countries.

I sent them an email inquiring about a couple of matters before I order their service for a trip next week.

No response. It's been at least 5 days.

iPhone trip responded in a matter of hours.

Considering the cost and flexibility, looks like I will just purchase a local SIM for the mifi I own upon arrival. Didn't want to take the time to find a shop, but it appears to be the most cost-effective route.

Which Mifi do you have? Mifis which support HSDPA and are unlocked aren't widely available in the US.

2352. The "world" model. And it does work 3G just fine - I've used it in Italy and Spain so far (still keep a TIM prepay SIM alive).

voice on mifi
 

Seems some of the reviews for the Xcom mifi unit mention
less than great voice service.

Have any of you used it with VoiceCentral or Toktumi (AKA Line2) ?

Thanks!

I've used Line2 connected to my Euro MiFi with various unlocked SIMs. It works fine. I can't imagine why XCom's system would be any different.

Correction: My Euro device is actually a Zoom We3g. I don't Novatel's attorneys sending me any nasty letters.

limits on "unlimited data"
 

We will be in France for 2 1/2 weeks in June.

Ordered the Xcom mifi box with "unlimited data" to use GPS, voice (Line2,
Google Voice) and lots of texts. No video usage.
Approx. how much data might I consume roughly?

I emailed Xcom about data limits and they emailed me back and said
3GB per month. This was info from the Operations Mgr.


I am guessing I may be way over that limit.

Thoughts?

Review: Reasonable, but could have been annoying...
 

Sorry this is so late, but I rented a Xcom mifi for a trip to Madrid back in January.

It worked fine in the hotel, the cab, while walking around the city. It projected a nice 10' wifi bubble around itself, and regularly connected using 3G. I managed to join a conference call back in the states while walking around Madrid, with the mifi in my coat pocket.

But.

My mifi had a battery life of about 20 minutes. It came with an extra battery, which was a nice touch, except that the extra battery would last about 30 minutes itself. So I had just about 1 hour of total coverage.

Luckily, I travel with a Hypermac mini side battery, so I was able to just plug the mifi into the Hypermac and shove both in my coat pocket. Combined those two gadgets didn't take up much more room than the mifi, and I got about 5 hours of battery life.

If I hadn't taken the Hypermac battery, I would have been pretty upset.

I emailed their customer service, and also complained on their emailed survey. Never heard any response from them.

So, it's useful, when it works. Given that I have this side battery, I would be willing to try them again. But not everybody packs an extra gadget battery with them.

-R

Thanks for the trip report.

I thought the Xcom box would not transmit a signal while plugged in
to a charger/external battery. Guess I was wrong.



Looked at the HyperMac (not cheap) and am wondering if any
of the budget backup batteries with a micro-USB connector
would work.

I just ordered a couple from monoprice.com The reviews
were only so-so but the price was low.

what brand of Mifi is that?

What kind of throughput were you getting?

Check out Tru, too
 

MiFi is a brand name for a particular device. The generic term is portable 3G WiFi modem. There are lots of different manufacturers making these and pretty much every country in Europe has them but rebadged for different networks.

If you buy a 3G Wifi modem that isn't locked to a particular network, then you can pop a local 3G SIM into it and use it pay-as-you-go. This would be the cheapest method.

If you go back and forth between a number of different countries, then check out Tru mobile in the UK. They offer a global SIM that works around the world and gives you local call charges in about five continents, plus very economical data rates.

I've posted on all of these topics on my blog, so I invite you to check them out.

You need a "charge-only cable." Search for that and mifi and you'll find something for $6 or so.

A standard USB cable will make the mifi think it's syncing, and thus make it turn off its wifi signal, but a "charging cable" will not.

I've been meaning to figure out what is different, by probing the cable, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Either it disconnects the two data lines, or shorts them together on the device end, or ties them high, or something equally simple, so you could pretty easily hack one yourself from an existing cable.

Xcom service
 

Pre-trip report.
I received my mifi box with French SIM card. Still at home.

Charged up both the unit and the 'back up battery' . I have seen comments that the mifi
will not broadcast while it its charging. I tested it and the unit they rented me does seem to work
while charging. (in your browser type www.mifi/en/login.cgi and you should see a charging
battery animation)

Getting on line... tried to test it from home (California) and my ipad sees/receives the wifi
signal but I can not connect. Called tech support and was told system will not work until
I am overseas, so no way to confirm it is working til I am out of the country. Do not like that.

Have others experienced the same?