Seeing more LTE roaming, which even though is restricted to 128Kb on free data has lower latency and generally snappier performance within the bandwidth limit. On paid High Speed getting at least 4-6Mb/sec SOMETIMES more but not always.

Added Smartone Hong Kong (verified last week) and Orange France (verified today)

[Edited thread Jan 30th and added]: On a Paid 500MB package I did for my iPad last few weeks due to insane back to back Intl trips I got LTE roaming in France on Orange. Got just under 40MB/sec downstream and 7MB on upstream. That bandwidth had to travel from Orange LTE to T-Mobile's APN gateway in the US and back to the Speedtest.net server in Paris (didn't manually change to a US server); so this is GREAT even with the roundtrip latency

http://thumbnails109.imagebam.com/38...f386004956.jpg

Just got back from a week in Nicaragua.

When I set my iPhone to "auto connect" it went straight to Claro...

Didn't work.

Then I turned off auto and went to Mobinil. Fantastic! One of the better TM experiences I've had to date.

Pretty unfortunate, I quite enjoyed roaming data access. The most direct negative effect for me is the inability to use Uber out on the street while not having to switch out my SIM.

I just got back from Costa Rica. I roamed just fine :)n Movistar and had both voice and data wherever/whenever I was. I've update the wiki accordingly.

What Hotspot to Purchase Before European Trip?
 

I'll be in Iceland in May (thanks, WOWair!), and on a Mediterranean cruise in September (passing by and stopping at several nations). My online photo-retouching business requires that I send and receive several 3- to 10-MB files per day from a laptop.

I'm a Republic Wireless phone customer, so my phone is CDMA and has no SIM. From reading this thread, it looks as if I can become a temporary T-Mobile customer in order to get data service while traveling.

So...is there a 3G hotspot available cheap (eBay?) that will work internationally and can be used with T-Mo service in most areas of the world?

Thank you.

Even 3-10 MB could be painful.

Are you not going to have Wifi when you're on land?

Not sure how you'd get consistent mobile data on a ship.

I think cheapest Mifis are still around $100, with poor battery life. Maybe look for a second hand iPad with 3G or 4G, which will provide much better battery life and more band support.

For instance, I used to use a Huawei Mifi from eBay and it got 3G okay in Europe but not in the US. Battery life was 2 hours at the most.

The iPad mini with 4G gets LTE in Europe and in the US and battery life is over 10 hours.

But if cost is an issue, I'd look to get Wifi access, though Wifi in many places can be pretty slow.

I would not go with a hotspot. Hotspots are throttled at 64k.

I just returned from Vietnam and Cambodia and can confirm that there was no data in either country. However, cheap sim cards in both countries were easily had in the arrivals hall. 3 minutes max and I was on my way with 3G data. In Cambodia, the guy wiped out my APN settings to get the data to work, which caused me some issues when arriving back in the USA.

I have a Moto G for when I need to get a local Sim. I've experienced what you went through, never again.

Thank you to the folks who have replied to my post #800 from yesterday.

GAAK! I can do OK with 3G, but not with 64K. So, the T-Mobile hotspot idea is kaput.

Shipboard internet is typically very slow and very expensive.

I'll be on a cruise ship. My hope is to do my ~~50MB of business data transfers and emails while still on the ship every day as it prepares to dock. That will permit Mrs. Middle_Seat and me (and another couple with us) to do shore excursions without my needing to find a wifi signal onshore.

A used 4G iPad could work but would be pricey...it's too bad that I already have a couple of other wifi-only tablets.

eBay sellers list lots of T-Mobile store-demo phones for under $100. Assuming I can find a phone whose specs list lots of bands, and assuming the phone can be used in hotspot mode, are there any gotchas to watch for?

Huh? Mine is still running 128KB/sec ; just used it in HK last week and France this last week. 64Kb/sec will happen if you are on no paid monthly package in the US/Domestic side and then do an Intl roaming High speed pack and EXPIRE that pack.

Hope you plan to use mobile data while in port/land coverage areas. Data roaming on T-Mobile (or any network) NEVER includes cruise ships in data packages or inclusive throttled plans. You will NOT get free cruise ship data with T-Mobile

Also, the cellular network is coming through the same satellite service as the WiFi, so it won't be fast either.

LTE T-Mobile Global Data in Canada
 

My iPhone 6 Plus connected up to Rogers LTE data after about an hour in the country and then retained that connection until I left.

My iPad Mini 2 defaulted to Bell 3G, but when I manually selected Rogers, it also grabbed an LTE connection that worked flawlessly.

Even at throttled speeds, the LTE connection really seems to make the T-Mobile data usage globally reasonably fast.

Agreed, it is very important to avoid the cruise ship's wifi and cell/data signals because they will be expensive and slow.

I'm hoping to get all my data transfers done as the ship spends ~30 minutes docking in a new European port every day. Then, I'll be free to enjoy the shore excursions with family and friends...not needing to find an on-shore internet cafe or stray open wifi.